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!

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The Wycliffe commentary notes,

“John gave three sterling testimonies to Christ’s person and work. As the Lamb, His mission was to be one of redemption. As baptiser with the Spirit, He would found the Church. As Son of God, He would be worthy of adoration and obedience.”

For this article, we will focus on the person and work of Christ as the Lamb of God, who takes away the world’s sin.

Who is this Lamb?

The idea is suggested in history (Exodus 12) and prophecy (Isaiah 53). Historically, we refer to passages such as Exodus 12, where the portrait of Christ as the Lamb of God is painted ever so clearly. On the eve of the Exodus, God commanded the Jews to mark their doorposts with the blood of a year-old lamb without blemish and how the angel of death would pass through the land of Egypt to kill the firstborn in every house where the command has not been obeyed.

That lamb without blemish, was a type of Christ. Paul makes this connection in 2 Cor. 15:10 when he says,

“For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.“

Also, several verses in the book of Revelations refer to Christ as the Lamb who was slain. Let’s look at it with a chart (below) and work it out for ourselves.

First, God required a lamb a year old, in other words, a lamb in its prime. Similarly, Jesus was crucified in the prime of his life, at 33 years. It was to be a spotless lamb. Jesus was tried six times, and each time his innocence shone through. Thrice, during his trial, Pilate declared, “I find no fault in Him!” The lamb was to be slain and roasted with fire. This signified the type of death Jesus was to die and the painful suffering he would endure on our behalf. The fire denotes the wrath of God, which Christ fully bore so that we who were once God’s enemies can be forgiven and adopted into God’s family.

Not a bone of the lamb was to be broken. On the cross, the Jewish authorities asked the soldiers to break the bones of the prisoners to hasten their death, as it was nearing the Passover. But when they got to Jesus, they found he was already dead, so none of His bones was broken (John 19:33).

The sprinkling of the blood was crucial to the angel of death passing over. If the lamb was killed, but its blood was not applied to the doorposts, the angel of death would not pass over. Similarly, Christ has been crucified; His blood has been shed for our sins; however, we must receive the atonement for ourselves, or else we won’t be saved. We must not wait till tomorrow. Today is a gift, that’s why we call it ‘present’ but tomorrow is never ours. As the Scripture says, if we hear his voice today, we must let Him in and not harden our hearts (Heb. 3:15).

It was to be eaten with bitter herbs, a reminder of the bitterness of slavery in Egypt. As we feed upon Christ, we must remember the sin from which we are saved and hate it, never to go back to it again. On this, Matthew Henry pithily notes,

“Christ will be sweet to us, if sin be bitter.“

Prophetically, we’ve got passages like Isaiah 53, where God’s chosen Messenger, the promised Messiah, is described as a suffering servant who would be led as a lamb to the slaughter on behalf of those he came to redeem. Isaiah 53:4-8 says this:

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. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

One commentator points out that the words “stricken, smitten of God” are used elsewhere in Scripture, specifically in relation to leprosy and other terrible sicknesses (Genesis 12:17; Leviticus 13:3; Leviticus 13:9; Numbers 14:12; 1Samuel 6:9; 2Kings 15:5). This is most instructive! In other words, this Lamb, this suffering servant, took upon himself the worst sickness there is, even our sin. Sin is the killer of killers, more deadly than leprosy, HIV and Covid-19. Ever since the fall of our first parents, our world has been plagued with the dreadful disease called sin. That is the root cause of all the wars, crimes, and every evil you can think of. Sin is the true cause of all the grief and sorrows in our world. And Christ has borne all of the world’s sin in His own body.

The word for “borne” in the original implies both the “taking upon oneself,” and the “taking away from others,” thus, we are hereby introduced to the idea of Christ’s vicarious (he died for us or in our place) and mediatorial (he takes away our sin and thus brings us back to God again) atonement. This leads us to consider our next question, “What does it mean to take away the sin of the world?”

That will be the subject of our contemplation in the next article in the series.

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The year was 2019. The month was November, the day, the 6^th. The venue: Our first-born son, Ekow’s primary school, and the occasion, parents’ evening. Nothing could have prepared me for what awaited me that evening. I will never forget the expression on the teacher’s face as I entered the room. I hardly sat myself down when she said: “How do you do it? What is your secret?” The question completely threw me off. Before I could respond, she continued, “I wish I had 23 Ekows in my class!”. “He is so polite, so well-behaved, he is such a delight to have in my class!” She added, “So, how did you raise him? How did you do it?”

I stuttered. “Err…erm…” “At home, we try to erm…”, “It’s their mum… erm…”. Finally, I managed to say, “It’s so kind of you to say… I’m so pleased to hear you say that!” I missed a golden gospel opportunity. Ekow’s light shone brightly in his new school (he had started there only the previous year), and his teacher noticed it and wanted to know our secret.

