Christ, The Lamb of God

Dear Kids,

John 1:29. The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

A deep loud voice echoed through the wilderness of Judah, “Take notice, this man is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Two weathered men smelling of fish and sea salt listened to the words of the hairy man dressed in camel skin. “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Could this be the promised Messiah?” they wondered. “Lamb of God” brought to their minds the many times they had travelled to the temple to sacrifice a perfect lamb to pay for sins committed. The blood of those lambs never took sin away, but only provided a temporary covering.  How many lambs had died over the years as those sacrifices needed to be completed over and over again? But now this rugged, long-haired man with the powerful voice was pointing to One who could completely remove the sins of the world. These two disciples packed up their things and followed this man called Jesus, the Lamb of God, to see if it was true.

Every year I think of all the lambs sacrificed for sins when I stand in the sheep and goat barn at the county fair. The loud bleating echoes in my ears on Thursday and Friday night as, one by one, the unsuspecting animals are led into the ring, sold, and loaded into a truck to be taken to the butcher. All that loving care, attention, and grooming for one week of show and then loaded into a trailer. Each 4-H member looks for the perfect lamb to bring to the fair, but the end is always the same for the grand champion as well as the last one picked – the big truck.

Why did God require all those sacrifices for sin? Why so much blood? It is because there must be payment for wrongdoing. The life is in the blood and transgressions must be paid for with death. Before Christ came God allowed an unblemished lamb to take the place of the sinner, but even this could not eradicate sin. It only served to show the atrociousness of ungodliness and the end of those who are plagued with it. It pointed to the promised One who would eventually come to annihilate sin once for all – God’s Son, the Lamb of God.

After having participated in all those sacrifices the two disciples recognized Jesus for Who He was, the Son of God, the Messiah. They followed Him and put their faith and trust in His ability to completely remove their sin and the sin of the whole world. No longer would they need to offer sacrifices of lambs and goats because Jesus had come to die, taking the punishment once for all. Today our sins are completely paid for with the precious blood of Christ. No other sacrifice is necessary. All we need to do is believe and accept Christ’s final sacrifice.

I still don’t like Thursday and Friday nights at the fair, but they will always be a reminder to me of the perfect sacrifice made by our Savior, Jesus, the Lamb of God. The voice is still calling, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” Will you follow?