Lamb Of God

2 Pages 466 Words

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) These are the words of John the Baptist as he saw Jesus approaching one day. Why would John refer to Jesus as the Lamb of God? He is not the only one; in the book of Exodus Jesus is referred to as the Lamb twenty-eight times. According to the dictionary a lamb can be: a young sheep, a sweet mild-mannered person, or one who can be duped or cheated especially in financial matters. These are the ways that lamb can be used out of the context of this chapter.
Jesus is obviously not a young sheep or someone who can duped or cheated very easily, but he is a sweet mild-mannered person according to the bible. I do not believe that this is the reason that John refers to Jesus as the Lamb of God. I believe that in order to discover the meaning in the context you have to look at the Jewish traditions and beliefs. During Passover the Jews would sacrifice a Lamb and smear its blood across their doors to protect them from the evil spirits that came.
Jesus as a lamb can be interpreted as the paschal lamb, whose blood saved the Israel, and also as the lamb that is slaughtered as sin-offerings. Jesus’ crucifixion and death can be thought of as both of the lambs, the paschal and the slaughtered. He was slaughtered to save the salvation of man and forgive their sins. He came to be a sacrifice for the sinners.
There is one last interpretation of the lamb in the bible, the apocalyptic lamb that would destroy evil from the world. The apocalyptic lamb is totally different then the paschal lamb and the slaughtered lamb. In the book of Revelations the lamb is referred to as having seven eyes and seven horns. The horn is a symbol of power. The lamb of Revelation is said to lead an army, go to war, and conquer his enemy. This lamb holds the destiny of mankind in his hand; he is “The Lord of Lord and King of Kings.”(Rev. 17:14)
So, which meaning did John in...