John presents Jesus as the Lamb of God with an astounding statement: sin is the ultimate burden and has brought down humans and angels alike into hell itself.
But God provides a solution. Jesus Christ came as an innocent sacrifice to earth to take away humanity’s sins and dispel His wrath from them.
Suffering
Most of us associate lambs with gentle white animals frolicking in green meadows or tenderly carried by their shepherd, creating beautiful images that reflect Jesus’ gentle and pure character. But for Jews in John’s audience, the term “Lamb of God” conjured up far darker images: they knew from Old Testament sacrifices that must take place, especially during Passover when an animal without any visible flaw would be killed at sunset and applied as protection from angels of death by applying its blood to doorposts and lintels of each home to ensure protection from angels of death’s angels of death’s attack!
John used John the Baptist’s reference to Christ as the “Lamb of God” as an effective way of conveying this aspect of his mission.
This is why the Book of Revelation mentions Christ 29 times as “The Lamb”. John saw a vision depicting a slain Lamb surrounded by four living creatures and elders, each crying, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:12). Christ willingly died for our sins so we may live. This means so much more to all of us today than a religious argument about salvation alone can do than anything else can.
Death
Jesus would have been familiar with Jewish religious customs of using lambs in religious sacrifice. According to Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy books outlined animal sacrifice as a way of atoning for sins and renewing fellowship with God; lambs were especially suitable since their innocence made it an effective symbol. They would then be sacrificed before being eaten as part of ritual cleansing practices to rid themselves of all sinful tendencies.
John saw Jesus coming towards him and gave an astounding declaration: He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This declaration had great symbolic meaning: it acknowledged that He was greater than any human and that His incarnation was all about taking away our sins.
This also meant that Jesus would die like any other lamb–he would be slaughtered to fulfill prophecy and demonstrate His true nature to humanity. Through his death we could experience victory over sin’s greatest foe and find forgiveness of our sins so we could live life restored with Him forever more; Christianity makes this possible! This unique relationship between man and Christ makes Christianity distinct from all other religions.
Resurrection
According to the Gospels and Acts, Jesus’ resurrection was an actual physical event involving His flesh and bones. Furthermore, according to New Testament teachings – both Gospels and Acts provide examples – He appeared personally to His disciples afterward (Matthew 28:16-20 and Acts 1:3-4). Furthermore, early Christian hope of resurrection from death stems both from Old Testament literature as well as Jewish literature.
Paul also elaborates on this teaching of resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, the most comprehensive treatment in Scripture. Unfortunately, however, many modern-day Christians misinterpret this chapter as representing an Easter hope quite different than what Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John proclaim in their Gospels and Acts.
These scholars take the series of contrasts found within 15:36-54 as depicting two separate bodies rather than just an antemortem and postmortem relationship. According to them, the resurrection body does not possess different substances but has instead gained imperishability, glory, and immortality.
God’s plan to resurrect believers at the Second Resurrection is revealed in Revelation and depends upon Christ’s resurrection as its cornerstone (Matthew 25:34-36). Without it, there would be no hope of eternal life with Him and His people on a New Earth (Matthew 25:34-36), no final reckoning for sin, and no hope of life everlasting in paradise with them (Matthew 25:34-36). Christ’s resurrection stands as an irrevocable “No!” to evil while saying yes to love through transformational power (BCP, p 850).
Final Words
Words matter, and last or final words hold special weight. This was certainly true of Jesus Christ as recorded between his crucifixion and death, his final statements reflecting anguish endured to bring about redemption that would otherwise not be possible without giving his life up for the purpose.
His last words also proclaim his work was complete; He completed what the Father sent Him to do and take away sin. According to John 1:8, this was one of the main motivations behind Jesus coming into being: bringing peace.
He was called the Lamb of God because He offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice for mankind’s sins. According to Old Testament laws, Jewish people made animal sacrifices (usually lambs) as atonements for sin and to restore fellowship with God – these however could never completely erase sinful acts or restore fellowship between two parties involved.
Isiah foresaw that the Messiah would take it upon himself to atone for our sins. Therefore, Jesus was often referred to as the Lamb of God in Scripture. This term alludes back to Passover when the blood of a lamb covered the doorposts of Israelite homes to enable God’s judgment against them (Exodus 12:22-23). Jesus offered himself up during his final hours on the cross as an ultimate Lamb of God who has taken away the sins of all mankind.
