RR 031: Jesus the Lamb Prior to Revelation

Key Verse to Remember

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)

The Problem of Sin

God is the source of all life and in him is no darkness at all. His very nature opposes sin and is all about love. In fact, God loves every person on earth and wants a close relationship with all of us. So far so good right? Not so fast. 

The problem with our relationship with God is not with him, it is with us. The problem is our sin. The only sinless person in history was Jesus. The rest of us have a sin problem and it separates humanity from God. 

We may not feel like our sin is as bad as the next person, but it is. Remember what we just said that “in him is no darkness AT ALL”. The least little sin separates us from a holy God. 

Next remember that God is the source of all life. If we are separated from the source of all life then all that is left for us is death. This is the problem the human race has been struggling with since the Garden of Eden. (1 John 1:5, Romans 6:23)

Animal Sacrifices: Not a Solution Just a Reminder of Sin

Cain and Abel

The Bible doesn’t record God telling Cain and Abel to make sacrifices to God, but for some reason they did. What it does record is that God was pleased with Abel’s sacrifice of the firstborn of his flock and that he was not pleased with Cain’s offering of the fruits of the soil. (Genesis 4:4)

Abraham and Issac

– God told Abraham to take Isaac, his son to the region of Moriah and sacrifice him on a mountain God would show him. This region would later become Jerusalem. 

Many years before God had promised to give him Isaac as his heir and God had performed a miracle to allow Abraham and his wife Sara to conceive Isaac when they were well beyond the age of childbearing. Now he was to sacrifice the son who was supposed to be the start of a new nation?

Abraham had faith that God could bring Isaac back from the dead and obeyed God. He had Isaac carry wood up the mountain in the region of Moriah for his own sacrifice. God sent an angel to stop Abraham from doing this and provided a ram to sacrifice instead. (Genesis 22:1-11)

King David

Many years later an angel told the prophet Gad to tell King David that an altar for making sacrifices to God should be built on the the threshing floor of Arunah the Jebusite. His threshing floor just happened to be on….wait for it… Mount Moriah. King David bought the site and built an altar there to sacrifice to God. (1 Chronicles 21:18-27)

King Solomon

When Solomon became King, God chose him to build the Temple. He chose to build it on…. the threshing floor of Arunah the Jebusite on Mount Moriah. Remember for later on in this episode. Remember that we have one spot on Mount Moriah, chosen by God in each instance, where sacrifices were to be made to God so his holy justice could be reconciled to the sinful people that he loved. (2 Chronicles 3:1)

Passover Lamb

God told the Israelites he was going to pass through Egypt and strike down the firstborn of both people and animals. In order to escape this the Israelites were to sacrifice a perfect male lamb and put its blood on the the doorframe of their houses so that he would “pass over” them. This came to be remembered as the Jewish Passover. Remember for later on in this episode that the blood of the Lamb was shed during Passover. The Lamb died in the place of the God’s people as a substitute so that they could stand in right relationship with a holy God. (Exodus 12:1-13)

Holy of Holies and The Temple Veil (Exodus 26:33 & Leviticus 16)

God had the Israelites design two different buildings where his presence would dwell. One was the Tabernacle, which was a tent that could be moved. The other structure was the Temple which was built much later on in Jerusalem. 

Inside of each were two rooms. One was called “the holy place” and the other room was called “the most holy place” or the Holy of Holies.  These rooms were separated by a thick veil or curtain that was 60 feet high and 30 feet wide. The purpose of the veil was to separate a holy God from sinful men. 

The Holy of Holies was where God appeared in a cloud over the mercy seat on top of the Ark of the Covenant. It was the literal presence of God. The High Priest would sprinkle blood from goats and bulls in the Most Holy Place once a year on a day called The Day of Atonement. No one else could perform this blood ritual in the Holy of Holies except the High Priest. Even he could only come inside the veil of the Most Holy Place once per year “so that he may not die”. Being in the presence of a holy God is a very big deal. 

However, the sin problem remained. Animal sacrifice was not enough. It only put sin on credit and rolled it forward. It was an annual reminder of sin but it didn’t pay it off. Eventually the true Lamb of God would need to come and pay off the credit for all past, present, and future sins of the world. (Hebrews 9-10)

Isaiah Prophecies The Lamb of God Will Come

Isaiah 53

53 

Who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2 

He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 

He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

4 

Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.

5 

But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.

6 

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

7 

He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.

8 

By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
    Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
    for the transgression of my people he was punished.

9 

He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
    and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
    nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 

Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
    and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

11 

After he has suffered,
    he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
    and he will bear their iniquities.

12 

Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
    and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
    and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
    and made intercession for the transgressors.

John the Baptist Announces the Lamb of God Has Arrived

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! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:29-36)

Saved By The Blood of The Lamb

More than 900 years after Solomon made the Temple on Mount Moriah, Jesus, the Son of God, carried a wooden cross up Golgotha, which scholars think was extremely close in proximity to Mount Moriah. Unlike in Isaac’s case, God would not halt the sacrificing of his own Son of promise this time. However, just like in the story of Isaac, God would provide the sacrifice himself. He would provide Jesus, the Lamb of God. In fact, the Lamb of God would be sacrificed for our sins very near Mount Moriah during Passover! How much closer could all this tie together?

Like the first Passover in Exodus, the blood of the true Lamb of God was used to cause God’s judgement to pass over those who put their faith in him. His blood saves us from sin and death and gives eternal  life. 

Christ became the perfect sacrifice for us as he shed his blood and died for our sins. He was perfect and sinless and didn’t deserve to die. We were the ones who who are sinful, not him. We didn’t deserve for him to shed his blood for us. (Romans 5:6-8, 1 Peter 1:2)

The gospel of Matthew tells us that directly following the crucifixion of Jesus the “curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.” It seems to me that Matthew was trying to show us that because of the Lamb of God there would no longer be a need to separate God from man. (Matthew 27:51)

When Christ appeared as our high priest he entered into the presence of God, not with the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9-10)

God loves the whole world and everyone in it. He provided a way for all people to be saved by not counting their sins against them. All who believe that Jesus is the Son of God receive eternal life. God lives in them and they live in God. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have eternal life.(John 3:16, 1 John 4:14, 2 Corinthians 5:19, 1 John 5:11-12)

We don’t need to enter a room like the Holy of Holies where God resides in order to be with God. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and savior in baptism we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now God doesn’t live somewhere nearby, he lives in each of our hearts. 

Believing in Jesus the Lamb is more than just a feeling, it is full acceptance of Jesus as our Lord and savior. We are saved by believing in Jesus and accepting God’s grace, not by our own works. However, part of our belief is being obedient to Christ. We must decide to turn away from sinful living and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. When we do this, the blood of the Lamb causes the wrath of God to pass over us as well. (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 2:38). 

Key Verse to Remember

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! 

Roots

John 3:16

1 John 1:5

Romans 6:23

Genesis 4:4

Genesis 22:1-11

1 Chronicles 21:18-27

2 Chronicles 3:1

Exodus 12:1-13

Exodus 26:33

Leviticus 16

Hebrews 9-10

Isaiah 53

John 1:29-36

Romans 5:6-8

1 Peter 1:2

Matthew 27:51

1 John 4:14

2 Corinthians 5:19

1 John 5:11-12

Matthew 28:19-20

Acts 2:38