Behold the Lamb of God!

"The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."—John 1:29

Richard Kindig

Jesus identified John the Baptist as being among the greatest prophets (Luke 7:28). After all, God granted John the unique honor of introducing the Messiah to the nation of Israel. Considering all the metaphors John might have used to describe Jesus to his people, he settled on only one: a lamb. "Behold the Lamb of God . . ."

Many Pictures of The Lamb

Abel’s acceptable sacrifice was the best lamb of his flock. When Abraham walked toward Moriah, he expressed his faith that God would provide the lamb for the sacrifice; and of course he did. At the greatest personal cost to himself we can imagine, he delivered up his own son. In Isaiah’s most passionate prophecy of Messianic suffering and sacrifice, he twice uses the figure of a lamb to depict the innocence and meekness of our Redeemer (Isa. 53:7).

When the glorified Jesus delivered his revelation to the Apostle John, he again used the lamb as a prominent figure. The victorious "lion of the tribe of Judah," who alone is worthy to unlock the seven seals of God’s plan, is presented not as warlike and awe-inspiring but as "a little lamb having been slain" (Rev. 5:6, based on the meaning of the original Greek word for lamb, Strong’s #721). The blood, which is declared to be so efficacious that it can purify individual followers of Jesus of their personal sins, is the blood of the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8; 7:14).

To the early church, the lamb was the most fitting symbol of their Savior and Lord. "In very old sepulchers the lamb stands on a hill amid the four rivers of Paradise, or in the Baptist’s hand. It sometimes carries a milk-pail and crook to represent the Good Shepherd. In the 5th century it is encircled with a nimbus. . . . In the 6th century it bears a spear. . . . In 692, the council of Trullo ordered the image of the Savior to be substituted for the Lamb."1

This fascination with the lamb, and the hypocritical way in which the apostate church coupled a show of piety with its warlike tendencies, is revealed in the symbols of Revelation, chapter 13. There, the crude and repulsive beast which represents the bombastic early manifestations of apostate Christendom gets a new lease on life from a lamb-like two-horned beast. We are not to be fooled by the soft outward demeanor: it still speaks "like a dragon" and has considerable power to deceive. The true sheep will follow Jesus’ voice; and they are thus pictured in Chapter 14:1, standing with their shepherd, the Lamb, on Mount Zion! The slain lamb . . . what is there about this unfortunate yet victorious creature that is so compelling?

The Central Value of Sheep

First, let us look at the nature of lambs. From Abel onward, sheep have been of great importance, the most valuable of all God’s creatures. All the patriarchs kept them. They provided meat, milk, leather, and wool. Their skins were used to keep wine, to make tents and hats and pillows. Even their horns were used, to store water and create music. A blast from a ram’s horn announced redemption, worship, and freedom.

Of all the domesticated animals, the lamb touches the hearts of many. The average lamb weighs as much as a baby—about 7 pounds at birth. Its cry is just like that of a human. Children are often drawn to a lamb like no other barnyard baby animal. In disposition a baby lamb is much like a puppy—energetic, playful, endearing. On the occasion when a lamb’s mother lacks milk or dies, a diligent shepherd can raise the orphan by bottle feeding. Such a lamb becomes a "pet," because it follows the children about the yard or even into the house. A lamb’s loyalty and playfulness strike a responsive cord in the children who care for it.

The Passover Lamb

When God began to prepare Israel for freedom from Egyptian bondage, he crafted a most dramatic and memorable experience with lessons lasting for thousands of years. Central to the plot is not one lamb but tens of thousands: every family that wished to be delivered had to select and eat a lamb.

The parts of speech chosen to describe the selection process in Exodus 12 indicate the bonding experience each family would undergo. In verse 3, each family is told to "take to yourselves a lamb." At that point the little animal is anonymous, personless. The family is to plan ahead during the next few days and consider their appetite compared to the size of the animal they will be consuming. If they think their household will have extra to share, they are instructed to invite their next-door neighbor. It is now "the lamb"—a specific, measurable sacrifice whose efficacy as a feast can be "counted" (verse 4). By the fourteentth day, however, each family has bonded to this household pet; and so God refers to it next as "your lamb" (verse 5). This lamb is by now eating out of the children’s hands, it has been given an endearing name, it lays on their bed. As the appointed time to take its life draws near, there is increasing anguish at the loss. "How can Abba kill our lamb?"

In every house, the final day before the night of Passover becomes a time for sober reflection. "We are slaves in Egypt. We are heirs of gracious promises. By God’s decree, our eldest child will be killed by the destroying angel if we do not sacrifice this lamb. Our lamb is not just a meal to fill our bellies; he is our passport to freedom, and our deliverance from death." Especially would the bittersweet value of the lamb be felt by the firstborn in each family; the lives of a sibling, a parent, an uncle, or a cousin were hinging upon the family’s obedient observance of God’s commands. Thoughts of personal unworthiness would mingle with sentiments of gratitude and hope as the impact of this unmerited substitution would sink in. We catch this personal sense of the grim importance of the lamb in Paul’s words: "Christ, our pesach (paschal lamb) is sacrificed for us" (1 Cor. 5:7).

Christ Died for OUR Sins

The figure of the lamb forces our attention to the personal dimension of Christ’s sacrifice. The Ransom, in its simplest sense, involves the exchange of Christ for Adam, and Paul boils it down to one righteous act in atonement for one willful act of disobedience (See Companion Bible comment on Romans 5:18).