Did we have a special formula for raising our kids? No, we didn’t. Did Ekow eat different meals from his classmates? Perhaps. But was it down to anything in us that he was shining in school? Of course not! However, we did have something up our sleeves! We had Jesus; our kids have been learning about Him at home from infancy and have grown to love Him for themselves. So, if there was any praise, if there was any virtue, or if we had anything to boast of, it was to boast that Ekow knew the Lord, which was why he was who he was. This was the perfect opportunity to point Ekow’s teacher to Jesus, but I blew it! Perhaps you, too, can identify with a time when you were presented with the ideal gospel moment where you could testify about your faith, but you failed to “carpe momentum!” (Seize the moment!).

Not John the Baptist. When faced with an enquiry about who he was and the secret to his ministry, he was able to milkshake the situation into one of the most powerful witnesses about Jesus in holy writ. That inquiry sets the scene for our opening passage. You will find that in John 1:19-28.

A little introduction to John’s gospel is fitting. John, the beloved’s goal in his gospel is to prove “that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31). And in so doing, he marshals at least seven powerful witnesses. John’s (the baptist’s) witness in our opening text is the first witness John presents. The Wycliffe Bible commentary notes,

“In his burning desire to magnify Christ, John turned an inquiry about himself into a strong witness to the greater One about to manifest himself.”

In this series of articles, we will explore John’s (the baptiser’s) testimony about Jesus in detail. First, we will set the scene and situate our passage within its proper context. Then, we will focus our attention on, “Who is this Lamb who takes away the sin of the world”? We will then seek to understand what it means to take away the sin of the world. We will probe the question, “Why did John use this description of Christ as a Lamb and not any other, for example, a Lion?” And finally, we’ll look at the response of John’s hearers and what our own response should be.

Setting the scene

Let’s recount the events of that fateful day. The Jews (by which John the beloved means the Jewish authorities, who were often opposed to Christ) had sent priests and Levites to ask John whether he was the Christ, Elijah or the prophet. John did not mince words. He declared unwaveringly: “I am not the Christ, nor the prophet – I am only the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

But his inquisitors were not satisfied. They pressed further, “If you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, then why are you baptizing?” To which John (the baptiser) waxed even more eloquent. “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” John (the beloved) does not record it in his gospel, but this was the same day that John (the baptiser) baptised Jesus. John’s (the baptiser’s) words in vv. 30-34 give this away. Matthew 3:11-17 places John’s words in that passage squarely at the baptism of Jesus.

Now we’ve got to ask why the Jewish authorities interrogated John this way. We can point to at least two reasons.

First off, the strong preaching of John, which had captivated the multitudes, had piqued the interest of the Jewish leaders. Who was this new preacher who was drawing masses to the wilderness? Matthew 3:5-6 records that “Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.” So, given the size of John’s congregation, the authorities were beginning to wonder, “Could this be the Messiah?”

But even more important was that he was baptising those who came to him. You see, one of the things baptisms symbolised to the Jewish people was leadership. This is implied in Paul’s warning in 1 Corinthians 10:1-2:

“For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.“

What does Paul mean by the Israelites being baptised into Moses? Let’s unpack this. The children of Israel had just been freed from slavery in Egypt and were on their way to the promised land. They were camped at Pi hahiroth, by the sea, when they saw Pharaoh and his army hard in pursuit, hoping to capture and send them back to bondage. God commanded Moses to stretch out his rod over the red sea, at which it parted in two for them to walk through. So, as they marched through the red sea, following Moses, we see a clear sign of their freedom from slavery in Egypt under Pharaoh and their submission to the leadership of Moses, who would lead them into the promised land. Thus, the Holy Spirit writing through Paul indicates that at that point, they were being baptised into Moses—i.e., they had severed their ties with Pharaoh and Egypt once and forever and were now following Moses’ leadership. (Just as the believers’ baptism signifies our being buried to the old nature (freedom from sin and the devil’s tyranny) and our new life and decision to follow Jesus). That is why God consistently warned them not to return to Egypt because it represented a return to the leadership of Pharaoh, if you like.

So here was John the baptiser, baptising the multitudes who came to him. And the Jewish leaders wondered with what authority was he baptising the people. Could it be he was the Christ? So, you see why they asked those piercing questions. And thus, John had to clarify. He said, “I merely baptise with water – indicating that you have a sin problem and need purification. But I cannot take away your sin, no. There is One among you, whom you do not know; He will perform the ultimate work of purification.”

So, we arrive at the next day after all these have occurred. John is once more thundering from the wilderness, calling the people to repentance in preparation for the Messiah, in true fashion to his calling. Then he sees Jesus coming toward him and declares to his multitudinous congregation: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

John says, “Look, guys, you’ve got it all wrong! You’re making a big fuss about me, but your attention is in the wrong place. You are focusing your energies on me, a mere messenger. I am only a shadow; this is the real thing! Focus your attention on Him! He’s the one I want you to fall in love with, not me.” And so, that’s what we’ll do in the subsequent posts.

And like John, that’s what we ought to call those around us to do, in our words and deeds.

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