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! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”
John 1:29-31 (ESV)
Lamb of God
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” What a statement! Such a proclamation. Life-changing, even more, transforming. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 “Lamb of God” reminded his audience of the Passover Lamb which was first sacrificed in Egypt to save their first-borns from the Angel of death. It was sacrificed each subsequent passover to remind them of God’s grace and forgiveness as well as their dedication of the firstborn (and themselves I imagine) to the Lord.
That the Lamb takes away the sin of the world shows He was the substitute for their sin. His death covers the sin of any who believe. In Chinese, the traditional character for righteousness is 義 which if made up of lamb (羊) over me (我) – the blood of the lamb covers me and makes me righteous. What a powerful witnessing tool to the Chinese. Check out this video.
Before John
John had already baptized Jesus at this point and had seen the Spirit descend on Jesus as a dove and heard God say, “This is my Son whom I love. With Him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) Jesus was John’s younger cousin so came after Him but John says Jesus was before him (not just standing before him, but existed before him). How can this be? Review John 1:1. Later in His ministry, the Jewish religious leaders asked Jesus who he was (like they asked John earlier). In reply, Jesus said, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am” (John 7:58). This is the same name God called Himself when talking to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14).
<- Reflection ->
- Jesus was sacrificed for your sins so you could become righteous.
- Thank Him for without it, we’d be helpless and hopeless.
- Consider memorizing and meditating on one of these verses.