The Joy of Glory

John 1:29-31 (click here)
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

Reflection
Behold him. See him. Pay attention to this fact…

Jesus Christ is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Remember Isaac’s question to his Father as he was unknowingly walking to his own death, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb?” Isaac does not behold the lamb for the sacrifice…and now, in John 1:29, John the Baptist calls back 2000 years to Isaac and forward 2000 years to all of us… “Behold the Lamb of God.”

“Of God.” This is the Lamb provided by God that Abraham looked forward to with the words, “God will provide for himself the lamb…”

If you remember, in Genesis 22, God did not actually provide a lamb, but a ram. I always wondered why? It seemed like a glitch in the story to me, but why sweat the details…right?

I have actually come to see this detail as beautifully extraordinary! I could be wrong, but I think God provided a ram because it wasn’t time for his Lamb. The ram was a picture, a shadow of what was to come. The true Lamb of God who would be sacrificed in Isaac’s place and in all of our places… that true Lamb was Jesus Christ!

“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

“..takes away the sin…” Like a spotless lamb, Jesus was literally spotless. He had no sin, so that he could take on yours and mine… in truth… the sin of the world! Anyone in this world who trusts in him… Christ has borne their sin upon the cross!

Behold him. See him. Pay attention to this fact…

Jesus Christ is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.