The Lamb of God

“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29

John the Baptist, the anointed man of God who was sent ahead of Jesus to prepare the way for Him called Jesus the “Lamb of God”. But for what reason? John the Baptist could have called Him by so many of His other names (King of Kings, Prince of Peace, Son of Man, Messiah of Israel, Savior of the World, Son of God, etc.) but he chose to identify Jesus by calling him the Lamb of God. That title was loaded with meaning to the Jewish crowd who was with John the Baptist. John the Baptist laid stress on this point for the benefit of the Jewish audience who was with him. Identifying Jesus as a Lamb immediately marked Jesus as a sacrifice to God; the lamb had been God’s preferred sacrifice since Abel. God had already foreshadowed Jesus’ sacrifice when a lamb, “without blemish, a male…” Exodus 12:5, saved the entire Jewish people back in Egypt. But the lambs in Egypt were only for the Jewish people, Jesus, the Lamb of God, was sufficient to take away the sins of the whole world. Understanding this Jewish connection helps us to see the beautiful picture that God is making of saving this fallen world. It also helps us become better witnesses to the Jews.

All this information is from a series Zola Levitt did. “The Miracle of Passover” Zola is a Jew converted to Christian, and he has great insight on the Jewish traditions that help Christians better understand Christianity. I highly recommend reading his stuff, I have most of his stuff if anyone wants to borrow.

And picture is from http://www.breadonthewaters.com/add/0638_Jesus_fulfills_Passover_christian_clipart.jpg