Season of Epiphany
Third Sunday: John 1:29-34
THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SINS
INTRODUCTION
John the Baptist introduced Jesus using the
symbol of a lamb that has several Biblical implications. Instead of
presenting Jesus as a deliverer like Moses, or as a victorious conqueror
like David, he presented Jesus as “The Lamb of God” who would sacrifice
himself to take away the sin of the world. This lamb who came from God
existed before his incarnation. The descent and the permanent abode of
the Holy Spirit on Jesus was the proof that he was the Messiah. This
Jesus is the Son of God.
BIBLE TEXT
(John 1:29) The next
day John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, “Look, there is the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sin of the world. (30) It is he of whom I
said: A man comes after me who is already ahead of me, for he was before
me. (31) I myself did not know him, but I came baptizing with water, so
that he might be revealed in Israel.” (32) And John also gave this
testimony, “I saw the Spirit come down on him like a dove from heaven
and rest on him. (33) I myself did not know him but the one who sent me
to baptize told me: ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and
rest is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ (34) Yes, I have
seen, and I declare that this is the Son of God.”
INTERPRETATION
(29) The next day
John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, “Look, there is the Lamb of
God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
The next day
He saw Jesus coming
toward him
Behold
The Lamb of God
1. It could mean the paschal
lamb,
whose blood saved Israel at the time of exodus from Egypt (Exodus
12:1-13). The pascal lamb without blemish stood for Jesus the sinless
God, the blood of the lamb at the door posts stood for the blood of
Jesus posted on the cross, and sacrifice of the innocent lamb for the
deliverance from slavery stood for the innocent Jesus who died on the
cross to deliver sinful humanity from the bondage of sin and Satan.
2. “Lamb of God” means a lamb
that God provided. When Abraham traveled with his son
Isaac for sacrifice at Mount Moriah, Isaac asked “‘The fire and the wood
are here, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?’ Abraham replied,
‘God himself will provide the lamb for the sacrifice, my son.’” (Gen.
22:7-8). God gave only a ram (Gen. 22:13) to substitute the sacrifice of
Isaac. Whereas, God provided a lamb later, as Abraham predicted. That
was Jesus, His only begotten son (John 3:16) who sacrificed at the same
mountain centuries later.
3. Jesus stood for the
sacrificial lamb in the Temple of Jerusalem. The
priests sacrificed a lamb each in the Temple every morning and evening
as a reparation for people’s sins (Exodus 29:38-42). They sacrificed
more lambs and other animals during the Passover. However, these animal
sacrifices could not take away the original sin. They were foreshadowing
the sacrifice of the true Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
4. Prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah predicted a suffering servant led like a lamb for slaughter
as a sin-offering (Jeremiah 11:19). “He was harshly treated and
afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb led to the
slaughter.” (Isaiah 53:7).
5. At the end we will see a
victorious apocalyptic lamb who would destroy evil in
the world (Rev. 5–7). John the Evangelist saw “a Lamb standing between
the throne and the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb
appeared to have been slain. It had seven horns and seven eyes, which
are the seven spirits of God sent out to all the earth.” (Rev. 5:6).
“They will fight against the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them, for
he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with him are
called, chosen and faithful.” (Rev. 17:14)
Who takes away the
sin of the world
John uses the singular form of sin instead of
sins. The sin that Jesus took away by his sacrifice was the original sin
that Adam and Eve committed. This sin was the root cause of all later
sins, and so we call original sin. The singular form of sin can also
mean all the sins in a collective form. The Israelites were offering
animal sacrifices for their contemporary sins. However, the sacrifice of
Jesus was for the original sin that affected all humanity and hence the
entire world.
(30) “It is he of
whom I said: A man comes after me who is already ahead of me, for he was
before me.”
Who ranks ahead of me
He existed before me.
(31) “I myself did
not know him, but I came baptizing with water, so that he might be
revealed in Israel.”
I did not know him
Some scholars believe that when John was
young, his parents fled with him to the Judean Desert to save his life
from King Herod the Great’s order to kill all male children two years or
younger. Herod’s target was Infant Jesus, and so the Holy Family fled to
Egypt at the same time. John’s aged parents died within a few years. So,
John continued to live in the wilderness under the care of the Essenes
community.
The Essenes were a
group of priests who disagreed with the corrupt priests in the Temple
and left Jerusalem. They moved to the Judean Desert that lies east of
Jerusalem and goes down to the Dead Sea. These faithful priests lived in
the caves preparing for the Messiah and concentrated on the study and
reflection of the Holy Scripture. They preserved the Qumran scrolls
discovered from 1946 to 1956. Essenes were active during the public
ministry of Jesus for about 100 years. They might have trained and
influenced John, which is clear from John’s lifestyle.
The reason why I came
baptizing
(32) And John also
gave this testimony, “I saw the Spirit come down on him like a dove from
heaven and rest on him.”
I saw the Spirit come
down
Like a dove from the
sky
Dove has different implications in the Bible:
At the time of creation, “the spirit of God hovered over the waters.”
(Genesis 1:2). The Hebrew word for hovering has the sense of a mother
bird brooding over her eggs. At the time of Jesus’ baptism, the dove had
moved upon the waters of Jordan and descended upon Jesus to start a
spiritual renewal through Jesus.
Dove was the symbol of a new creation in the
story of Noah. At the end of the flood he sent out from the ark a raven
and a dove. Raven, an unclean bird, ate dead bodies, and did not return.
Dove, a clean bird, flew over the waters, and returned to Noah (Genesis
8: 7-12).
God compared Israel to a dove. (Hosea 11:11).
Dove is a taming bird and a symbol of peace,
purity, and love. It is symbolic of innocence. Jesus told his disciples:
“Look, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. You must be clever
as snakes and gentle as doves.” (Matthew 10:16).
Dove was a sacred bird in Palestine. It was
acceptable for sacrifice in the Temple. Those who could not afford to
offer animals for sin offering could offer doves instead (Lev 5:7-11).
(33) “I myself did
not know him but the one who sent me to baptize told me: ‘The man on
whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who baptizes with
the Holy Spirit.’”
John came to know for sure that Jesus was the
Messiah not based on the information he received from his parents when
he was young, but based on God’s revelation and its fulfillment by the
descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus.
Spirit come down and
remain
Baptize with the Holy
Spirit.
Baptism of John had two implications: It
meant cleansing the body by taking a bath and renewal of life. Besides
the remission from all our sins, the baptism of Jesus imparted the gifts
of the Holy Spirit on us.
(34) “Yes, I have
seen, and I declare that this is the Son of God.”
The expression, “The Son of God” gives
importance to the divinity of Jesus. John who points to Jesus from the
crowd denoted that though Jesus was human in appearance, he is also God
incarnate and the only begotten son of God as in Psalm 2:7: “You are my
son. This day I have begotten you.”
“The Son of God” in the Bible has a
figurative sense, and we shall not take that in a worldly sense. It
shows the distinction of the divine Father and the Son who are equals
and are one with the Holy Spirit as the Most Holy Trinity.
MESSAGE
1. John the Baptist is a role model for us.
Like him, we must attract others to Jesus and not to us. Parents,
teachers, and evangelists shall humble themselves and make Jesus the
center of their activities.
2. Jesus who became the Lamb of God for us by
his self-sacrifice is also our model in service for others. Jesus won
victory through his dedication for us.
3. We have received baptism in the
Trinitarian formula. Thus, we became the temple of God. So, we should
respect our body and soul created by God the Father, redeemed by Jesus
Christ, and confirmed by the dwelling of the Holy Spirit.