Jesus, the Lamb of God Devotional | John 1: 29-31

In the previous devotional we studied the testimony of John the Baptist about the Lord Jesus. According to him, the Lord Jesus existed before John was born, pointing to His divinity. We also learned that the law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today we will look at the passage from John 1:29-31:

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me is coming a Man who has proved to be my superior, because He existed before me.’ And I did not recognize Him, but so that He would be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing in water. (NASB)

John the Baptist calls the Lord Jesus the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. We cannot understand this statement without knowing the whole biblical context. On the night that God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt, He commanded the Jews to slay a flawless lamb called the Passover, to take its blood, and to anoint with it the pillars of the door and the upper threshold of the houses where they were to eat the lamb. That night, God was to judge all of Egypt.

For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and fatally strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the human firstborn to animals; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will come upon you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:12-13 NASB)

Later, God instituted the Passover as an annual holiday in Israel, by which the Jews were to remember their departure from Egypt. But that Old Testament lamb overshadowed the true Lamb, Jesus, and the exodus from Egypt overshadowed mankind’s deliverance from the bondage of sin. The Lord Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Passover, who was sacrificed for the sins of mankind. By believing in Him, we receive forgiveness of sins.

Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. (1 Corinthians 5:7 NASB)

Let us pray: “Our Father, who art in heaven. Thank you for sending the Lord Jesus into this world to take away the sin of all mankind. He is the Lamb of God who was slain for my sins. Forgive my sins and make me your child. I confess that Jesus is Lord and I believe that He died on the cross of Golgotha and on the third day He rose from the dead. Amen!”

Translated by Didina Vicliuc