Monday: The Lamb of God
Daily Lesson for Monday 21st of October 2024
The Hebrew nation was looking for a Messiah who would deliver them from Rome. The goal of the Gospel of John was to change their understanding of the Messiah so that they could recognize in Jesus the fulfillment of the prophecies regarding the coming King. The Messiah would not be an earthly ruler. He came to fulfill all the Old Testament promises concerning Himself, which include His self-sacrifice in behalf of the world, and to renew the relationship between God and His people.
Read John 1:29-37. What proclamation does John the Baptist make about Jesus? What image does he use to depict Him, and why is it so significant in understanding who Jesus was and what His mission would be?
Image © Lars Justinen at Goodsalt.com
The statement of the Baptist regarding Jesus as the Lamb of God supports the purpose of John’s Gospel, which is to bring about a renewed understanding of the work and nature of the Messiah. Jesus would, indeed, be the fulfillment of the promise of the sacrificial system, going back to the promise of the Redeemer first given in Genesis 3:15.
“When at the baptism of Jesus, John pointed to Him as the Lamb of God, a new light was shed upon the Messiah’s work. The prophet’s mind was directed to the words of Isaiah, ‘He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter.’ Isaiah 53:7.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 136.
Read Mark 10:45, Romans 5:6, and 1 Peter 2:24. How do these verses help us understand the role of Jesus as “the Lamb of God”?
However much more John the Baptist needed to know about the ministry of Jesus, he was certain that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the One who had come in fulfillment of prophecy.
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Consider deeply Jesus’ title as “the Lamb of God.” What images does it bring to mind, and how does its linkage to the Old Testament sacrificial system help you appreciate the great price of our salvation? |
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Many years ago, I had an interesting conversation with a Kippah-wearing Jewish contractor who came to do some work on the Adventist Academy where I was teaching. I remarked that we Seventh-day Adventists kept Sabbath like the Jews. His answer dispelled my naivety. He said in a nutshell that he was Jewish, not religious. He wore the Kippah and did all the other Jewish cultural things because he was a Jew, not because he was following the Jewish religion.
Among the Jews in Jesus' time, the dominant notion of the Messiah was that he would come as a political force to boot out the Romans. We should note that even then, being a Jew was often about tradition and the glory that would be theirs when they ruled the world. They would be vindicated. In this context it is worth noting that the Herod family were Jewish. Their ancestral family had converted to Judaism before they became the aristocracy of the Jewish Roman state. Herod the Great had been responsible for major updates to the second temple. We was also a despot and was responsible for the massacre of babies in Bethlehem when Jesus was born.
Against this background, we find John preaching his message of repentance in the wilds of Canaan. And his message reached the ears of Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod the Great. John was preaching about a Messiah that would come as a lamb - in total contrast to the Herodian notion of rulership. The Herods used their Jewishness to manipulate political power while at the same time living lavishly and hedonistically at the expense of the Jews.
Then Jesus comes to the Jordan to be baptised:
The contrast between the Herods and Jesus was clear. Jesus came as a sacrificial animal, not as a self-centred political despot. This Messiah was a servant.
The message of John was clear - Repent! The Kindom of Heaven is near!
We have our messianic message. Is it about vindication of our beliefs, or about the Lamb of God?
The Lamb.
Herrod was an Idumian, a descendant of Essau, who married a Hasmonean Jewish princess in an effort to justify his rule. The Idumians were forcibly converted to Judaism by the Hasmonean king, John Hyrcanus. He was constantly having to defend his legitimacy.
The phrase “Lamb of God” holds deep significance in Christian theology, symbolizing Jesus as the perfect and ultimate sacrifice for humanity’s sins. In the Old Testament, lambs were often used as sacrificial offerings that pointed to purity, particularly during the Passover, when the Israelites were instructed to sacrifice a spotless lamb and place its blood on their doorposts, protecting them from the angel of death (Exodus 12).
This foreshadowed Jesus’ role as the spotless Lamb whose blood would save humanity from eternal death and separation from God. When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he proclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). This declaration identified Jesus as the fulfillment of the sacrificial system, a Savior whose death would bring salvation to all who believe.
Jesus, as the Lamb of God, willingly laid down His life on the cross, taking the punishment for our sins. Unlike the Old Testament sacrifices that had to be repeated, Jesus’ sacrifice was once and for all, completely sufficient to cover every sin. His death and resurrection offer believers freedom from guilt and the hope of eternal life. The concept of the Lamb of God reminds Christians of God’s immense love and the cost of their redemption. Through Jesus’ sacrifice, the separation between God and humanity was bridged, granting believers access to a restored relationship with God.
In a small village where every spring, a lamb was chosen to be sacrificed to ensure a good harvest. The lamb had to be spotless, innocent, and perfect.
One year, a young boy in the village had grown attached to one particular lamb, whom he had raised from birth. When the time came for the sacrifice, the elders chose that very lamb, and the boy’s heart broke. He begged them to spare it, but the elders reminded him that the sacrifice was necessary for the village’s survival.
As the boy watched the lamb being taken away, he realized that its innocent life was given for the good of everyone else. This story mirrors the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who was taken and sacrificed for the sake of the world’s redemption.
Just as the boy’s lamb gave life to the village, Jesus gives eternal life to all who believe.
What a touching illustration! Thank you Motanya Dan! Very Beautiful!
Simple yet profound allegory. It brought me to the brink of shedding tears.
The old Israelite tabernacle worship service starts with the sacrifice altar. The sacrifice altar is for everyone, and the shame it brought became normal; thus, tradition was more important when the real Lamb appeared than the incarnated Messiah. What's blocking my vision of recognizing the Lamb of God in my life?
