As we journey through John's Gospel, we encounter one of the most powerful declarations in Scripture: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" Today, we'll explore what it means to truly see Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.
John 1:29 "The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!'"
When John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and proclaimed Him as "the Lamb of God," he wasn't just using poetic language. He was tapping into 2,000 years of Jewish history and sacrificial imagery that his audience would have immediately understood.
Think about it. From the very beginning in Genesis 3, when God clothed Adam and Eve with animal skins, the pattern was established: sin requires a substitute. God didn't just forgive Adam and Eve with a casual "no worries" - their sin demanded blood, demanded death.
This theme crescendos through Scripture. Abraham binding Isaac on Mount Moriah, only to have God provide a ram caught in the thicket. The Passover lambs, whose blood protected Israel from the destroyer. The elaborate Day of Atonement ritual, with blood sprinkled on the mercy seat.
For 1,500 years, the Jewish people had been asking, "Where is the final lamb? When will all this bloodshed end?" And now, standing on the banks of the Jordan, John declares: "There He is. The Lamb of God."
This isn't theological abstraction. It's intensely personal. Your sin demands justice. God is too holy, too righteous to simply look the other way. But on that wooden cross, Jesus - perfect, spotless, innocent - bore the punishment you deserved. He wasn't just paying a penalty; He was absorbing your guilt - but there’s more:
The most terrifying reality about the cross wasn’t the physical pain; it was Jesus’ cry, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" Jesus experienced total dereliction so you wouldn't have to.
Have you truly beheld the Lamb? Have you looked to Him and believed? Or are you still trying to atone for your own sin, still carrying the weight of guilt that He already bore?
What does it mean to you personally that Jesus is "the Lamb of God"?
How does understanding the Old Testament sacrificial system deepen your appreciation for Christ's work on the cross?
In what areas of your life are you still carrying guilt that Jesus has already taken away?
Stay dialed in,
Jonny Ardavanis
