GOD'S LAMB

In the Gospel of John it is stated that the prophet John the Baptist, seeing Jesus approaching, declared: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (1:29). An unprecedented and original statement about the Messiah for the context of the time. From the evangelist's account it is noted that such knowledge of the Anointed came to the prophet by divine revelation. See what the Baptist said: "And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One." ( 1,33.34).

History shows that John the Baptist was right about Jesus being the Messiah so much that after Him no one else came to Israel with a preaching, teaching, and miracles like his. It is also emphasized that the religious scene in Israel and in the world was profoundly altered by the action of Christ's followers who continued their preaching after his death and resurrection. It is also worth mentioning that, about forty years later, Israel will be destroyed by the Roman armies and the survivors dispersed in the nations of the empire, ending the nation of Israel in the mold of the Old Testament.

The Jews did not expect a spiritual Messiah. They were deeply secularized. Although they daily performed the sacrifice of lambs (Leviticus 1:10), they no longer understood the spiritual meaning of that act. They became attached to the form. The spiritual vision has been lost in religious formalism. That is why the religious authorities did not see the Christ in Jesus. Even the disciples did not understand Him. Once, after Jesus calmed a storm, they “were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”?” (Matthew 8:27). Moments before his ascension into heaven the disciples asked, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1: 6). They awaited a nationalistic Messiah.

For this reason, that statement of John the Baptist is of relevance and significance. It rescued the spiritual meaning of sacrifice, the center of Jewish worship at that time. Of course, God did not want or care about sacrifices (1 Samuel 15:22), but they had a didactic function to show the seriousness of sin that would only be forgiven, and its effect (eternal death) nullified by the sacrifice of a life. In Leviticus it says: “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life” (17.11). Hebrews 9:22 says that "...without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”.

Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He himself stated this about himself. Celebrating the Passover with the disciples, for the last time, before he was killed, he took a loaf of bread and said, "This is my body given for you." The Apostle Paul, speaking of Jesus, wrote: “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” (1 Corinthians. 5: 7; Romans 5: 9-10). ). By the time of Jesus, Israel had lost sight of the Old Testament promise. And today, does the Church of Christ, in its many doctrinal views, understand New Testament prophecy and is It ready for the events to come?

Antônio Maia – M.Div

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