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.
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.
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 1:29-34, NLT)
John is telling people to:
Look to the Lamb
Understand His Sacrifice
Grasp His Grace & Mercy
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 verse 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 1:29)
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 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?
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!”
Understand His Sacrifice
John said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” He is using some shocking Old Testament 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.
John the Baptist’s proclamation was that Jesus is the Lamb of God, who didn’t just take away the sin from a select few or just from the nation of Israel but that He takes away the sin of the world!
What this means is that for every sin, for every failure and shortcoming, for every temptation, and in every situation, we can look to the Lamb and His perfect sacrifice. Look to the Lamb of God because all that the ancient sacrifices foreshadowed in the OT were perfectly fulfilled in the sacrifice of Christ.
John was saying, “Look! Jesus, the Lamb of God was not only perfect, without a single defect or fault, this perfect Sacrifice was provided by God Himself.”
“Our sin cost God His son. ”
Grasp (or take ahold of) God’s Grace & Mercy
The nation of Israel was looking for a victorious Messiah and King - a Lion that would conquer and rule the world. In the end, Jesus will come as the conquering Lion of Judah and yes, he was as bold as a lion when he faced opposition from the religious elite and when he went to the cross. They were looking for a lion, but the world is broken by sin God sent the lamb.
The Lamb came to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.
As the Lamb, Jesus overcame temptation, was mocked and despised, beaten beyond recognition and eventually crucified - all for our sake. As a lamb He defeated Satan and conquered sin and its consequences for our sake.
“What is sin?”
Sin is a universal rejection of God and His righteous, perfect, holy, moral, and spiritual law. Sin is both an act and a state of being, it is an inner force, an inherent condition, a controlling power.
When John talked about the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world - this wasn’t just talking about a few people, or even a nation -
“He takes away the sin of the whole world.”
“Takes away” is in the present tense here - signifying the ongoing sufficiency of Jesus Christ's sacrifice and the fact that it is always available for every person. For every person who places their trust in the efficacy of Jesus’ sacrifice, his or her sin (known and unknown, past, present, and future) is paid for and taken away.
“Your sin is forgiven; it is removed as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12). After the sin offering was burned up on the brazen alter, the priests would take the ashes away and bury it in a secret place, so no one could find it.
It means that once sin is forgiven God will never bring up your sin and use it against you. You do not need to bring your own sin or the sin another up and use it against them.
You do not need to go around feeling guilty for something that Christ has paid for. You never have to earn God’s love and acceptance.
We seek wisdom from above and trust in a sovereign God, whose ways are perfect.
“We seek first the Kingdom of God. ”
I believe many are missing the opportunity to look to the lamb, they are looking towards other people or places for the answer, sometimes even to escape their own painful issues, but you will not find what you are looking for there.
It is important to be in the Word so we have an accurate picture of who Jesus is.
We cannot just be talking about love, forgiveness, faithfulness etc., we need to be modeling it. What do others see you spending your time looking at? Why is this important, because the more they see you looking at Jesus in the home and in real life the more likely they will take hold of this faith, make it their own and share it. Even when they go far from God, when they face to life - the more likely they will look to the Lamb.
This goes for all of us. The more you look to the lamb, the more you understand the seriousness of the sacrifice, the more you will grasp the greatness of God Grace and Mercy.
In the end when we are all before the Lamb who was freshly slain, we will see the myriads of redeemed people from all backgrounds, all nations standing around the throne, then we will really understand.
