Happy Easter Everyone!  He is Risen!!!  There were so many things that I had planned for this day, Easter Sunday, hoping that it would be our first time back together but God has other plans.  I have asked “why” and wondered why God has not released the “pause” button on life as we knew it and I am sure that one day we will know.  I was up early looking through all of the channels to see what other churches are doing.  If you were to spend some time on the internet it is amazing how churches are able to use media and technology to put on a pretty good presentation for this special day.  My daughter attends and works at Brooklyn Tab in New York and they have been working tirelessly to provide something special for all to see.  They are replaying the Easter Pageant from 2019 and it was good to watch it again. 

I was flying a little low pondering what we might be able to do and God gave me something to read the other day and it hit me between the eyes.  In John 1 John the Baptist is having a massive baptismal service.  People are excited and John is preaching hell, fire, and brimstone messages.  It was so special that the religious leaders of Jerusalem sent people to ask him “Who are you?” and John said “I am not the Christ.”  His message was so powerful that they thought that he was the Christ.  They went on to ask him if he was Elijah or some other prophet.  Elijah was held in hight esteem by the religious leaders and many thought that the coming Messiah might just be Elijah come back to life.  Again they asked him “Who are you?” and John professed the words of the prophet Isaiah as a voice crying out in the wilderness “Make straight the way of the Lord.”  They wanted to know why he was baptizing in the Jordan River if he was not a prophet.  John the Baptist had everyone’s attention.  This was something that everyone was taking notice of and there was and electricity in the air.  Momentum is building and the day comes to an end.

The Bible tells us in John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.’”  Behold the Lamb.  Those three words hit me as I read that passage.  In the midst of all of this excitement, another day of baptizing and preaching, John proclaims Behold the Lamb.  The focus of all of the prophesies of Elijah and Isaiah and all of the other prophets is now centered on the Lamb.  Sure, there were lambs that were sacrificed regularly on behalf of the Israelite nation at the direction of God.  The sacrifice of the lamb and the blood of the lamb was what kept the death angel from entering the houses of the Israelites in Egypt.  It was the blood of the lamb that set them free.  It was the blood of the lamb on the Passover that atoned for their sins before a Holy God.  John the Baptist now says Behold the Lamb.  It is this same Lamb that we read of in Revelation 5 who is in the throne room of heaven between the twenty-four elders and the Father on the throne  and all living creatures, angels upon angels, and the elders are praising and saying with a loud voice “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain…”  Revelation 7:17 says “For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide then to springs of water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”  Revelation 21:22-23 says “And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the LordGod the Almighty and the Lamb.  And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.”  Revelation 22:3 says “No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him.”  Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1 that we were ransomed with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb…” 

Why a lamb and not a lion?  Have you ever thought about that?  Never in the New Testament is Jesus referred to as a lion.  In fact, Satan is called a roaring lion, but Jesus is always called the Lamb.  Jews were looking forward to the Lion of Judah who would come as Messiah to conquer the enemy and deliver them from oppression.  But John tells us to Behold the Lamb.  It was the blood of the lamb that delivered the Israelite nation from the wrath of God but they wanted deliverance from the oppressing nations around them.  They missed the importance of the lamb.

Behold the Lamb.  What is it that we are wanting deliverance from?  This pandemic is driving people crazy.  People are crying out for deliverance.  People who have not prayed in years are now praying and asking for deliverance.  Deliverance from what?  The virus.  I have mentioned this to all of you before.  This little virus that you cannot see with your naked eye has doctors confused, leaders of nations meeting around the clock, hospitals and nurses working tirelessly, and the economic markets in a frenzy while the Lamb sits on the throne.  Behold the Lamb.  Some of us are frustrated and worried and anxious about all kinds of things.  Even as Christians, we are prone to be anxious and worry.  We know that God is faithful.  We know that He loves us.  We know that He is in control of all things.  We know that He knows our needs.  We know that His timing is absolutely perfect.  We know that He always does what is right.  BUT, we worry.  Behold the Lamb.  This is not it.  This is not where it all ends.  I want to remind you that this Lamb, the Lamb that we are told to behold, He takes away the sin of the world.  Do you realize that?  Because of the Lamb you have peace with God and you are secure for all eternity.  There is nothing, NOTHING, that can separate you from the love of God!  Have you forgotten what Jesus has done for us?  Are you grateful for what Jesus has done for you?  Webster defines “behold” as “to perceive through sight or apprehension:  SEE.”  It goes on to define it as “to gaze upon.”  Behold the Lamb.  Gaze upon the Lamb. 

We have not been able to meet this morning, but what we can do, is together, Behold the Lamb.  My desire each and every time that we meet, whether it be on Sundays or Wednesdays, whether it be talking face to face or emailing and texting, is to point you to Jesus.  I want for each of you to experience Jesus in a new and fresh way every time we meet.  Not some new fangled way, but to somehow some way prompt you to Behold the Lamb.  Spend some time today as you watch the various programs and church services, videos and movies, gazing upon the Jesus of the Bible who died for you and now lives for you.  He is Risen, and He is coming again.  Behold the Lamb!!!