Monday, March 29, 2010

Behold the Lamb

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
John 1:29

Years before, at the beginning of His ministry, John the Baptist had given a startling insight into the nature of Jesus’ work. Pointing to the One whose sandals, he said, he was not fir to untie, John declared Jesus to be “the Lamb of God.” From the very beginning, therefore, the motif of sacrifice had been woven into the story.

Sacrifice was a very familiar idea to the Jews. A lamb was used as a sacrifice during Passover[1] to remind faithful Jews of God’s deliverance of His people from the oppression of Pharaoh. When the blood of the lamb was sprinkled on the doorposts of the Israelites, the angel of death “passed-over” and they were saved. In the suffering servant prophecies of Isaiah, God’s chosen servant was to be “Led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”[2] At the time of Jesus, sacrifices were carried out, daily, in the temple in Jerusalem, in fulfillment of the Law.[3] The blood of an innocent animal was shed to atone for the sins of the people. Figuratively, their sins were “laid upon” the lamb. It bore their sin. Its death paid for their guilt. So, when John the Baptist described Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” the imagery was startlingly obvious. Here was a man whose life would be offered on behalf of sinful humanity. For all those who would receive Him, that sacrifice would be sufficient to overcome the condemnation caused by their sin, and to grant them peace with God.[4]

For us, the imagery is less immediate but no less telling. We no longer sacrifice spotless lambs on a stone altar, but we do try to fool ourselves into thinking that our actions can win acceptance with God. Holy Week reminds us that not one of us can do this. We cannot overcome the oppression of sin without the grace and mercy of God. And what we could not do, He took it upon Himself to do. The King who rode a donkey into Jerusalem was heading for a crown made, not of gold, but of thorns.







Lamb of God,
You take away the sin of the world.
Have mercy on me.
You take away the sin of the world.
Have mercy on me.
You take away the sin of the world.
Grant me Your peace.
Amen.


[1] Exodus 12:1-36
[2] Isaiah 53:7
[3] Exodus 29:38-42
[4] II Corinthians 5:19