the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

We can perceive the solemnity of this statement by John about who Jesus was, while we imagined him pointing to him among the multitudes.

But why does he say that he is "the Lamb of God"?"?

Some have thought that it was a reference to his meek and humble character as that of a lamb (Mt 11:29). And of course, it was.

But perhaps it is more accurate to remember that the lamb was an animal used especially for sacrifices.
Now, there are numerous references to different sacrifices in which a lamb was to be sacrificed. Think of some of them.

The lamb of the Passover (Ex 12: 1-28). There are several reasons why it seems appropriate to identify the Lord Jesus with the Passover lamb. First, because he was sacrificed at the feast of the Passover (Luke 22: 7). Also the evangelist John explains that the way in which Christ died was in fulfillment of the paschal sacrifice (Jn 19: 33,36). Paul affirms in (1 Cor 5: 7) "that our Passover, which is Christ, was already sacrificed for us". And in fact, the Passover must be remembered by the Israelites because through the sacrifice of the lamb they were delivered from divine wrath and constituted as a nation. The same could be said of the Church, which is freed from the judgment of God and is constituted as such from the death of Christ.

But no attentive reader of the Scriptures will miss the tremendous parallelism with the lamb described by Isaiah:

(Is 53:6-7)
"We all went astray like sheep, each one went his way; but the Lord has laid on him the sin of us all. He was distressed and afflicted, he did not open his mouth; as a lamb he was taken to the slaughterhouse; and as a sheep before his shearers, he fell silent and did not open his mouth."

In fact, we could say that all the sacrifices of the Levitical system were symbols or shadows of the final sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.

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"What removes the sin of the world"

However, although we can find many similarities with the sacrifices of the Old Testament, it is also very important to see the differences:

While in the old covenant the sacrificed animals were many, Juan presents only one victim: "the Lamb."
Let us also think that in the Levitical system, each Israelite had to provide his own lamb for the sacrifice for sin, but now it is God himself who provides the victim: "the Lamb of God". Incidentally, it reminds us when (Isaac 22: 7-8) Isaac inquires of Abraham, "Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" And his father replies, "God will provide himself as a lamb for the burnt offering."

Another important difference was that the blood of sacrificed animals could only "atone" or "cover" sins, while Christ "takes away sin." (He 10: 4) "for the blood of bulls and goats can not take away sins." (1 Jn 3: 5) "And you know that he appeared to take away our sins."

The Levitical sacrifices served only one person for a specific sin, while the sacrifice of Christ has a universal scope: "the sin of the world". The object of this salvation are men of every tribe, people and nation. This is what the high priest prophesied about Jesus: (Jn 11: 51-52) "This he did not say for himself, but as he was the high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was to die for the nation; not only for the nation, but also to gather in one the children of God who were scattered. " The payment he made on the cross was more than enough to cover everyone's debts. His atonement was enough for all mankind, although it is only effective for those who believe.

The Jews serendipitously did not expect a Messiah of this type, and in fact, the disciples themselves had a hard time understanding that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. They did not think of a Messiah who came to suffer. And within his priorities was not the salvation of sin but of his Roman enemies. That's why it was finally rejected by the people.

¿Why is it necessary for there to be a sacrifice to remove sin? We found the answer in several appointments:

(Ro 6:23)
"Because the wages of sin is death."

(He 9:22)
"Without bloodshed, there is no remission."

he essence of sacrifices in the Old Testament was the principle of substitution, that is, placing one thing instead of another. The story of two brothers is told during the American Civil War. One single and the other married. The government called the married man (who had several children) to join the army of the North. His younger brother then said: "I can not allow my brother, having a wife and children, to risk his life in the war." This is how José, the youngest, was present when the army officers quoted Jorge, his married brother. Finally José was admitted and entered the ranks of the Army of the North, where he took part in bloody battles. One day the boy lost his life in combat. He actually died instead of his married brother.

Christ came to do for man something that he could not do for himself. Something that is essential for man's happiness: to take away sin. Religion insists that the person must bear his own sin and atone for it with good works. But if I have to bear my own sin, then I am lost and condemned. However, if Christ bears my sin, I will be able to save myself thanks to him. The more man insists on redeeming himself for his own works, the worse the result.

Let us think for a few moments of the mission that the Lord Jesus Christ assumed in coming to this world: Take away the sin of the world! How can we measure such an immense burden! How much pain it would cause to Him who is perfect in the highest degree to bear the guilt of the whole world! No one in this world, no saint, no prophet, no angel, no archangel would be capable of something like that. It had to be the Son of God who did it.
What is the "sin" to which he refers that he came to remove? The fundamental sin of living without God, egocentrically, ignoring the Creator as if it did not exist.

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"This is the one I said"

Juan had already given a similar testimony before. We can see it in (Jn 1: 15,27).
At first, Jesus was an unknown character, in comparison with the Baptist's fame; But the time had come for Jesus to enter the scene and occupy the place that his pre-existence demands. At that moment, Juan stepped aside to make way for him. He himself described it in a very beautiful way: "It's up to Jesus to grow, and to shrink" (Jn 3:30).

"And I did not know him"

Being cousins, it is likely that John and Jesus knew each other well, but John had not recognized the messianic condition of his cousin until the time of his baptism. It is clearly seen in the context, that here reference is made to something beyond a mere physical knowledge: the Baptist confesses that it had to be revealed from the height that Jesus was the Christ. In this sense I had not known him.

Juan did not know him because he had not seen any of his signals yet. However, when our Lord appeared before John to be baptized, he said, "I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?" (Mt 3:14) These words let us see that he did know Jesus before this moment, and that in fact he understood that his life of holiness was far superior to his.

This detail is interesting because it excludes the false suspicion that John gave testimony of Christ because of the familiarity he had with him.

And I saw him, and I have testified that this is the Son of God"

We find here the echo of the Father's testimony at baptism (Mark 1:11). This testimony of John is in perfect harmony with the purpose of the gospel (Jn 20: 30-31)

This expression refers to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God in the highest sense in which this term can be used. It expresses the special relationship that exists eternally between the Father and the Son. (Jn 1: 1,18).
No one who was not God could baptize with the Holy Spir

God bless you

The following content was extracted from Bible school: Following the Teacher.
Queen valera (1960)
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