The Passover sacrifice, by contrast, calls our attention to the many individual acts of disobedience and hardness of heart for which Christ suffers in his role as the world’s Redeemer. Each household selects, becomes acquainted with, and ultimately kills and eats its own personal lamb. Paul emphasizes this aspect of Christ’s sacrifice in Colossians 2:13,14. He refers to the writing nailed to Jesus’ cross; customarily it contained the charge of wrongdoing for which the condemned was being punished. Yet, to be a king is not a sin worthy of death. Paul implies that what should have been written in three languages above the slain lamb’s head were OUR many individual offenses. In Galatians 1:4 he brings out this thought again: "who gave himself for OUR sins." He gave himself to be the instrument used by God to remove sin from our hearts.

Martin Luther, in his commentary on the book of Galatians, makes much of that simple phrase, that Jesus was put to death for OUR sins.

"[Jesus gave] HIMSELF! For what? Not for a crown, not for a kingdom, not for our holiness and righteousness, but, for our sins. These words are very thunderclaps from heaven against all kinds of unrighteousness. . . . Our sins are taken away by no other means than by the Son of God delivered unto death. With such gunshot and artillery must all other notions be destroyed, all doctrine of merit, works, and superstitious ceremonies. For if our sins may be taken away by our own works, merit, and satisfaction, what needed the Son of God to be given for them. But seeing he was given for them it follows that we cannot put them away ourselves. . . . Our sins are so great, so infinite and invincible, that it is impossible for the whole world to satisfy for one of them. And surely the greatness of the ransom (namely, Christ the Son of God) declares . . . that we can neither satisfy for sin, nor have dominion over it. The force and power of sin is set forth, and amplified exceedingly by these words, ‘which gave himself for our sins.’. . .

"The whole world is thus affected, especially they that would be counted more holy and righteous than others . . . These confess with their mouths that they are sinners, and that they daily commit sins . . . but [by their actions they seem to imply] that they are able to put [their sins] away by their own works; yes, and besides all this they will bring their righteousness and deserts to Christ’s judgment-seat, and claim the recompense of eternal life for them at the Judge’s hand.

"Let us learn here of Paul to fully and truly believe that Christ was given, not for feigned sins, nor for small, but for great and huge sins; not for few but for many; not for conquered sins (for no man can overcome the smallest sin to put it away) but for invincible sins.

"Hold this fast, and suffer not thyself to be drawn away by any means from this most sweet definition of Christ, which rejoices the very angels in heaven: that is to say, that Christ is no Moses, no lawgiver, no tyrant, but a mediator for sins; a free giver of grace, righteousness, and life: who gave Himself, not for our merits, righteousness, and godly life, but for our sins. .. . He is no caster-down of the afflicted, but a raiser-up of those that are fallen, a merciful reliever and comforter of the heavy and broken-hearted."2

We cannot compare our sins to those of other brethren—not if we want to accept Jesus’ sacrifice on our own behalf. If we want to have a glimpse of how great our sins are in God’s eyes, we need only look at the precious price that God used to atone for them.

"Firstborns" Are Only the First

The Passover demonstrates another feature of God’s redemptive program: the shedding of the lamb’s blood set apart a special class among the entire nation that God was saving —the firstborn. These were made precious, not by their actions or beliefs, but by God’s decision to treat them specially, in advance of their brethren. After the night had passed, and the miraculous nature of their deliverance became apparent, these firstborn ones became the leaders and benefactors of their people. Paul applies this picture to the church of Christ: "the church of the firstborn, [whose names are] written in heaven" (Heb. 12:23).

This Passover symbolism is one of the strongest proofs we have that Christians saved in this age are not the only group who benefit from the blood of the Lamb. "He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations; and he shall shepherd them with a staff of iron . . . even as I received of my Father. . . . Hear what the spirit says to the churches" (Rev. 2:26, 27, 29).

Yes, God delivers every firstborn who abides under the blood and eats of the feast. But in the morning, the entire nation starts its journey; and on the third day, after Satan takes his last stand and is swept away by the waters of the Red Sea, the church of the firstborn shares its victory from death with the rest of its family. This is truly "good tidings of great joy, which shall be to ALL PEOPLE!"

The Lesson of Christian Unity

When the blood of the lamb was shed for us, and by faith we partook of all of it in our home, we became part of God’s family. Our humanity makes us "sheep of his pasture" (Psa. 100:3), but our participation in the feast makes us doubly "his sheep" and able to render holy service of our own (John 10:1-16).

This participation in the flock of God that we enjoy is another forceful reminder of the unifying arrangement of the Passover itself. When each Jewish father put his hand to the lamb’s neck to sacrifice it, the family was not permitted to set forth from the house again until the destroying angel had passed over. As the blood drained into the shallow basin or hollowed door-threshold, each member of the house became in a very real sense "blood-bought." Using pure hyssop branches, the father leaned out the door and dipped the blood and daubed it onto the lintel and side posts of their entrance. To leave would imply not only coming out from "under" the blood sprinkled above their head, but also to trample the blood at the threshold under foot.

Why did God choose an innocent lamb? Why did he decree that it must become part of our family before we slit its throat and eat its flesh? Because we must never forget the absolute innocence, loveliness, and tenderness of the victim who is put to death for our sins. And we must always remember that WE are the ones who kill the lamb and benefit from its merit. The life we gain, and the liberty we enjoy as sons of God, comes at the expense of the most precious life in the universe. Let us therefore keep the feast, not with malice and wickedness but with sincerity, humility, and truth.

Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Not only Adam’s sin, but my selfishness and hardness of heart; my laziness and pride; my unbelief and perverted judgment. For us he was slain, and because of his merit we can come boldly to the throne of God’s grace, to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

1. McClintock and Strong, Cyclopedia of Biblical Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, "Lamb", Vol. 5, p. 206.

2. Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians, Erasmus Middleton trans., (Kregel Publishing House, 1959), pp. 11-14.