Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.
John 1:29-34
A wild man from the desert speaks these words when he sees Jesus approaching him. Jesus, a man who up to this point, as far as we are aware, spent thirty odd years living in a small peasant village learning how to use the tools of the trade of his earthly father. Jesus has yet to begin his ministry, the ministry that will lead him to the Cross. At this point in the story, Jesus has yet to understand fully the mission he will carry out, by choice. But John, he knows; his prophetic words recall the prophecy from Isaiah 53:6-7, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all…like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent."
When we think of Christ as the sacrificial lamb we often forget that the strength of his sacrifice is his obedience to his Father’s will, and his dedication, as the second person of the Godhead, to saving humanity. The strength of Christ's sacrifice is that he used his free will to save us. Adam's free will brought us into sin and death. Christ's free will brings us into grace and life.
Dawn Campbell+
