March 2 2022

Ash Wednesday March 2nd 2022

Old Testament: Joel 2:12-19

Psalm: Psalm 51

Epistle: 2nd Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Gospel: John 1:29-34 (35-37)

Sermon Text: John 1 and Joel 2

Sermon Title: “Witnesses to Christ: John the Baptist”

Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; Amen.

The Lenten series which the various circuit pastors will be sharing with you on Wednesday evenings this year is entitled “Witnesses to Christ”. It is quite a diverse group of witnesses/people that we will be hearing about, and not all of them are believers. We will hear about Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus; and Peter, the disciple who denied even knowing Jesus on Good Friday; and Malchus, the servant/slave of the high priest, who had his ear cut off by Peter and then healed by Jesus; and Barabbas, a notorious prisoner who had committed murder; whom the crowds chose to free over Jesus; and Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who sentenced Jesus to death at the urging of the crowds.

And tonight, we will hear about John the Baptist. All of the other witnesses have some connection to the events of what we call Holy Week, but not John the Baptist. He was imprisoned for a time and then martyred for his faithful proclamation of Christ; long before the crucifixion and bodily resurrection of Jesus.

In his Gospel, the Apostle John described him in this way, “There was a man sent from God … He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light (Jesus), that all might believe through him”. (John 1:6-7) In fact, the word “witness” is used of John the Baptist 14 times in the Gospel of John. “He was not the light, but he came to bear witness about the light”. (John 1:8)

John confessed to the crowds “I am not the Christ”. (John 1:20b) He described himself as “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness; make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said”. (John 1:23) John humbly declared of Jesus, “I am not worthy to untie His sandals” (John 1:27) and “He must increase and I must decrease”. (John 3:30) John’s preaching ministry was “not at all about me”; rather it was all about Christ. So it is with all faithful proclaimers of God’s Holy Word; it is not about them, but rather about the Gospel they proclaim.  

The things I just mentioned, “took place in Bethany, across the Jordan, where John was baptizing”. (John 1:28) He was bearing faithful witness to Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29b) by His sacrificial death on the cross. John is saying; Look! Pay Attention to this Lamb and what He is saying and doing.  

Notice that the verb here is present tense; not the Lamb who will one day in the distant future accomplish this, but One who even now “takes away” our sins. For “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday and today and forever”. (Hebrews 13:8) “Who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty”. (Revelation 1:8) Christ Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Passover Lamb; to whom John the Baptist bore bold witness.

Remember the account of the Passover in Exodus 12. The Israelites were to take a perfect lamb (unblemished) and “kill it in the evening, and take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the house in which they eat”. (Exodus 12:6b-7) The blood of the lamb on the doorposts “shall be a sign for you … and when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and no plague shall fall upon you when I smite the land of Egypt”. (Exodus 12:13)  

The lives of the Israelites were spared if their house was covered with the blood of the Passover lamb but in those houses which were not covered with the blood; The Angel of Death killed the firstborn living there. Their very lives were spared because the blood of the Lamb covered them; and soon they would be able to leave their life of physical slavery in Egypt.  

As the Apostle Paul said “Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed”. (1st Corinthians 5:7) The blood of Christ, our Passover Lamb takes away the sins of the world. That includes every sin or every person who ever has lived or ever will live. That includes every single sin that we ourselves have committed; every single one. That also includes every single sin committed against us; again, every single one.  

As Luther declared, “anyone who wishes to be saved must know that all of their sins have been placed on the back of this Lamb”. (John commentary) And the prophet Isaiah, “the Lord laid upon Him the iniquity of us all”. (Isaiah 53:6) “Christ not only takes away the guilt of sins committed by us, He also takes away the shame of sins committed against us”. (CPH sermon for Lent 2022) All this has been done “for us and for our salvation” by Christ our Lord.

In his ministry announcing Jesus, the Christ, the Savior of the world, John the Baptist proclaimed a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins … preparing the way of the Lord” (Luke 3:3b, 4b) urging in his hearers both good works and a turning from sin. The prophet Joel also sounds an alarm, pleading with the people to repent, knowing that the coming “Day of the Lord is great and awesome”. (Joel 2:11a)  

Joel also invites, exhorts, warns, pleads, with us as well; “Return to Me with all your heart (declares the Lord) with fasting, with weeping, with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments”. (Joel 2:12-13a) Acknowledge; confess your sins to the Lord (the Lamb of God) so that you may freely receive the forgiveness that Jesus won for you and for me and for all, by His sacrificial death on the cross and bodily resurrection from the dead. “Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love”. (Joel 2:13b)  

Knowing that He is gracious, we boldly return/gather around the means of grace, the Word and the Sacrament. As Joel declared “gather the people; Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. Behind the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say; Spare Your people O Lord and make not Your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations … then the Lord had pity on His people”. (Joel 2:16-18)

Knowing that He is merciful, we remember the words of the Apostle John, “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. (1st John 1:9) Therefore, return to the Lord as King David did saying “I acknowledged my sin to You; I did not cover up my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord and You forgave the iniquity of my sin”. (Psalm 32:5) “These words are trustworthy and true”. (Revelation 22:6a) “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. (John 1:29b)  

Behold the One who took all of our sins and shame upon Himself on the cross; that through faith in Him, when we die physically, we will not die eternally, but rather live with Him eternally in heaven. “For we have a sure and certain hope of the (bodily) resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ”. (Committal liturgy) “To Him be the glory, forever and ever. Amen”. (Hebrews 13:21b)

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