Agnus Dei

THE AGNUS DEI

It is often said that "familiarity breeds contempt" and this can certainly be so with the regular use of prayers in our services. It is all too easy to let the words slip from our lips Sunday by Sunday, and fail to appreciate the significance of those words, let alone the rich meaning of the imagery being employed.

Such a case is the singing or saying of the Agnus Dei, after the breaking of the bread for distribution and before our reception of it at Communion.

The words are all too familiar.

"Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: grant us your peace" .

The origin of this anthem, as indeed its meaning, is covered in mystery.

Certainly in the fifth century, there is evidence that similar words were used in the Gloria in Rome at Masses celebrated by bishops. These we still retain in the Gloria which we sing or say:

"Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,

Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world;

have mercy upon us" .

In the east, especially in Syria, these words became detached and used separately at the end of the 7th Century at the time of breaking of the bread. The words "Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us" were in fact recited many times.

It is not until the tenth century, in the Liturgy of St James, that we find them reduced to three repetitions. At the same time, the final "have mercy on us" is replaced with the words "Grant us your peace" because in those days the Peace took place just prior to their recitation.

Most of the Continental Reformers kept the Agnus Dei in their revision of the Mass, as did Archbishop Cranmer in the English Prayer Book of 1549, though he dropped it in his revision of 1552. It did not reappear until Series 1 and now is an optional anthem in the ASB.

The words of the Agnus Dei are usually attributed to John the Baptist, who proclaims: "Look, there is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world".

What then does John the Baptist mean by these words?

Firstly, he could be referring to the lambs sacrificed every morning and evening in the daily worship of the Temple, until its destruction in AD70. After all, he was the son of a priest of the Temple and would have been very familiar with its worship.

Secondly, he could be referring to the 'lamb' which God supplied when Jacob was about to sacrifice his only son Isaac. In other words, Jesus is the sacrificial victim provided by God.

More probably, he was referring to the Passover lamb. After all, the death of Jesus occurred at Passover time. This was an annual feast in which the Jews recalled their deliverance from the bondage of slavery in Egypt.

You will recall that the blood of the lambs was sprinkled on the door posts of the homes of Israelites, so that when the angel of death passed over, killing the first born of all the Egyptians, they would be spared. In other words the Iamb is a symbol of both God's deliverance and protection. So Jesus is seen as the deliverer from the bondage of sin and the protector of his chosen people.

Whilst this may help us to know what John the Baptist meant by the use of the words "Lamb of God", it is not quite that simple. It is complicated by those additional words "that takes away the sin of the world". You see, Iambs were not used in sacrifice to take away sins. Goats were but not Iambs. Goats were sent out into the wilderness bearing the sins of the people on the Feast of Atonement, but not lambs. So unless we suggest John has got lambs and goats muddled up, it does not fully answer our question.

On the other hand, the idea of bearing the sin of others is found in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. Talking about the "Suffering Servants" the author says:

"Yet it was our afflictions he was bearing,

our pain he endured...

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

crushed for our iniquities. . .

We had all strayed like sheep

each of us going his own way,

but the Lord laid on him

the guilt of us all."

"He was maltreated, yet he was submissive

and did not open his mouth;

like a sheep led to the slaughter,

like a ewe that is dumb before the shearers,

he did not open his mouth."

Although these words originally referred to Israel's vocation, perhaps John the Baptist was the first person to see that they could also refer to the vocation of Jesus. After all they are a very apt description of Jesus before Pontius Pilate where he continued to remain silent, in spite of provocation to do otherwise. However, Isaiah is not talking about a lamb but about a lamblike person.

In an attempt to resolve this difficulty, some scholars have suggested there has been a mistranslation of the Aramaic and for "servant" we should read "lamb", but the body of opinion is against this, and so we are left with the dilemma of not knowing exactly what John the Baptist had in mind when he said "Look, there is the Iamb of God that takes away the sin of the world".

The problem is further compounded by the fact that we do not know to what extent, the writer of the Fourth Gospel was influenced by the worship and theological thinking when he wrote at the end of the first century. In other words, the words used by John

the Baptist may reflect more the thinking of the early church, than that of his own.

Certainly, the death of Jesus was being interpreted in terms of a sacrifice for sin, once and for all, and all the Gospel writers agree that it took place at the time of the Passover.

Furthermore, the Eucharist which was first celebrated at the time of the Passover was also seen to be a calling to mind of the sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross.

Finally, we also have a picture of the Eucharistic worship of heaven in the Book of the Revelations in which "the Iamb" features prominently - in fact there are 29 references. The author describes his vision with these words: "Then I saw a Lamb with marks of sacrifice on him, standing with the four living creatures between the throne and the elders...The Lamb came and received the scroll from the right hand of the One who sat on the throne. And as he did so, the four living creatures and twenty four elders prostrated themselves before the Lamb. Each of the elders prostrated themselves before the Lamb. Each of the elders had a harp; they had golden bowls full of incense, the prayers of God's people, and they were singing a new song". "You are worthy to receive the scroll and break its seals, for you were slain and by your blood you bought for God people of every tribe and language, nation and race. You have made them a royal house of priests for our God, and they shall reign on earth."

My friends, what exactly John the Baptist had in mind when he said: "Look, there is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world" is lost in the annals of time. Nevertheless, the image of the Lamb is rich with meaning from the Bible. And it is that Lamb we worship, together with those in heaven in the Eucharist, thanks to the recovery and reinstating of the Agnus Dei by the liturgical reformers of recent time.