Behold the Lamb of God

 John 1v29-39

Behold Him in His work     1v29-34

“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith “Behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world”.

“Behold” is a word in the bible which encourages rapt attention…don’t miss this; drop whatever you are doing and occupy yourselves with this!  What an impact this must have had on those who heard it, such an impact that the writer John made the Lamb the predominant title in the Revelation, which he mentions 27 times.  What must this have conjured in the minds of Israelites who had sacrificed millions of lambs, over thousands of years, by way of approach to God, yet their nation was in subjection to their enemies!  Here is the Lamb of God who will not only cover for sins, but will take them away; also not only for the sins of Israel, but for the whole world!  Behind this awesome statement is the fact that Jewish ritual is no longer required, for in Christ the sin problem is solved. 

Genesis chapter 22  A lamb for an individual

Exodus 12              A lamb for an household

Leviticus 16            A lamb for the nation

John chapter 1        A lamb for the world!

This theme of the Lamb pervades the whole of scripture!

Genesis 22            The Lamb prophesied

Isaiah 53               The Lamb sacrificed

John 1                   The Lamb identified

Revelation 5          The Lamb glorified!

Indeed if we take the progressive revelation of scripture;

1st Peter 1v20 The Lamb pre-ordained before time

Genesis 4 The death of another necessary for approach to God

Genesis 22 God alone would provide the lamb

Exodus 12  The lamb must be slain

Leviticus 22 The lamb must be perfect 

Isaiah 53  The lamb is a person

John 1  The lamb is identified

Acts 8   The lamb is the Messiah

Revelation  The lamb is enthroned and glorified.

John says "Behold Him, this is He, He has come!

All this took time to sink in, but as time went on the reality began to dawn, that Christ was the fulfilment of all the Old Testament sacrifices, and God’s purpose were now all in Him.

It's almost as if John is saying, you were asking who am I? you should be asking who is He?  Here is the Lamb identified, the One predicted from before even we were a nation.  The sacrificial Lamb for all mankind has come.  The complete removal of sin-the very root principle of sin, the degrading power within every human being, He will take away.  By His one sacrifice He will eradicate sin from existence.  In the language of scripture;  Psalm 103v12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us”; Hebrews 10v14 “By one sacrifice He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.”  Of old, sins were covered, in Him they will be removed, because He destroyed in His death the power of sin, the ruling principle that dominated all lives.  The expounding of this stupendous truth is unfolded in the rest of New Testament teaching, but John simply states it here. 

“This is He…”   He has come, the Messiah of Israel, and Saviour of the world.  He is the man who pre-existed me, who is greater than me.  My coming to baptize is to present Him to Israel.  Even I didn’t know Him but I was given indisputable evidence.  He that sent me to baptize with water said unto me, “Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptiseth with the Holy Spirit.”   John was Jesus cousin, and, by the age of 30, he obviously knew Him humanly speaking, he knew Him as a person, he knew Him as family.  What He didn’t know is who He was as the Word of God, co-equal with God, Creator of the world, Light of the world, Saviour of the world, Sacrifice for the sins of the world.  John bare record saying “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him.”   Now he understood the reality of the One who in meekness came to be baptised by him…”I saw, and bear record that this is the Son of God !”

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