Bible Verse: “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’” John 1:29
Scripture Reading: John 1:19-42
Growing up on a hobby farm, raising and butchering animals were not exactly foreign concepts.
The chickens, rabbits, goats, rabbits, pigs, rabbits (did I mention the rabbits?) were part of our chores, giving them life and, when the time came, taking that life.
It was a matter of food. In Disney terms, it was the circle of life, and it was simply natural. However, there was no ritualistic element to this process. It was simply life and death.
In ancient Israel, however, some animal death was a weighty matter indeed. From the time of Moses, Israel had known sacrifice as the way for sins to be forgiven.
Going all the way back into the Law, the sacrificial slaughter of animals was prescribed for a variety of situations, including the forgiveness of sin (Leviticus 5:10 offers a good summary of the practice, and Leviticus 16:22 expands the significance from the individual to the nation as a whole).
But when John the Gospel writer places these words in the mouth of his baptizing namesake, two things would have kept the hearers of John and the readers of the Gospel at full attention: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
First, and perhaps most shocking, is the identification of a person as the sacrificial lamb. Whether or not John the Baptizer fully knew what he was saying or not, the words themselves painted a very specific picture. The lamb that took away the sins was sacrificed. Since the Passover, the blood of the chosen lamb was shed; its life ended so that others may live.
In the first public recognition of Jesus as someone significant, John utters words that are deeply theologically significant and prophetic.
In John’s Gospel, before anything happens in Jesus’s life, we learn that He is the Creator who gave life (John 1:1-5) and that His own life will be sacrificed.
Second, forgiveness of sins through the sacrificial lamb was unique to Israel. The individual Israelite could sacrifice for forgiveness, and the high priest would offer an annual national sacrifice. But John’s proclamation opened forgiveness to cover the sins of the world. The Israelite institution took on global significance. The blessing of the world promised to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3) would be realized in the person of Jesus.
Prayer: God, I often take things for granted about how You have worked and what You have done to reconcile the world to Yourself. Help me remember the sacrifice that it took for Jesus to be the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world.
Reflection: “The sins of the world” is all-inclusive. Nothing is beyond the reach of Jesus’s sacrifice. Thank God today that the Lamb of God has covered all of your sins.
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