The Lamb of God

It had been 400 years since the Jews had heard from God when John the Baptist came on the scene.  During this silence, had they become convinced that the books were filled with nothing but stories?

Hebrew parents are commanded to tell the testimonies to their children, of how God had moved on their behalf: the miracles and the provision from the Rock, the exile from Egypt, the manna, the parted seas.  This was to solidify the understanding in each generation that the Israelites were God’s chosen people. 

But the more generations passed from the time that someone had seen God move and work, the easier it might have been to consign those epics to the status of legends.

Sometimes our testimony might become stale to us, and we might begin to even wonder about the things we’ve seen and heard.  That’s why we need to remind ourselves that God is here today, and that His Kingdom is the only real Kingdom that matters.  We need to point out what God has done for us now.

I say that because of the following—it seems like the religious leaders weren’t too excited about seeing John out there baptizing, but were merely placating, perhaps, the people, who had begun to ask questions.

“When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him…(John)”

Notice that they didn’t come out themselves?  They sent minions to ask the questions.  Theirs was a mere pedantic interest—like a scientist is interested in what’s on the slide of the microscope.  It didn’t move them personally that John was out there in the desert, baptizing people and calling them to repentance.

How much “trouble” do you go through to find out for yourself if what you’ve heard is true?  Are you reading the Bible for yourself, or simply believing what you hear from the pulpit each week?

He told them he was “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord.” 

Since he was the forerunner of the Messiah, his job was to spiritually prepare the way (as discussed in previous posts) by getting peoples’ hearts ready to receive Him.

“Why do you baptize, then, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elias) explains: In the Book of Malachi, Elijah's return is prophesied "before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord," making him a harbinger of the Messiah and the eschaton (end time) in various faiths that revere the Hebrew Bible.

Matthew Henry’s commentary states that “the Jews expected the person of Elias (Elijah) to return from heaven, and to live among them, and promised themselves great things from it.”

“Hearing of John’s character, doctrine, and baptism, and observing that he appeared as one dropped from heaven, in the same part of the country from which Elijah was carried to heaven, they were ready to take him for this Elijah.

“He was indeed prophesied of under the name of Elijah (Mal. 4:5), and he came in the spirit and power of Elias (Lu. 1:17), but he was not the person of Elias, not that Elias that went to heaven in the fiery chariot.”

Matthew Henry also states that because they expected an Elijah that was completely unlike the one God promised, they knew him not (Mt. 17:12.)

When they asked if he was ‘That’ prophet, they are being redundant: that prophet is the one prophesied by Moses, who is the Messiah.  Moses said the Lord would “raise up to them of their brethren, like unto him.” He had said already, I am not the Christ.

“He was not such a prophet as they expected and wished for, whom, like Samuel and Elijah, and some other of the prophets, would interpose in public affairs, and rescue them from under the Roman yoke.” 

The Jews were looking for a politically savvy prophet, who would help them escape the trouble they’d been under, but God was promising a way through, not a way around.

“There stands one among you who you do not know.”

David Brown comments: there standeth--This must have been spoken after the baptism of Christ, and possibly just after His temptation.  Notice that “among you” refers to the statement of God to Moses “I will raise up one from among your brethren.”

The next day John saw Jesus and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

The Lamb is very important in scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments.  John, in his revelation, sees a Lamb “in the midst of throne (of God)” (Rev. 5:6.)  A lamb was needed for sacrificial purposes (recall that without blood there is no forgiveness of sin.) 

Chuck Smith comments:

Jewish people were very familiar with lambs being used a sacrifice.  They remembered the lambs that were killed when the Israelites were about to be freed from Egypt, and they put the blood of the lambs on their doorposts and lintels.

Growing up, they saw how many lambs were killed as a covering for their sins.  Now Jesus was being called “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  Their only frame of reference for a man being sacrificed would have been the story of Abraham, who had prepared to offer his son Isaac on Mount Moriah.

Now in just a few years the people would see the fulfillment of that event, as Jesus would be offered up on Mount Moriah, to take away our sins once and for all.

Dear Heavenly Father,

You provided the Lamb so that I could be set free from sin and death and judgment.  What can I do to repay You?  Only offer my life in return, to serve You forever.  That’s all I’ve got to give You, Lord.

But will You take what I have and help me to make it my best for You?  Lord, so often I fail, have such small faith, and forget Whose I am!  Oh, how I need You!

Abba, thank You for Your goodness to me—that I might be as a happy child in Your house.  I love being Yours!

Your Daughter,

Donna