INTRODUCTION

1. Jesus Christ is called by many names and descriptions in the Bible.

   1. Some terms are more direct and personal, such as Immanuel, Son of God, Son of Man, Christ, Messiah, Lord, Savior, the Word, and Firstborn.

   2. Other terms are more descriptive and symbolic, such as the Good Shepherd, the Bread of Life, the Chief Cornerstone, and the Alpha and the Omega.

2. Perhaps no description is more fitting than the "Lamb of God."  Let us consider this curious designation and its significance.

    

JOHN INTRODUCTED JESUS AS "THE LAMB OF GOD"

1. John was the herald of the Lord who came to prepare the people and announce the Lord's arrival.

   1. When the priests and Levites asked who he was, John quoted Isaiah 40:3.  Notice John 1:23:

      He said, "I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'make straight the way of the Lord,' as Isaiah the prophet said."

   2. On the next day when Jesus came to John, he announced Him by saying, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).

   3. The next day, John once again declared of Jesus, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" (John 1:36).

2. Notice that John's introduction was not, "Behold the Creator of the world!"

   1. This declaration would have been correct.  Consider John 1:1-3, 14:

      ¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  ²He was in the beginning with God.  ³All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being...¹⁴And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

   2. However, John's emphasis was upon the work that Jesus came to do.  Jesus did not come to create, but rather He came to save.

3. Notice that John's introduction was not, "Behold the King who conquers the nations!"

   1. This declaration also would have been correct.  Consider Psalm 2:7-9:

      ⁷"I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You.  ⁸Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession.  ⁹You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.'"

   2. However, John's emphasis was on the sacrifice Jesus came to make and not on His rule.

   3. The Jews would have preferred that the Messiah came as a conquering king rather than a lamb to be sacrificed.  They had no sense of their sin or their need for a Savior.

   4. As it was, Jesus came as the Christ, but He did not come to rule as a king on earth.

4. Instead of declaring that Jesus was Creator or King, John declared that Jesus would be a sacrifice for the sins of the people.

   1. This focuses attention on what the world really needs -- a Savior from sin.

   2. Jesus said this of Himself:

      1. Mark 10:45 -- "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

      2. Luke 19:10 -- "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

      3. John 10:11 -- "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."

          

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LAMB OF GOD

1. Throughout Scripture, the lamb was associated with burnt offerings of sacrifice.

   1. The first record of sacrifices in Scripture describes Abel's sacrifice of the firstlings of his flock (Gen. 4:4).

   2. Consider the time when God instructed Abraham to offer his son Isaac (Gen. 22:1-14).

      1. Isaac asked, "Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" (v. 7).  Abraham replied, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son" (v. 8).

      2. This event foreshadowed the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God.  Notice that Hebrews 11:19 says Abraham "considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received [Isaac] back as a type," i.e. a type of the resurrection of Christ.

   3. God commanded the Israelites to sacrifice a lamb each year in observance of the Passover (Ex. 12:1-14).

      1. The Passover was instituted by God as a memorial of Israel's deliverance from Egypt but also as a foreshadow of the deliverance from sin that God would accomplish through Christ.  The lamb's sacrifice was symbolic of Christ's sacrifice.

      2. Paul wrote, "For Christ out Passover also has been sacrificed" (1Cor. 5:7).  Jesus is the Lamb of God and our Passover today.

   4. Isaiah compared the Lord's suffering servant to a lamb.

      1. Isaiah 53 is a great explanation of the sacrifice of Christ.  As well as any passage in the Bible, it tells us why Jesus died on the cross.

      2. In verse 7, Isaiah wrote, "He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth."

2. Through the revelation of the gospel, the Lamb was identified as Jesus.

   1. As we saw before, John boldly declared that Jesus is the Lamb of God (John 1:29, 36).

   2. Isaiah 53:7 is quoted in reverence to Jesus in Acts 8:32.  From this passage, Philip preached Jesus to the Ethiopian.

   3. Peter stated that we are redeemed "with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ" (1Pet. 1:19). Indeed, the very purpose of His incarnation was to shed His blood for the sins of the world.

   4. Scripture emphasizes the necessity of Christ's incarnation and death in Hebrews 2:14-18:

      ¹⁴Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.  ¹⁶For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.  ¹⁷Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.  ¹⁸For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

      1. Christ had to be made like the children of God to render death powerless (v. 14).

      2. He had to be made like His brethren in order to become a merciful and faithful high priest (v. 17).

      3. He had to become flesh in order to understand temptation and come to the aid of those who are tempted (v. 18).

3. At the close of the Bible, the book of Revelation presents a different image of the Lamb of God.

   1. The Lord is called "Lamb" no less than twenty-seven times in Revelation.

   2. The image of the Lamb found in Revelation is not of one who is being prepared for sacrifice.  Instead, it is a Lamb that is already sacrificed and has become triumphant.

   3. Notice Revelation 5:11-14:

      ¹¹Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, ¹²saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing."  ¹³And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.  ¹⁴And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen." And the elders fell down and worshiped.

       

CONCLUSION

1. Christ was truly a sacrificial Lamb when He came into the world.

   1. He came to die as a sacrifice.

   2. He stood before His executioners without a voice of protest and did the will of His Father.

2. Now He is raised to the right hand of God where He rules as our King.  "Behold the Lamb of God!"