John 1:29-31 - Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)

Chad Werkhoven
3 hours ago
4 min read

The Lamb of God didn't just take on our sin, He took our place.

Lamb on rocky cliff under dark, cloudy sky. Text: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, John 1:29." Moody scene.

John 1:29-31 (NIV)

CONTEXT: The religious establishment had just sent a contingent to inquire whether John the Baptist, who'd been garnering massive crowds, was the coming Messiah. John denied he was, and he also denied being a reincarnation of Elijah or the Prophet. When pressed for his true identity, John quoted Isaiah, saying he was "the voice of the one calling in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.'"

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.”

Canons of Dordt

Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election

Point 2 - Limited Atonement

Articles 1-2

Article 3: The Infinite Value of Christ’s Death

This death of God’s Son is the
1. only
2. and entirely complete
3. sacrifice and satisfaction for sins;
it is of
1. infinite value and worth,
2. more than sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world.

Summary

What a sight - and even sound - it must have been. John the Apostle doesn't record what it was that John the Baptist was doing when he saw Jesus coming toward him, but we do know from other gospel accounts that nothing about John the Baptist was ordinary or dull - he was not, as they say, a slave to fashion, and he had no reservations about speaking truth to power when the opportunities came up. That's probably part of the reason crowds flocked out to the desert to see him. He was a spectacle to behold.

So no matter what he'd just been doing, his shocking statement certainly rang out and captured the attention of all who could hear him. And the words he proclaimed have kept the attention of theologians now for millennia: Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Everybody agrees that John was describing the approaching Jesus, but what exactly did he mean by referring to Jesus as a Lamb?

If you've been a Christian for any length of time, you're likely not surprised at all to see Jesus described as the Lamb of God. You've heard it, read it, sung it, and have even seen lots of artwork depicting it. It's just part of the everyday Christian vernacular, so much so that it almost goes by unnoticed. Of course Jesus is the Lamb of God.

But John the Baptist's proclamation is one of only two times in the entire Bible that Jesus is described as a lamb (the other being Rev. 5:12, interestingly also written by John). Furthermore, nowhere does the Bible describe sheep as being used to atone for sin. Hundreds of thousands of bulls and goats (maybe even millions?) had people's sin put upon them before having their blood poured out, but never lambs.

So why, out of all the titles John the Baptist could have used to announce Jesus, does he choose Lamb of God to describe the One who takes away the sin of the world? And why has this description of who Jesus is become so foundational to Christianity?

Dig Deeper

Although lambs were not prescribed by God's Law as a sacrificial animal, there are all sorts of examples of sheep being symbolically tied to salvation, especially by the prophet Isaiah. Likewise, when Abraham obeyed God's directive to sacrifice his son Isaac, it was a ram caught in a nearby thicked that God provided as a substitute that spared Isaac's life.

"The Lamb of God is certainly prefigured in the Passover. When God prepared to bring His final plague on the Egyptians, the death of every firstborn male of the Egyptians, including the crown prince of the Pharaoh, He instructed His people Israel to slay lambs without blemish and to spread the blood on their doorposts. God promised to pass over all the houses where He saw the blood of the lambs on the doorposts" (RC Sproul).

So when John the Baptist announces Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, he's putting Jesus into a whole new category of atoning sacrifice. Jesus wasn't just another creature in a long line of bulls and goats who had sin & guilt put upon Him before being sacrificed. Jesus was something new and different: He was truly a substitute; One who not only took on our sins, but also who took our place.

Sproul concludes, "Just as the blood of those lambs caused the people of Israel to be spared from God’s wrath, the Lamb of God redeemed His people from the penalty that was due for their sin."

AAA Prayer (About)

ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who sent His Son as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world by taking our place;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will have the same sense of awe and wonder that John the Baptist had toward Jesus;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: