John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said,”Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.He is the one of whom I said,’A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of mebecause he existed before me.’I did not know him,but the reason why I came baptizing with waterwas that he might be made known to Israel.”John testified further, saying,”I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heavenand remain upon him.I did not know him,but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,’On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain,he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”

John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.“ What a thing to say. We moderns have a tendency to gloss over this and miss how significant it is. We tend to think today that this is a reference to Jesus’ nature, meek, and peacful, and that is true…, or we may think that it is just another name for God, that we have learned over the years of sunday school and from the bible. But we miss it because we are 2000 years removed from the event, and we dont fully understand what is happening here. What John is saying here is scandalizing to the temple leaders and the romans, who as we learn in the surrounding passages, were present observing what John was doing…, but this statement was even more meaningful to the jews gathered around at this moment.

No first century jew did not know what lambs were used for…, primarily in the passover sacrifice. Every jewish man was supposed to raise lambs, pick the very best one from his flock, and bring that “unblemished lamb” to the temple every year for the passover sacrafice. Even if a jew was not a scholar of the law, every one of them new this law, and lived it out every year. So continuing the explanation…, what was the passover sacrifice done for? Every jew, every year would pilgrimage to jerusalem, to celebrate the passover, make the passover sacrifice of their “unblemished lamb” and as a result receive the forgiveness of sins for themselves and their families.

But John calls Jesus the “Lamb of god, who takes away the sins of the world.” This reference can mean only one thing! That Jesus is the lamb, that God himself is offering for the forgiveness of all sins for all of the world. WOW, consider the depth of what the means! But it is also a direct reference to prophecy of the messiah, how we would know Him, and what He would do when He arrived.. Jesus is that messiah, but He is also the God of the universe, the one promised to the jews for centuries.

This is a crazy thing to comprehend. John the baptist is telling the whole world, the jews, the temple leaders and even some roman citizens that were looking on, that Jesus is God! In that context it is easier to understand how big a deal this statement was. It was not only blasphemy by the jews, and it was punishable by death by the romans to call anyone other than ceasar god. But that is only true, of course, If Jesus is not God. We today, know he is, but many at this time did not. and so the shock factor on John’s statement cannot be understated.

So what is the message for us today, it is the same for those that were listening to John at that time. John is telling you too that Jesus is Lord, and that He came to save you from your sins… What are you going to do with that information. That is your call to consider today, and decide if you are going to love God and follow the teachings of His son, or if you are going to do your own will and ignore God. That is your choice, choose well, your eternity depends on it.

Oh lord, help me today to recognize your greatness and your kingship. and to give you the proper and due honer required. amen.