Newsletter 4.10.2025

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  John 1:29

For the Jewish believer, the lamb became the central imagery of the system of the sanctuary. Lambs were not the only immolated animal, but it appears to be the most common and accessible for the average man. The influence of the religion hinged on this act of sacrifice which was institutionalized and cemented into its lore and economy. There was no Judaism without the ritual of the sacrificial system. And there was no concept of salvation without it either. It was preeminent and archetypical. 

John’s pronouncement and identification of Jesus as the Lamb of God, which bears away all sin of all people in all times in all generations and traditions, is as superlative and all-encompassing as creation itself. See the One whom has come to replace the shadows of types and symbols. Behold the reality of God’s system of salvation, of His mysterious and hidden plan to secure the eternal life of the race of men. See that the Jewish temple was necessary as a schoolmaster to lead the world to Jesus Christ, Consider it the fulfillment of all of the prophetic uttering of the ancient Biblical writings. See the One who is both human and who is yet strangely morphed into animal in metaphor. Behold His willing and yielding nature, who lays down His life without a struggle. See the love of God’s family poured out upon sinful souls. What reconciliation, what forgiveness, what desire for reunion, what patience, what purity found in He who alone could manage such a risky operation. Look upon the One who would become the sinner of all sinners though having never sinned a single sin. 

There is nothing in the postmodern Western framework that has any way of referencing the concept of a lamb. Not for anything or any reason. The digital world has no real use for agricultural icons. While the idea of farm to table, farmhouse chic furnishings, and Ag to a degree find some place in the public conscience, the significance of livestock is mostly unnecessary to the lives of people in contemporary society. While it is likely that the Greek world to which John was writing was able to identify with sacrifice and expiation and offering, it is foreign to the brave new age. 

What then? How then can such a critical concept be presented to such a futuristic audience? It definitely requires high Biblical literacy to enter into an intelligent dialogue. But what it also requires is a way of framing what the lamb symbolizes. And here is what is universal and all inclusive - all men understand error and sin and injustice and judgment. All men understand something of morals and ethics. All men can see the result of broken laws and violations of human rights and dignity. All men can see the consequences of what is not always termed sin, but is human failure and shortcoming nonetheless. All men can see what happens when corruption and lawlessness run amok. All men bear shame and guilt and heartache and scars and wounds from the conflict in an unfair world filled with unconscionable acts done toward all manner of peoples. And in this, one finds the necessity of the Lamb. Who else, what else, can take away all of the sin of the world? The Bible gives us Jesus. 

Some would surmise that lambs are too weak to be considered a worthy symbol of a hero and savior. But if you look up a picture of a horned ram, you will see power, dignity, and nobility. I’ve been watching out of my kitchen window as the neighbor’s billy goat trains his young son how to fight. He’ll even go head to head with the new bull my neighbors acquired. Now the little male goat is starting to playfully take on the bull. While these animals are vulnerable and have no real way to protect themselves, they have within them a powerful fighting spirit. This is our Lord Jesus. He seemed too weak, so men discounted Him. But He is power, dignity, and nobility. He has a fighting spirit which went to the cross to die for all mankind, warring for their redemption, for your redemption. This is our Savior, Behold the Lamb of God. 

Pastor Dean