Joel M Bradshaw

29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! –John 1

John’s original audience would have heard the Baptist’s words about Jesus and pictured the one moment only involving male lambs.

The Passover meal was to be a male without blemish, but could be either a lamb or a goat (Exodus 12:5). The primary purpose of Passover wasn’t taking away sin, but deliverance from death.

The sin offering indeed took away sin, but actually was to be a FEMALE lamb, not a male (Leviticus 4:32).

The male lamb without blemish actually was the burnt offering. The purpose of the burnt offering was to provide kpr or atonement (Leviticus 1:4). Think of atonement like the white-out some of us once used during the time of typewriters. The mistake on the page was covered over, but still remained there. The white out made it possible to turn in our papers. So the death of the innocent creature made it possible to continue the relationship between a repentant sinner and the Holy God.

But wait, Joel. Leviticus 1 has other animals besides lambs. How can you say that about the Passover and then not about the burnt offering? Because of Numbers 28 (with emphasis)…

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Command the Israelites and say to them: See that you present to Me at its appointed time the food for My offerings by fire, as a pleasing aroma to Me. And tell them that this is the offering made by fire you are to present to the LORD as a regular burnt offering each day: two unblemished year-old male lambs. Offer one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight, along with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with a quarter hin of oil from pressed olives. (Numbers 28:1-5)

One of the jobs of the priests was to slow roast those two lambs so that there would always be fire on God’s altar (Leviticus 6:12-13). So when the people heard John the Baptist call Jesus the lamb that takes away sin, they most likely thought of the burnt offering that was always on the altar.

The burnt offering provided the foundation for all other offerings. It was the sacrifice done most often. The Israelite could walk by the temple and literally smell the goodness of God and the relationship maintained by means of those lambs. We are grateful for the full and final atonement secured by the sacrifice of Jesus (Hebrews 10:10). But that was foreshadowed by the burnt offering which was always on God’s altar. We can always depend upon the person and saving work of Jesus!–JMB