Good Morning All,
John
1:29; “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 a very familiar verse for many of us. It is part of Jesus’ baptism when John
the Baptist sees Jesus and proclaims him to be the true Messiah, the Lamb of
God. We sing about “The Lamb of God.” We see and hear this phrase all the time,
but do we ever stop and think about what John is really trying to say here? John
is speaking volumes to the Scribes and Pharisees, to his disciples, to the
people, especially those who were hurting and broken. His words resonate with them,
and they should with us as well.
The Lamb of God. This is not some earthly
lamb from one of the local flocks which men would choose to bring to the Temple
to be sacrificed for their sins. It wasn’t even the Passover lamb which would
be sacrificed and eaten. These lambs were driven by the Law. These were lambs
which man was commanded to offer up. They were to be without blemish and often
were inspected by the priests to make sure they were good enough. They were to
atone for sin, but the sacrifice had to be repeated every time, every year,
without failure. And yet we see a great truth emerge. They didn’t get the job
done. They were repeated because they were always incomplete, they always fell
short.
In essence, John is telling everyone, your
works fall short. In every sacrifice, you tried to remove your sin but every
time you failed. Now to the leaders, this would have been a slap in the face
but to the hurting and to the broken it was the sweetest music to their ears.
For God, seeing and knowing that our works fail us, and we are left in a time
of turmoil, suffering, doubt, and fear turned to us a Father’s heart and gave
us the true gift, the Lamb, come down from heaven to be the true lamb. The lamb
that would complete what no earthly lamb could. This Lamb, born of a virgin,
was not a natural lamb as referred to in the Law but was indeed the Lamb that
came to be sacrificed on a cross for our sins. He indeed, is the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world.
We can find so much comfort here. My works,
which I know to be feeble and failing to appease God’s righteous judgment and
met by the Lamb who fulfills all my short comings, my failures. All my sins. Jesus takes all my sins, indeed all the sins
of the world and bears them to Calvary to atone for me and to satisfy God’
righteous judgment. Our sins are expunged, our sins are removed, and we receive
the righteousness of Jesus to stand before God and pray, “Father, hear me.”
Salvation is ours, freely given to us that we might know his mercy and grace.
John pointed to Jesus and proclaimed there, there is the one who gives us life.
Gracious Father, lead us
to always see our hope in Jesus. Guide us to know of your love, so freely given
to us that we may have peace. Calm the fears of a broken sinner. Lead him to
know your grace. Protect all your children from the onslaught of the devil and
his arrows. Help us to know peace in the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
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