John the Baptist, when he saw Jesus
coming toward him said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away
the sin of the world” (John 1:29 ESV). He is the only one who
directly referred to Jesus as the Lamb of God. The Apostle John in
Revelation 5:6 described Jesus as the Lamb that had been slain. Back
in Genesis, when Abraham was taking Isaac to sacrifice him as God had
commanded, told his son, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for
a burnt offering” (Gen. 22:8). Jesus is God’s sacrificial Lamb
because only God can provide the permanent, perfect sacrifice.
The Old Testament sacrificial system
was never intended to provide lasting atonement. It was simply a
temporary measure to point people back to God. Jesus was the perfect
sacrifice because He was the perfect man. “He has no need, like
those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins
and then for those of the people, since He did this once for all when
He offered up Himself” (Hebrews 7:27). “For the death He died He
died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God”
(Romans 6:10). “And by [His] will we have been sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all... For by a
single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being
sanctified” (Hebrews 10:10, 14). I love this reminder that
sanctification is “already but not yet.”
It is divine irony that when Jesus
was presented at the Temple Joseph and Mary could not afford a lamb
to sacrifice, but instead offered a pair of doves in accordance with
the Law (Luke 2:24 and Leviticus 12:8). I’m sure as Mary pondered
these things later in life she understood that the real sacrifice
that day was not her small offering but the Lamb of God given to her
and given through her for the sake of the world.
“For Christ, our Passover lamb,
has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7b). He became our Passover
Lamb because He was first God’s Lamb. “[You] were ransomed from
the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable
things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ,
like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).
In the Master’s plan, the Lamb of
God is also the Good Shepherd (John 10). Who can better understand
the needs of the sheep than One who has walked among us, was tempted
in every way as we are yet without sin, and then laid down His life
for us?
“It is He who made us and we
are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture” (Psalm
100:3).
© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise
indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.
