The Sacrificial Christ
Scripture Reading: John 1:19-51
Meditation
Between a promise and its fulfillment is a waiting room.
John the Baptist, his disciples, and an entire generation of Jews have been sitting in that room and now the door is about to be opened. They have read the Scriptures, they understand the characteristics of the Christ, they know the marks of the Messiah, but they don’t have any candidates.
Many had thought John the Baptist was the Christ but he denied the title.
“Now this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, ‘I am not the Christ.’
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, ‘I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ”
John understands his part in this divine drama. He is the one who is supposed to get the path ready. No upstaging. No grandstanding. No seeking the spotlight. At the appointed time, his role is to roll out the Messianic carpet, straighten it, signal the trumpets, and announce the arrival of the Anointed One: the Christ.
And when John sees the carpenter’s son, Jesus of Nazareth, that’s exactly what he does.
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ’ ”
John calls Jesus “the Lamb of God”. The priests and the Levites who were sent from Jerusalem to question him know exactly what he is trying to say. That name isn’t just a title. It implies atonement, redemption, sacrifice. And every Jew knows the stories about the sacrificial lamb.
They all know the story about the ram caught in the thicket. They all remember how God tested Abraham and told him to sacrifice his only son, the son of promise, Isaac. They know about the knife, the wood, and the fire. They held their breath when Abraham tied up Isaac, placed him on the altar, raised his hand, and made ready to slay his son. They breathed a sigh of relief when the angel said “stop” and Abraham saw the lamb caught in the thicket.
“Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.” (Genesis 22:13)
They all know the story about the Passover Lamb.
“The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.” (Exodus 12:13)
They all know the requirements of the sacrificial system. Whether it is a burnt offering, a sin offering, or a guilt offering, the sacrifice has to be a pure lamb.
“When a person commits a violation and sins unintentionally in regard to any of the Lord’s holy things, he is to bring to the Lord as a penalty a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel. It is a guilt offering.” (Leviticus 5:15)
In one sentence, John declares who the Messiah is, what he’s come to do, and what he has to offer.
“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
This Jesus of Nazareth is substitute. He is sacrifice. He is sin offering.
As the Sacrificial Christ, he is pure, spotless, and undefiled. He is the sum of all sacrificial lambs. As the Lamb of God, this priceless gift from heaven has come to forfeit his life on behalf of sinful humanity.
God’s Son comes to die instead of and in place of the world that rejects him. The Sacrificial Christ comes to buy back his world. He redeems it with his own blood. It’s his blood on the doorpost, his blood on the altar of sacrifice, and his blood on the cross.
From the cross, he declares,
“I take away the sins of the world!”
Prayer
Father,
Generation after generation after generation waited in anticipation for the advent of the Messiah, your Son made flesh. They longed for his coming. They looked for his arrival. When he tarried, they gripped ever tighter the Messianic promises given to them by Moses and the Prophets.
That he would come was a fact. When he would come was a mystery. Who he would be—the Scriptures were full of clues.
John the Baptist found a number of those clues and began to unravel the Messianic mystery. Father, when he baptized Jesus, you spoke, the Spirit descended, and both of you affirmed the divinity of the carpenter’s son. No more guessing, no more wondering, no more hoping. Jesus is the Messiah.
And so John pointed to Jesus and declared,
“Look, the Lamb of God! He is the Sacrificial Christ who takes away the sins of the world.”
During this day, help me live in the reality of full forgiveness. Remind me that the Sacrificial Christ suffered and died instead of and in place of me. Assure me that the sacrifice of the Lamb of God was not only universal but also personal. He died for the world but he also died for me.
In his name I pray. Amen.
Reflection
John the Baptist described Jesus as, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”. How does that affect they way you think about Christ?
What’s the difference between knowing that “the Sacrificial Christ died for the world” and knowing that “the Sacrificial Christ died for you”?
The Sacrificial Christ died “instead of you” and “in place of you”. How does that change your life?
Consider the atoning work of the Sacrificial Christ. What sets Christianity apart from all other religions?
All Scripture references in the meditation are marked by italics and are taken from the Gospel reading for the day (John 1:19-51). Those verses quoted outside of the chosen reading for the day are noted in parenthesis. All Scripture quoted on this site is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.