John 1: Lamb of God

S: "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"  John 1:29

"When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"  John 1:36

O: 2 times John calls Jesus the "Lamb of God".  In the Message, it calls him the "Passover Lamb" of God.  This is in reference to the Passover and the passage in Exodus helps explain what a "passover lamb" is.

"Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. 7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. 8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. "

Jesus, the Lamb therefore:

1) is without blemish and is perfect.  1Peter 1:19

2) Is sacrificed for others

3) Blood symbolizes the "covering of sins" or "passing of judgment by God"

4) Eaten symbolizes that Jesus is "taken in", like the last supper. (1Corinthians 11) and is a symbol of your belief in Him

A: Jesus, a perfect Lamb of God was sacrificied for the sake of us, in order to bring us into right standing with God.  What an unbelievable gift from God.  Despite our imperfections He will accept us as his own.  Wow.   Especially after an Asia trip, I saw firsthand the people worshiping Buddha and Krishnu and other gods.  Both Buddhism and Hinduism is works based.  That you must work towards enlightenment and heaven.  And the crazy thing is that they are worshiping a dead dude (Buddha) and cows (hindu)!  I know who the real Lord is and He is a living GOD!  How do we speak to the Buddhists and the Hindu?  By shining the light of Christ and bringing both Truth and Grace.  Boy, that is the difficult thing...

P: Lord, thank you for our great trip to Asia and how you showed us how many people do not know you.  I pray for the missionaries out there and thank you for softening our hearts to the people in Asia.  I pray that you continue to work truth into their lives and pray that you continue to soften my heart to ways that we can bring your Truth and Grace to them.  Amen.