- Overcomer Literature Trust
- Swindon
- Wiltshire
DAY 9
John 1:29
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold!
THE LAMB OF GOD
who takes away the sin of the world!”
We know very little about the first 30 years of the Lord’s life. We know that He went to Jerusalem when he was 12 years of age. We also know that He worked as a carpenter, (Mark 6:3). At the age of 30 He commenced His public ministry, travelling around preaching, teaching and performing mighty miracles. But before He started this new chapter in His life, He came to John the Baptist at the river Jordan so that He could be baptised. John the Baptist was having a busy time. Crowds were flocking to hear him and to show their repentance by being baptised.
One day John saw the Lord Jesus walking towards the crowd. He stopped what he was doing and pointed to the approaching Figure. We see what he said in the box above. He described the Lord Jesus as “THE LAMB OF GOD,” a remarkable title and, as we shall see towards the conclusion of our meditations, one that the Lord Jesus will own throughout eternity.
What thoughts would have gone through the minds of those present on that occasion? Lambs were still being used regularly in the temple worship in Jerusalem. Inevitably they were put to death.
There was also the annual remembrance of their deliverance from Egypt in the Passover Feast and that has many pertinent lessons for us as far as the death of the Lord is concerned. Firstly, of course, the Passover lamb had to be a SELECTED LAMB. Exodus 12 gives us the details. The father had to choose a lamb from his flock. 1 Peter 2:4 says of the Lord Jesus, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but CHOSEN BY GOD and precious.”
And then the lamb had to be a SPOTLESS LAMB. Exodus 12:5 says, “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year.” We know that only a sinless Person could suffer and die as our substitute and so we remember the conclusive words of Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet WITHOUT SIN.”
Also the Passover lamb had to be a SLAIN LAMB. It had to be killed so that its blood could be applied to the doorposts and lintel. Similarly with our Passover Lamb. We are not saved by His birth or His sinless life though both were necessary ingredients in the plan. We are saved by His death, by the shedding of His blood. “CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES,” declares Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3.