Look To The Lamb

This month, we began studying the Gospel of John. John most likely wrote this Gospel around 70 AD, about 40 years after Jesus Christ walked the earth. John was an eyewitness of Christ’s life - His love and holiness, His justice and mercy, of all the miracles and healings - an eyewitness of the events that transpired in His 3-year ministry. He saw His glory. Last week, we looked at the Apostle John’s account of John the Baptist’s confession, calling, and conviction. Confession about who he was and was not. His calling to make the path ready for people to come to Jesus, and his conviction about who Jesus is and the urgency for others to come to Him. Today as we look at this next passage in John 1, we see how the apostle John records John the Baptist's words at the start of Jesus’ public ministry.

John 1:29-34 (NLT)

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! He is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘A man is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’ I did not recognize him as the Messiah, but I have been baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.”

Then John testified, “I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Chosen One of God.”

John is telling people to:

? Look to the Lamb

? Understand His Sacrifice

? Grasp His Grace & Mercy

When John tells people to “Behold!” he is telling them to:

Look to the Lamb

“The next day” refers to the day after John the Baptist was interrogated by the Jerusalem delegation. The question is what had happened before he proclaimed Jesus as the Lamb of God? Here’s the chronology of events recorded in the synoptic Gospels:

? John baptizes Jesus in the Jordan River- as Jesus comes up out of the water

? John watches the Spirit of God from heaven descend on Jesus like a dove.

? John hears a voice from heaven saying, "This is My Son, the Beloved, in Whom I have great delight" - confirming that Jesus is His Son and endorsing His ministry.

? Right after Jesus was baptized by John the Spirit of God leads Jesus into the desert for 40 days where he faces and overcomes 3 powerful temptations by the devil.

? After His baptism and His temptation Jesus returns to the area where John was ministering.

This leads us up to the account in v. 29

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

John was watching Jesus walk toward him and says to his own disciples: “Look” or “Behold!” This word is in the imperative- because it is of utmost importance. John doesn’t say, “Look at me - I’m a great prophet!” He doesn’t say, “Look to your good works to save you.” He doesn’t say, “Look at your religious heritage, lineage, or “Look to the Law.”

John the Baptist says, “Look to the Lamb of God!” He is not saying look in the sense of just seeing something casually with the eye, but to behold or grasp the truth and significance of this moment for yourself. Someone is coming towards you - do you realize who this Someone is and what He has come into the world to do? Don’t let this opportunity pass you by. Let it sink in. It is so easy to miss the most important things in life because we are so distracted, looking in the wrong direction and focusing on the wrong things. John is saying “Look - He is the Lamb of God!” Which brings us to our second point:

Understand His Sacrifice

John said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” He is using some shocking OT terminology when referring to Jesus as the Lamb of God, because the lamb was associated with the sacrifice and suffering for sin. None of the sacrificial animals which were to be offered for sin were allowed to have any blemishes or defects and they had to be supplied and, in most cases, slaughtered by the ones who were bringing their sin offerings. The reason for this is to remind the offender that sin always costs us something, always hurts our relationship to God and others.