BEHOLD THE LAMB

Joh 1:29  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold

the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

     This is an exciting passage of scripture.  One must understand who is talking and to whom he is talking.  It was John the Baptist who was talking.  He was the forerunner for Christ, but here we must understand he was a Jew.  The people to whom he was talking were

also Jews. As Jews they would understand perfectly what the preacher was meaning.  Yes he was identifying Jesus, but this is much deeper than that.

     He said, "Behold the Lamb of God..."  That might mean very little to today's Gentiles.  Those Jews would immediately see a tremendous picture, however.  Many years before God had called on Abraham to do something very spectacular.  He said to him that he should take his son, his only son Isaac to the top of a mountain where He would show him.  There he was to offer Isaac as a burnt offering unto God.  Now Isaac was not his only son.  Before Isaac there was Ishmael.  Ishmael, however, was illegitimate.  They had been so many years without children that Sarah had requested of Abraham that he go into her handmaid, Hagar, and give her a child by this bondwoman.  Abraham complied, so the son that was born to the bond woman was Ishmael.  So what did God mean by his only son, Isaac.  Isaac was his only legitimate son.  We must also remember that Isaac was the son of promise.  God had spoken to Abraham, when he was 99 years old and Sarah was 89 years old and had told him that the next year Sarah would bear him a son.  They were both past the years of child bearing, and Sarah laughed.  Sure enough, however, when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old, God gave them Isaac.  He was the only son of promise, and the only legitimate son of Abraham.  Yes Abraham had more legitimate sons later, but at the time Isaac was his only legitimate son.

     Another thing about this that was so amazing is in regard to that promise.  God had not only promised him Isaac, but He had promised him so many children that they would be in number like the stars in the sky and like the sand of the sea.  Now Isaac had no children yet.  Why then would he command Abraham to offer him as a burnt offering in view of His promise, when he had no children?  Remember John and those other Jews to whom he was preaching knew all this.

     Another mystery is in regard to Sarah.  Remember Isaac is not only her legitimate son, he is her only son at all.  She carried him through the gestation period and nursed him, and cared for him until now he is a grown young man.  He was old enough to carry the wood for the sacrifice.  We are not told if Abraham had told her, or what her reaction might have been if he had.

     At the foot of the mountain, Abraham said to the young men who had come with them, that they should stay at the foot of the mountain while the lad and he went and worshiped, after which they would return.  Abraham believed God even to the point that He would give Isaac back to him.  On the ascent, as they walked, Isaac said, Father, here is the wood and the fire, but where is the sacrifice.  Abraham's answer is full of meaning.  He said, Son, God will provide Himself a lamb.  Imagine what was going on in the heart of this good man.  On top of the mountain, he built his altar and put Isaac on it prepared to offer him a burnt offering as God had commanded.  A voice out heaven called Abraham and told him to do no harm to his son.  His attention was drawn to a ram caught in a thicket.  In the stead of Isaac Abraham offered the ram. This is definitely a picture of vicarious atonement.  Abraham's prophecy, however, as all those Jews would have known, was that God would provide Himself a lamb.  All through the Old Testament period those Jews had waited for God to provide Himself a Lamb, which was the sacrificial animal.  The people had brought their lambs, at no time had God provided a lamb.  Now this Baptist preacher out in the wilderness saw Jesus coming, and he said, "Behold the Lamb of God."  They would have understood that John was calling Jesus the Sacrificial Lamb of which Abraham had spoken.

     This is already getting to be a little long, so I'll cut it here and come back with another post to complete this message.