Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.
Have you seen a lamb slaughtered as a sacrifice?
It was common practice in the Old Testament. When the Israelites prepared to escape Egypt, each family killed a lamb, painted some of its blood on their doorposts, and had roast lamb for dinner (Exo 12:6-7).
Under the Levitical system, Israelites used a sin-offering lamb to ask God for forgiveness. The priest poured the blood under the altar, burned parts of the lamb on the altar, and God forgave their sins (Lev 4:32-35).
Dead lambs, blood on doorposts and under the altar, forgiveness of sins. Not like our worship services today.
When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, “Look! The lamb of God, the one who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Ouch. Doesn’t sound like good news for the lamb of God, does it?
It’s a spoiler in John’s story. John’s not planning a surprise ending. He’s telling us up front what Jesus will do.
So far in his gospel, John has said Jesus was in the beginning with God, that Jesus created the world, that Jesus came to earth, that he was God living among us. John adds that Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away sin. Is John hinting that Jesus will become a blood sacrifice like the sin-offering lamb in the Old Testament?
We moderns find blood sacrifice cringy. Still, we celebrate Remembrance Day to honor soldiers who fought bloody wars and died bloody deaths to save civilization.
Jesus, the lamb of God, a sacrifice for sin. Does John think that’s what humanity needs? Where will John take this story?
Let’s pray.
Our father, we begin John’s gospel heartened that you sent your son to experience life on earth. That he invites us to be his brothers and sisters, your children.
But now we hear John call him the lamb of God, predicting he will be sacrificed to take away sin. Are our doorposts so dirty that only blood can cleanse them? Are our thoughts so wayward that only a sacrifice can heal them? Are our sins so awful they require blood?
O father, lead us to the truth. Teach us to know you, to know ourselves, to know sin and righteousness. May we know your son, Jesus, in all his truth and grace.
Amen.
I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.
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