Lent - Pt 29

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:29-34 ESV).

In order to fully understand the significance of our reading today we ought to revisit the story when Abraham took his only son Isaac to Moriah because God had commanded him to offer him as a burnt offering (cf. Genesis 22). Isaac questioned his father, “Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham responded to his child that “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” As Abraham was about to sacrifice his own son on the altar, God stopped him and provided a ram to take the place of Isaac. This is one of the first references to the Messiah being a “lamb of God” provided by God. The names of God tell us important information about who God is. So do the names of Jesus, and we hear about Jesus being the Lamb of God a lot, especially at Easter. To connect the dots I want to turn our attention deeply into the history of the concept of the lamb for the burnt offering found in the context of the Old Testament. Animal sacrifices are found all throughout books in the Old Testament. These blood offerings acted as a temporary covering for sin (cf. Leviticus 4:35). So the purpose of animal sacrifice and offerings was sanctification, righteousness (or right standing with God), and forgiveness. Blood offering was always important. The writer of Hebrews helps with that concept, saying, “For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). Lambs were almost exclusively used since they were known for their white coats, and white was a symbol of purity and cleanliness. Jesus is the Lamb that God provided to take away all sins. Abraham did not have to sacrifice his only son, because God chose to sacrifice his son to atone for our sins. We no longer have to live in anxiety laboring to justify our existence. Our justification is in Christ, the perfect, spotless Lamb of God who took away our sins and the sins of the world. That is the heart of our Gospel!