The Challenge of Epiphany

Epiphany 2: 16th January 2005

Isaiah 49.1-7; 1 Corinthians 1.1-9; John 1.29-42

Israel promised to be a light to all the nations; Paul reminds the Corinthians they have all the gifts they need; John points to Jesus as the Lamb of God, the first disciples are called.

The other day the Gas man cometh... an engineer called at the house to check the ventilation round our boiler.... and as he was going he said, “No vicar I’ve met was able to explain why the date of Easter varies, when the date of Christmas doesn’t... so why?”

The answer is quite simply that the Church “took over” 25 December as the pagan celebration of mid winter and “Christianised it” by saying that was when we should celebrate the birth of Jesus - “the mass of Christ”, regardless of when he was actually born. Because, in one sense, the timing of his birth was less significant than that of his death. So it’s been convention since the earliest centuries in the Western church to celebrate the incarnation each year on 25 December. (In the Orthodox East things are slightly different, but that wasn’t the question the gas man was asking...)

And the reason Easter varies is because, according to the gospel accounts, Jesus was crucified at the Jewish Passover celebrations. And Passover each year was calculated according to the phase of the moon - as it is still today So the date of Passover varies each year; and so the date of Easter varies each year.

The significance of Passover...

The Passover is one of the most important of the Jewish festivals because it remembers their deliverance from slavery in Egypt.

You may remember that when the Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt the final plague was the death of the first born. Moses told the Israelites to slaughter a lamb and paint some of the blood on the door posts of their houses - that way the angel of death - or the ‘Angel of the Lord’ - would know to “pass over” their houses and not slaughter the first born within those houses marked with lamb’s blood.

So the blood of the lamb was what offered deliverance to the household and lead to their freedom from slavery.

Matthew Mark & Luke have the crucifixion happening on the very day the lambs were slaughtered - making it quite clear that for them there was deep significance for the death of Jesus who not just protected his people, but delivered his people from slavery, domination and oppression - in this case not by the Egyptian, but from sin. So Jesus’ death was bound up with the remembrance of Passover - the Last Supper was probably part of the Passover ritual; and just as the Passover pronounced liberation and freedom; new life and release from oppression for the Jews - so the triumphant death and resurrection of Jesus applied that liberation and deliverance to the whole of creation, not just the Jews.

So to call Jesus “the Lamb of God” was to make an association with the redemptive death he would die - not just the “Passover Lamb” for that year, for these people; but The Lamb of God for all time, for all people.

The Exodus in the Crucifixion...

Sacrifice is tied up with lambs throughout the Old Testament. Isaiah talked about the Suffering Servant, who people saw so clearly as depicting Christ, and the suffering servant is “led like a lamb to the slaughter” (Is 53.7), and “bears our sins” (Is 53.4). So Jesus’ death becomes a new, better and more fulfilling Exodus story: just as God delivered the Jews from slavery and oppression in Egypt, so God will deliver creation from an even older and darker slavery to and oppression by sin....

So right at the beginning of the gospel, John the B is giving us a fore warning of how - and why - Jesus would die. Not an accident, but a carefully planned method of salvation. Just as we’ve already seen in the Christmas story the shadow of the cross beginning to fall over the manger, so we see the same idea in the opening chapter of John’s gospel....

Also particularly in the time of the Maccabees - between OT & NT (“Inter-testamental period”), as Israel was being oppressed by the Greeks, just before the Romans took over - the deliverer, the conquering victor is presented as a horned Lamb. Judas Maccabaeus was so described - and so were David, Solomon and Samuel... the image speaks of God’s conquering champion.

The Lamb woven into our liturgy...

Jesus then as the Lamb of God, taking away the sins of the world, is a very ancient title of Christ and a very early way of understanding the death and resurrection. And it’s an image that is woven deep into the fabric of the language of the mass: listen throughout the liturgy:

• In the Gloria we’ve already sung “Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God you take away the sin of the world...”

• After the Lord’s prayer we sing again three times “Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world...” or “Jesus Lamb of God, have mercy on us..”

• At the invitation to communion I say “Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, blessed are those who are called to his supper..”

Paul later writes to the Corinthians what we know today as the “Easter anthems”: “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us...” (1 Cor 5.7) And John the Revelator - St John the Divine - used the title 29 times of Jesus in the book of Revelation.

So why focus on Jesus as the 'Lamb of God'?

To speak of Jesus as the “Lamb of God” is to speak of love and sacrifice, of deliverance and freedom, of triumph and victory.

This passage is set for us in Epiphany because it follows on immediately from John’s baptism, and - as we saw last week - that was a time of revelation - a time of Jesus being made manifest, (shown) as being God’s agent, God’s Son... So it is appropriate that in Epiphany we should consider the title of Christ following on from his baptism, as “Lamb of God”.

But so what?

Again we are challenged to see what is going on. Particularly in John’s gospel we are encouraged to see the significance of the events of Jesus’ life. John takes only 7 miracles of Jesus - 7 being the perfect number - and for him they are signs which point to something significant about Jesus and the work he came to achieve: the miracles in themselves were only unusual happenings, but they served to point to deeper, universal truths which show who Jesus is, why he’s come and what God thinks of us...

The Challenge of Epiphany - looking beneath the surface...

So the Epiphany challenge is to look beyond the surface level, to allow ourselves to be drawn deeper into the mystery of God. And immediately following on from John’s pronouncements about Jesus, disciples are called. The revelation, the manifestation, the Epiphany has a purpose: discipleship. John points to Jesus, so two of John’s disciples (Andrew & his friend) become disciples of Jesus, and Andrew goes straight to find his brother and tell him the Good News...

So the revelation of God, the showing Forth is a prelude to something: it’s not just to give us a warm fuzzy religious feeling; it’s to deepen our faith and to encourage us to share with others, so that more may see, understand and become disciples.

But notice too, that this is not dependent on us... Jesus’ words to the disciples were not “Here are the 10 spiritual laws... here are three things you have to do... here is a creed you must learn... here is an Alpha course you must go on... here is a society you must join...” he said “Come and see...” Those are his words to us, and they are our words to others.

Notice the two evangelists in the passage: John and Andrew. What did they do? J the B said “Look! Over there! Look to Jesus - not me...” and Andrew simply told his brother what he’d seen...

Come and see what Jesus - the Lamb of God - has in store for you and for me...

We don’t have to coerce, we don’t have to have all the answers, because we are simply trying to effect an introduction... we’re doing what a good host would do at a party: we’re introducing people to Jesus and not standing between people and Jesus.

If we have a message - which we communicate in words, and in life style and in actions, it is that Jesus, the Lamb of God is God’s word on love and sacrifice, on deliverance and freedom, on triumph and victory. We don’t have to live under burdens... we don’t have to live with guilt or feelings of failure.. we don’t have to live with oppression, allowing someone or something to control our lives...

To call Jesus the Lamb of God is to sum up his mission, God’s love towards us, God’s desire for our freedom and God’s plan for our future.... so come and see what Jesus, the Lamb of God, has in store for you and for me...

Fr Andrew J Perry
Rector, St John the Evangelist, Pevensey Rd, St Leonards on Sea

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