The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world!"
John 1:29, ESV
In Verses 19-51 of John chapter one, the author speaks of Jesus using 7 different titles. He is called: Lamb of God, Son of God, Rabbi, Son of Man, Messiah, King of Israel, and Jesus of Nazareth. Each title used revealed a glimpse into who Jesus was (and who He remains to be). In verse 29, John the Baptist points the attention of his disciples towards Jesus and declares, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
This has always been one of my favorites.
Behold - Look and see! Take notice of...
The Lamb of God - The ultimate once-and-for-all sacrifice...
Who takes away- Removes, carries away, and utterly erases...
The sins - The missteps, the fails, the flaws, the mistakes, the "missing of the mark," and the disobedience...
Of the World - Of you, me, her, him...of the entirety of humanity...
What a statement!
Sacrifices up to this point could only “cover” sin and needed to be repeated over and over again to ensure the purity of the individual before God. I love that when John directs his disciples to look upon Jesus, he tells them that Jesus, the Lamb of God, would not be like every other sacrifice. He would not just “cover” sin…He would take it away.
In his commentary of John 1, Maclaren writes: “John does not say ‘the sins,’ …But he says, ‘the sin of the world,’ as if the whole mass of human transgression was bound together, in one black and awful bundle, and laid upon the unshrinking shoulders of this better Atlas who can bear it all and bear it all away.”
The sacrifice of this Lamb of God has all the capacity to forgive every sin and cleanse every sinner. It is big enough for the whole world.
Take some time to ponder this reality as you read the words of Isaiah 53...
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
And now thank Him. Thank Him for His sacrifice. Thank Him for the life He provided to us through the shedding of His own blood. Thank Him for taking upon His shoulders the "whole mass of human transgressions" and bearing it all away.
What love.
What amazing grace.
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