Anchor My Faith

Behold the Lamb of God

Scripture: John 1:28-29

The conversation between John and those sent from the Pharisees by the Jews came to an end in our previous lesson. Those who came to inquire probably left with more questions than they came with; questions that relate to who this Jesus was that John spoke of. Who this Jesus is will be the focus of our study for several years as we work our way along the gospel path we are on. In this lesson we will give the location of these activities and then transition into the next day with John.

“These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing” (john 1:28 ESV). The baptism that John was doing was an outward sign of cleansing, reflecting inward repentance from sin. This repentance is a change of a person’s attitude toward God that results in a change of behavior; the choices one makes.

The Bethany spoken of here is not the Bethany which was located about two miles east of Jerusalem, where Lazarus was raised from the dead, but one that was located about 12 miles above Jericho on the east side of the Jordan. The exact location is not certain.

Day 2: “The next day [John] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 ESV). If we keep count of days, then day one would be the day those who had been sent from the Pharisees came to make inquiry as to whether John was the Christ; the Messiah. We are now at day two when John sees Jesus coming toward him, which prompts him to point Jesus out to those with John as being the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

According to Exodus 12:3 – 13, a lamb from the sheep or the goats, without blemish, a male a year old, was to be selected and kept until the fourteenth day of the month, when it was to be killed at twilight. Some of its blood was to be taken and put on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which the lamb is eaten. They were to eat its flesh that night, roasted on the fire, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Later that night God’s judgment would pass through the land of Egypt taking the firstborn from any family not living in a house with blood on the doorpost and lintel. Those living under the protection of the blood would be passed over. As a result, the lamb was known as the Passover lamb. Jesus was to become the Passover lamb, the Lamb of God, and anyone who came to him in belief would be passed over in judgment for their sin. Between that event and the death of Jesus, two lambs a year old shall be offered on the altar, day by day regularly. One lamb was to be offered in the morning, and the other lamb was to be offered at twilight (Exodus 29:38 – 39).

There is more to say about the Lamb of God, but our lesson is getting too long to continue. We will finish this topic in our next lesson.

Prayer

Father, there is such a rich connection between the lamb and its sacrifice for the sin of people and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for our sin. Father, the blood of the lamb that was shed points ahead to the blood that Jesus would shed once as the ransom paid for our sin. This is a uniqueness of Christianity in that God came and took on the flesh of a man and lived a sinless life and then gave his life in our place to cover our sin with his blood. As a result, Christianity can be offered as a gift, requiring no work on our part. All other means of salvation are works based, which have no means of producing eternal life; life which only Jesus has to give.