John 1:29

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ~ John 1:29

 

During the Passover Feast, a lamb was sacrificed. Lambs were continually sacrificed, morning and evening, for the Jewish law intended to point out the continual efficiency of the blood of atonement. This sacrifice carried away the sins of the people, though only by representation. It was a temporary way of receiving forgiveness for sins committed. God had a better plan, a permanent plan, a plan for all mankind and not just those of the chosen race, the Hebrew people. His plan was for the whole world. John the Baptist points to Jesus as God’s plan for the atonement of mankind’s sins. It is for this He came and was born as incarnate, bearing our body’s image to take to the cross, our sin. Upon that cross, our sins and our punishment hung there with Him. Only Jesus qualified to do this, for as the paschal lamb was sacrificed at Passover, so Jesus was as unblemished as that lamb. No sin had captured Him, no sin had He committed, for perfect and whole was He. We cannot remove our sin stains without Him. Our sin clings to us, tarnishes us, and it keeps us prisoner to its call. Not so when the Lamb of God enters our life and our heart. Then, our sin is washed away, and is as far from us as the East is from the West, and as deep as the deepest cavern in the ocean. Only through acknowledging that the Lamb of God is the Son of God can we be free from the chains of bondage which encircle us though Satan and sin. Come, you who need freedom, come you who are downcast and living with the guilt of your sin, come to the Lamb of God, for He shed His blood for your soul.