Jesus, The Lamb of God // John 1:29

Today’s verse comes from the beginning of the Gospel of John and records words uttered by John the Baptist (different John from the Gospel writer). John the Baptist saw Jesus coming and called Him the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Why a lamb? On one hand it refers to the gentile nature of the Lord, but He is so much more since He is also referred to as the Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5). The other reason we see Jesus referred to as the Lamb of God has to do with sacrifice. Lambs were highly valued and were to be brought to the Temple as a sacrifice to atone for sin and to bring people closer to God. This is exactly what Jesus did for you and me as the Lamb of God: He died for our sin, paid the debt for our spiritual bankruptcy, and made it possible for us to come back to God. Jesus, in other words, died a death we could not die to grant us the gift of eternity we could never earn. So, as we think about our verse for the day, let’s give thanks to “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”