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.
We pick up our study of John’s testimony about Jesus in John 1:29-34 from where we left off in the previous article, having considered how the historical and prophetic teaching on the Lamb of God converges in Jesus Christ. In this final article in the series, we will consider what it means to take away the world’s sin and explore the response of John’s first hearers and what our own response must be.
What does it mean to take away the sin of the world?
Observe that our text says, “the Lamb of God (not just any lamb) who takes away the sin (not the sins) of the world“. This is most striking! It begs the following questions: “Why did God have to provide Himself a Lamb?“ (Genesis 22:8), “Could we be absolved of our sins by any other means, without the intervention of this Lamb?“ and “What is the sin that this Lamb takes away?“
In his book, “Everyone’s a Theologian“, R. C. Sproul provides an illustration that I think is very useful in answering these questions. I will attempt to recapitulate it as faithfully as I can. Imagine a small boy entering an ice cream store and ordering an ice cream cone. The waitress serves him the ice cream and tells him he owes GHS2. The boy’s face sinks as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out only a GHS1 note. With deep sadness, he tells the waitress, “My mommy gave me only one Ghana cedi“. Imagine you were standing in the queue, watching this drama unfold. Moved, with compassion, you pull out a cedi from your pocket, hand it to the waitress and say, “Here, I’ll make up the difference.“ The boy looks up with a beaming smile and says, “Gee, thank you Sir“ and goes away ravishing the ice cream.
Do you suppose the waitress will accept the payment? Yes, she would because the boy incurred a financial debt of GHS1, and as long as the money you offered is genuine, it is legal tender, and the waitress will have to accept the payment. However, the result will be different if we tweak the story a bit.
Imagine our boy entering the shop again, but this time, instead of ordering a cone, he waits until the waitress goes to the back of the shop, at which time he quickly scoops some of the ice cream into a cone and makes a run for it. Unfortunately, the security at the entrance catches him, and the shop owner calls the police. As you watch this drama unfold, you feel sorry for the boy and decide to intervene. You hand the owner GHS2 and say to the policeman, “Hang on a second, officer. Look, here’s GHS2 for what the boy owes, now shall we forget about this?“. The policeman looks at the owner and asks, “Do you want to press charges?” The policeman cannot let the boy go just yet because this time, he has not just incurred a pecuniary debt; he has broken the law and incurred a moral debt as well. So, the store owner reserves the right to accept or refuse the payment.
That is precisely how we should view the atonement. When Paul contemplated the atonement in Romans 3:26, he called God both the judge and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Sproul points out that God the Father is the owner of the ice cream store, and we are the little boy who tried to steal some ice cream. All of us have broken God’s law and incurred a moral debt, the punishment for which is death. That is the sin of the world – a moral debt; one that we cannot pay because we keep on sinning.
God being just, he must punish our sin. And just as the owner of the ice cream shop decides what payment he will accept, so God the Father reserves the right to dictate what payment is required for our treasonous offence and the moral debt we owe him. God has chosen His own substitute to pay the price for our sins; a bystander cannot simply pay the debt. That is the only payment He has chosen to accept, the only one worthy and sufficient to pay for our moral debt. And so, sin cannot be taken away by any other lamb.
Why does John use this description of Jesus and not any other?
To answer this, we turn to Revelations 5. A verdict is about to be given in heaven, and John hears a loud voice ask, “Who is worthy to open the scroll?” At first, no one is found worthy, and so John weeps uncontrollably. Then one of the elders tells him to stop weeping, for behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered and so can open the scroll and its seven seals.
Based on the description of the elder, one would expect to see a powerful lion coming up to snatch the scroll and tear it open, but instead, as John looks on, he sees a Lamb, as though it was slain, standing between the throne and the four living creatures. He [the Lamb] takes the scroll from the hand of Him, who sits on the throne. And then the four living creatures and twenty-four elders prostrate themselves before the Lamb and sing his praises.
The portrait of Jesus as the Lion easily evokes imageries of power and majesty. Rightly so, for all power in heaven and on earth belong to Jesus. But then, I believe that his power, majesty, and exaltation are revealed in his death on the cross. It was as the Lamb that was slain that he conquered, not as a Lion. That is why he retains the portrait of a Lamb even in heaven. And that is why the Lamb is the theme of heaven’s praises, as exemplified by Revelations 5. According to one count, there are twenty-eight references to Jesus as the Lamb in the book of Revelations and only one in the rest of the New Testament (from John’s testimony in our opening passage). He sits on heaven’s throne as the Lamb that was slain instead of a Lion.
What was the response of John’s hearers, and what should our own reaction be?
John’s words would have been momentous to his hearers. And the import of such a description would not have been lost on them. “This is the one Isaiah and the prophets spoke about!“ This is the great antitype of all types presented in the numerous offerings and sacrifices you and your fathers have performed in the temple. Behold the Lamb of God!“
And what was their response? Some, like the two disciples of John, Andrew and the other (whose name we don’t know), believed and left John to follow the Lamb (John 1:40). He [Andrew] then found his brother, Simon and brought him along to the Lamb. But others, such as the Jewish leaders, rejected him because he did not fit the mould they were expecting. They expected a military leader, a Lion, who would ravage the armies of the Romans and set them free from physical and economic oppression. And so, they rejected him and had Him killed.
What would our own response be? I would like to suggest two ways in which we must respond.
Firstly, if you don’t know Jesus as your sin-bearer, this is your moment to behold him as your Lord and Saviour. Consider giving your life to Him and making him your sin-bearer too.
For you, my Christian friend, recognise that the Sin-bearing Lamb is the world’s greatest need.
I fear that the church today is too quick to present a portrait of Jesus that is popular with the masses. Too often, we try to present a politically correct or people-pleasing Jesus who doesn’t want to offend anybody; or a philanthropic Jesus who wants to feed the poor, clothe the naked and solve every other problem but not the problem of sin. However, these are not the greatest needs of our world.
Perhaps, we are afraid people will reject our Jesus as the Lamb who takes away their sin, so we try to present a “softer“ version of Him. As theologian D. A. Carson so poignantly points out,
“If God had perceived that our greatest need was economic, He would have sent an economist. If he had perceived that our greatest need was entertainment, he would have sent us a comedian or an artist. If God had perceived that our greatest need was political stability, he would have sent us a politician. If he had perceived that our greatest need was health, he would have sent us a doctor. But he perceived that our greatest need involved our sin, our alienation from him, our profound rebellion, our death, and he sent us a Savior.“
Let us be careful to present the sin-bearing Lamb to a world that needs Him more than anything else!
