Behold the Lamb of God: The Sacrificial Purpose of Christ

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" ... Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?" (John 1)

When John said "Behold the Lamb of God," a Jewish crowd knew exactly what he meant — and what it would cost.

Levitical Words a Jewish Crowd Understood

That is why John came to baptize: to reveal Jesus. After he had seen and heard, his ministry changed. He declared, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." When John said those words among a multitude of Jewish people, they understood what they meant. These were Old Testament Torah words, drawn from the first five books of the Bible — and specifically from the third book, Leviticus. These were Levitical words.

The Book of Leviticus outlined how the people of Israel could come close to, or approach, a perfectly holy God. Even though we are not perfectly holy — we have this major problem called sin — and as a result cannot come into the presence of a holy God, God says, "I want to commune with you. I want to be in connection with you." The way that would happen was through sacrifice. "Lamb of God" was sacrificial language. In Leviticus, to approach a holy God, the children of Israel had to offer a lamb as a sacrifice for sin.

Behold the Son of God

John the Baptist was preaching the gospel of repentance, calling people to turn from their sins. He baptized Jesus, and when Jesus came up out of the water, the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove and remained. John said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is the Son of God."

How did he know Jesus was the Son of God, and what does that mean? "Son of God" means this is the One who has the very nature of God — the logos who was the Creator, who was at the beginning and before the beginning. That logos became flesh and dwelt among us. This is what we call the Incarnation: God came and dwelt among us. John says, "Behold, this is the Lamb of God. This is the Son of God. He has come to take away the sin of the world."

The Sacrificial Purpose From the Beginning

This is at the very beginning of Jesus's ministry — before He has preached anything, healed the sick, cast out demons, fed the multitudes, or walked on water. And here is point number three: from the beginning, Jesus came into the world for an essential, specific, and sacrificial purpose.

What we celebrate this week — especially on Good Friday, when Jesus was crucified — the death of Christ on the cross, we need to recognize was the purpose from the beginning. It is not that Jesus came as some revolutionary preacher who caused trouble until they got angry and killed Him. He came for an essential, specific, and sacrificial purpose. He came from the beginning to go to the cross. Good Friday was always the focus, always the plan. The cross did not happen to Jesus — He came to make it happen.

This is the message the church has preached from its earliest days. It is outlined in an early creed in 1 Corinthians 15. The gospel Paul declared, along with all the others, is that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, He was buried, and He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. He came for an essential, specific, and sacrificial purpose. John the witness declares it to anyone who will hear: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Meeting the Seekers

In this passage there are three witnesses, some Seekers, and a skeptic. Let's meet some of the Seekers. The next day, John stood with two of his disciples. As this hairy man in a camel-hair garment and leather belt, eating locusts and honey, was preaching in the region of Judea, not only did a multitude gather to him but also disciples — followers, learners.

The day after he first said "Behold the Lamb of God," he said it again to two of his learners standing with him. Sometimes people need to be told twice; maybe you're like that. He had already said it, and now, twenty-four hours later, with a couple of his disciples still hanging out with him, he says, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the Son of God."

John Knew His Role

Effectively John was saying, "You are not going to find what you're looking for from me. You need to follow Him." John is an amazing character for many reasons, but one is that he understood his role. He knew that in some ways he was just a signpost pointing to Jesus, and he had no problem with that. So he tells these two followers — who had likely been with him for a while — that it is time to stop hanging out with him and to follow Jesus instead.

The two disciples heard John speak, and they followed Jesus. Underline that in your Bible — that was John's intended goal. He baptizes Jesus, sees the Spirit descend and remain, hears the voice say, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased," and then says, "Behold the Lamb of God. Follow Him. I've baptized you with water; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Follow Him."

That can be hard for us, because if we're honest, we like followers. People following around with us makes us feel important, needed, useful. But my primary role — and John's primary role — the thing we are most needed and most useful for, is to direct people to follow Jesus. John knew this so well that when, in John 3, people came concerned that the crowds were leaving him to follow Jesus, he spoke some of the most profound words in Scripture: "He must increase, but I must decrease." He had the right perspective.

"What Do You Seek?"

The two disciples followed Jesus, and seeing them follow, He turned and said, "What do you seek?" That is an important question, and I'm not sure we always fully know the answer when we're asked it. Do you really know what it is you are deeply seeking?

Some people seek pleasure — we live in a pleasure-seeking culture. Others seek peace and rest. Some seek a fortune, or wisdom, or knowledge. The sixteenth-century philosopher Blaise Pascal said, "All men seek happiness." We certainly live in a culture given to the pursuit of happiness. But everybody is looking for something, and Jesus came into the world seeking for Seekers. He sends His followers to do the same — to seek for Seekers.

Jesus knows that ultimately what every person is looking for will only truly be found in Him. Gather a hundred people and ask what they long for, and you might get a hundred answers — yet there will be a convergence, and everything they ultimately seek is only truly found in Christ. Why? Because, as Paul says in Colossians, in Him dwells all the fullness of God in bodily form, and only in Him are we complete. You will never be complete, never be satisfied, until you find your fullness in Him.