Behold The Child Who Takes Away Sin

Text: John 1:19-28

In the name of Jesus.  Amen.

In our reading from the Gospel of John, there is a profound statement. This may be the most profound statement in all of scripture.  John the Baptist lifts his voice and points not to himself, not to the crowds, not to the pious religious elite, but to Jesus, and says, 

“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Now, notice that John the Baptist does not tell us to look inward. He does not instruct us to try harder. He does not flatter us with words about our potential or advise us on how to self-actualize. Instead, he points to Jesus.

And so, these words of John are not sentimental or vague. They are not religious wrapping paper. They are not symbolic fluff. Rather, they are a weighty, concrete declaration of what the Christ child has come into the flesh to do. John’s proclamation is a divine sermon in one sentence: 

Look at the One who alone can do for us - what we cannot do for ourselves.

This, Baptized Saints, is why we rejoice over Christmas—not simply because of a birthday celebration or an opportunity to express goodwill, but because in the story of Christmas, we are confronted with the staggering truth that the Son of God has come into the world to take away sin. 

Listen up right now!  

Forgiveness is not a myth. It is not poetry. It is reality. The child wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger is the Son of God, clothed in flesh and blood.  He came not to inspire or to advise, but to save. He was born to bear sin. He was born to die. He was born to be our substitute. And so, when John says, “Behold,” he is inviting — and indeed commanding— you and me to turn our gaze away from ourselves, away from our religious achievements, away from our sin, and to fix our eyes upon Jesus, who alone carries away the weight of the world’s guilt.

Let us be clear: if there were no sin, there would be no Christmas. In other words, Jesus’s birth that Christmas long ago is not God’s response to a neutral or mildly broken world. The birth of Jesus is not a gentle heavenly outreach to encourage good behavior. In other words, Christmas is not necessary unless sin is a real problem - and it is. 

Please sit up in your pews and listen: sin is not a surface-level blemish or a behavioral hiccup. It is a deep condition of you and me. It is a curse; it is a virus. It is death wrapped around us. The fall into sin has rendered humanity helpless – bound - spiritually dead. And because of this—because of the rebellion of Adam and Eve, because of our guilt, because of the corruption that infects not only the world around us but the very fiber of our being — Christ came.

So, Christmas is not God making a polite gesture toward a few struggling souls. Instead, Christmas is the radiant dawn of righteousness breaking into the darkness. It is heaven descending into the depths of the earth’s corruption. It is the Light coming into the world, not to shine generally, but to illuminate a very specific truth: we are sinners, and Jesus is the Savior. 

And so, Christ steps into the world—not as a distant deity hovering above suffering, but as a man who will bleed, who will suffer, who will be crushed. He came to deal with sin directly, not by ignoring it, but by bearing it.

Now, the words “takes away” are worth mentioning too. Jesus does not merely observe sin. He does not merely analyze or minimize it. He does not pretend it isn’t there. No, Jesus takes sin away. He shoulders it. He bears it upon Himself. He becomes the sin-bearer. The sin of the world—yours, mine, everyone’s—is placed upon Him, and He carries it all the way to the cross. Never forget, Jesus is the scapegoat, the Passover Lamb, the fulfillment of every sacrifice ever made in the Old Testament. 

* * *

Let’s pause and drive this home a bit further.  Let’s take a moment to ponder where we are.  We are in the last week of Advent. Advent is a time of the year when we prepare.  Indeed, we prepare during Advent not for superficial happiness but for the coming of the Holy One who enters our darkness to bring light. John the Baptist, as the forerunner of Christ, exemplifies this spirit of Advent. When asked by the religious authorities who he is, he does not use the moment to build a following. He does not pander to their expectations or inflate his own significance. Instead, he denies being the Christ. He denies being Elijah. He denies being the Prophet. And finally, he says, 

“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’” 

John the Baptist refuses the spotlight. He knows his place. He exists to prepare the way and then to get out of the way.

And that is precisely what happens. When Jesus appears, John does not hesitate. He lifts his finger, he lifts his voice, and he points away from himself and directly to Jesus: 

“Behold, the Lamb of God.” 

This is the essence of Advent right now.  The Season of Advent points us to Christ.  In fact, that is what everything does in the church.  The goal of faithful preaching is to point to Christ.  The goal of our liturgy, our hymns, our catechesis, our life together - all of it exists to point away from ourselves and toward Christ.

But why? 

Because no one else can take away sin. Not Moses, not the prophets, not John the Baptist, and certainly not you. Your works cannot remove sin. Your good works cannot erase guilt. Your emotional sorrow cannot earn absolution. Only Christ takes away sin. And Christ - He takes your sin not away in part, but in full. He takes away all sin — small sins, respectable sins, hidden sins, shameful sins, habitual sins, forgotten sins, deliberate sins, accidental sins… He takes them all. He becomes sin. He is made to be sin, though He knew no sin, so that in Him you might become the righteousness of God.

And so, dear Christian, behold Christ this day! Fix your eyes upon Him, not only in December but always. Behold Him in the promises of the Gospel. Behold Him in the cleansing waters of Holy Baptism. Behold Him in the body and blood given and shed for you in the Sacrament. Behold Him in the preaching of the Word. Behold Him in the absolution that delivers heaven to your conscience.

And when you behold Jesus, mark this - you will know peace. In Jesus, your conscience, which is burdened by guilt, will find rest. Your heart, weighed down by shame, finds relief in Christ. The soul troubled by the fear of death finds hope in Christ. This is not a theory. This is the concrete and powerful reality of the Gospel. Christ Jesus has come into the world to save sinners. He is the gift of Christmas—not because He stayed in the manger, but because He went to the cross. 

Oh, how we need to hear this a 1,000 times: Jesus was born in Bethlehem so that He might be slain on Calvary. He was born of the Virgin Mary so that He might be crucified under Pontius Pilate. The wood of the manger points to the wood of the cross. The cries of the manger soon become the cry on the cross, “It is finished.” 

And so, as you prepare to celebrate Christmas, do not presume that it is up to you to get rid of your sins — even your small sins — through your own spiritual performance. Do not imagine that you must make yourself worthy of Christ’s forgiveness. Do not rob Christ of His mission. He came not to assist you in overcoming sin, but to bear your sin in your place and remove it as far as the east is from the west. He came to do what you cannot do. He came to fulfill the Law for you. He came to die for you. He came to rise for you. He came to give you forgiveness, life, and salvation – as a gift.

Therefore, behold Christ. Behold the Lamb. Behold the One who takes away your sin. Behold the One in whom you are forgiven. Behold the One in whom you are righteous. Behold the One in whom you have life. Behold Jesus: your brother, your master, your king, your salvation. 

In the name of Jesus. Amen.