I thank God that He has given us the insight, desire, will, intestinal fortitude, inclination, strength, and power, with love, to be more than a Seventh-day-Adventist. We are an Seventh-day Adventist with religion, the religion of a strong daily relationship with the One who made our faith in and of Him possible. Keep up the good work or constitution if you prefer, all of you who have the same in your heart. And for those who don't, there is hope, turn to our faith the faith that Zachriaias and Elizebath had and passed on to John the Baptist. The same faith that Jesus exemplified throughout His life.
By His grace the faith we live by.
Bible religion is not one influence among many others, but its influence is supreme, pervading and controlling every other influence. Bible religion is to exercise control over life and conduct. It is not to be like a dash of color, brushed here and there upon the canvas, but its influence is to pervade the whole life, as though the canvas were dipped into color until every thread of the fabric was dyed in a deep, fast, unfading hue. The Faith I Live By 220.4
That statement, that question of Isaac is really the question that everybody in the world was asking all through history. “Where is the lamb?” You see, at the Garden of Eden God established the sacrificial system with that first lamb that was slain to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve. The Bible in Revelation speaks of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Finally when John the Baptist points to Jesus and he says, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” Do you appreciate what a profound statement that was? The whole world had been looking for the lamb. “Where is the lamb?”
Also: Revelation 5:11-14 is quite indicative that Jesus has already started His rule as King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and High Priest even though He still plans to come soon and very soon to end all suffering and all sin in this world, Soon and very Soon!
What i could think of is,God can also act politically especially when his people are opressed only the mission of the coming messiah was so different can't be compared with earthly government
I consider the mystery of True Life to have been revealed through/by the love of the ‘Lamb’ of God, ending the cycle of sin and death - God forgave man’s first sin in Jesus Christ. By God’s Grace and Mercy, Jesus’ unblemished life and willingness to forgive - to graciously lay down His Life -, was sufficient for God to again receive us into the fellowship of heaven. In Jesus Christ, God forgave mankind’s first ‘sin’ to finally usher in the last chapter of His plan of our salvation.
Jesus’ unending, fervent love of the Father, wanting to live according to His Will, our faith in the Father’s Grace and Mercy to forgive us, invites us to being made whole again. ‘To make us whole again’! - Is this not what Jesus’ gracious willingness to lay down His life achieved? Was not showing the followers the ‘Way’ to enter heaven the aim of His love for us?
I see man’s destiny as not earth bound, but as heaven bound; revealed and clearly stated throughout Scripture, culminating with the Book of Revelation. If Christians truly believe that Jesus ‘was brought as a lamb to the slaughter’ to make an end of sin, how is it that not much has changed in the world since then? 2000 years have passed since Jesus Christ came to point mankind to the Father and His Way of eternal life.
I wonder if it may be that things could be much worse if Christians would not engage in at least a ‘little’ faith. What causes this ‘coolness’ towards the offer of being immersed in living God’s Truth.
Has Christianity become just another ‘religion’ like so many others which are enshrined in historical dogma, rituals, creeds, and superficiality? Is it that many 'ways' are offered by which man can live? Do we consider ourselves ‘saved’ just by ‘belonging’ to a religious denomination?
Could it be that we still do not fully understand the mystery of one having been ‘born-again by the Spirit of God’? Jesus made it possible that by God's Word/Way all who come to Him will have eternal life – John 3:14-16; 2Cor.5:17; John 3:5; Matt.22:36-39
If I was to set you a maths problem based on the work we had been doing in class, there are two possible ways of solving the problem.
Either way you would have what appears to be the correct solution on the paper. But you and I would both know that method 1 shows you have some understanding of the problem and the solution, while method 2 requires no mathmatical knowledge at all.
It's not a terrible good illustration but Creedal Christianity is like the Google Search answer. It looks good on paper. Personal religion is a relationship thing and it may look a bit messy but it is something that lasts. I am sure that there are many Christians who are creedal Christians. They may look good but they lack the experiemce. Experienced Christianity makes a difference.
Maurice - thank you for commenting. May I offer a third way to your list of illustrations which can be used to 'solve math problems' - - - intuition/revelation. I believe this 'third way' to be the Way of the Holy Spirit's 'Experienced Christianity' expressed in our 'born-again state of being' - John 3:7-8 (Aramaic Bible in plain English). Christian believers have the Holy Spirit to guide our livinging/experiencing God's Truth and Light.
In the world of mathematics, I find the mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan's experience quite telling. I believe his awareness regarding 'numbers' and their relationship to each other came by revelation and intuition. He experienced this 'genius of numbers' at a very young age before he was formally educated.
During his short life of 32 years, Srinivasa's number-genius generated not-seen-before discoveries and results in the world of mathematics, some of which have yet to be found out how to apply. If you are interested, the 'Mathnesium - the Math Learning Center' offers more info about him.
I have to take exception with the idea that John was written to correct ideas about the Messiah. I have never understood John to be written with the Jews as his main audience. By the time this book was written, the Jewish nation had been dispersed for likely 20 years. Plus, the many references to "the Jews" in a negative sense would not make sense. Yes, I recognize that probably means "Jewish religious leaders" but all the same, it doesn't indicate a Jewish audience. Of course there are many things in John that Jews would have a special knowledge of but the fact that it is so beloved speaks to its universal appeal.
I believe John was most interested in emphasizing that Jesus was God and to give the second generation of believers (who had never seen Jesus an probably not even the disciples as they were all dead by then besides John) confidence that they could believe in who He was and is. And it speaks the same way to us today.