The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!The next day, he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.On the morrow he seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!
17 sermons cite this verse
… Later, this guy John, he sees Jesus walking toward him and he says, Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The sin of the world. What's that? The sin, the great sin, the sin at the source of all other sins is not to believe, not to trust in Jesus. God's word become human. So Jesus has come to take away this sin and thereby to take away all sins. How? By becoming the Lamb of God. Like the Passover Lamb, whose blood was spilled and painted on the door frames of God's people to set them free from slavery to the darkness, because Jesus sets people free from darkness and doubt and distrust. How? By being worthy of trust. By being the real deal. By staying true to his love. His beautiful love for God and love for people in the way he lived and spoke and served. And most of all, in his self-giving, sacrificial death on the cross and his doubt destroying resurrection from the dead. …
… So how in Luke chapter 7, verse 18 and 19 is John calling his disciples. Remember, John sent his disciples away to follow Jesus. When he saw Jesus, he said, look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. I'm not worthy to carry his sneakers. I can't carry his flip-flops. Follow him, and they did. Not only was John certain, but he was sacrificial. He gave up the ministry that he had so that Jesus could have the ministry that he couldn't. And now the Bible says that John calls two of his disciples and sent them to ask the Lord, are you the one who is to come or should we expect someone else? I could understand this question if he had just received reports that Jesus was taking long naps and teaching boring lectures. But remember what we read right before this. The disciples just saw Jesus raise a boy from the dead. John, it was amazing. Jesus walked right up to his beard and touched it. When he touched the stretcher, he said, get up. The kid just sat up, and Jesus handed him back to it. Jesus just ruined a funeral, John. …
… he doesn't have me there to elaborate, okay? He just says, look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And it kind of goes right over their head. And then he realizes they're not getting it. So he tries to explain it. And he gets his words a little mixed up. He says, look, this is the one I meant when I said, a man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me. They're like, what? He goes, yeah, this is who I said. The man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me. They're like, well, you have been in the sun a long time. He's like, nevermind, just look. And then things take an interesting twist. And this is where the story begins to intersect with my life. And I think it intersects with all of our lives. In fact, if you're not a religious person or maybe of a different faith or not a Christian or you used to be one, this is where the story intersects with your life. …
… He said that Christ was the Messiah. He said, behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. John the Baptist was there that day Jesus came, and the Spirit came down like a dove descending upon Jesus. God the Father spoke from heaven, said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Moreover, John the Baptist, when the Pharisees came to him, rebuked them, confronted them. Don't think that you're something special because you're sons of Abraham. God can make people like you out of these rocks. I mean, he just excoriated them. So what are they doing there, these disciples of John? Well, you know, not everybody who goes to a church is the best representative of that church. we're John's disciples. Well, John had a lot of disciples. He preached for months at the Jordan River. It says all from Jerusalem and Judea came to hear him preach. So that means if he's there for months, they weren't all there of John's disciples on the one day that Jesus showed up at the Jordan River and the heavens opened and John the Baptist said, behold the Lamb of God. So there were a lot of different Jewish people that heard John preach a message of repentance who did not know the fullness of Christ. In fact, there's a group of them that seem to survive into the ministry of Paul the Apostle. When Paul was at Ephesus of all places in Asia Minor, he goes to Ephesus and he sees a group of disciples and he says, …
… the goal is for you to die for your children to die to yourselves and to live for god it's not too much to ask why is it not too much to ask John 1 29 the next day John sees Jesus coming toward him and he says behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world there's dignity in being a sheep there will never be more dignity in any animal that walks this earth than a sheep and God calls you to be one until we come to the book of Revelation we find that that he is eternally and gloriously celebrated both as the shepherd king who leads his people to living waters and also as the lamb who was slain. My friends, follow the one shepherd. Follow him as shepherds. The good shepherd laid down his life for the sheep. You laid down your life for the sheep. And follow him as sheep. The lamb that was slain. You follow him who was slain before you. …
… that Andrew was with John the Baptist on the day Jesus showed up, and John pointed to Jesus and said, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So it was John the Baptist that introduced Andrew to Jesus. Andrew then spends the day with Jesus, and after that, he goes and gets his brother Peter and introduces Peter to Jesus. So they had met, they had known each other by this time. Now they are back in Galilee, these four fishermen. They're back doing what they knew how to do. The Sea of Galilee. I know it says Sea of Galilee, but if you ever go to Israel, you're going to look at it and go, why is it called the sea? It's too generous of a word for what it is, but that's a sort of a Semitic saying. Yam Kinetit is the Hebrew, and it would literally be translated harp lake. Harp lake. Harp because it's shaped like a harp. And Yam Kinetit, harp lake. …
… play but also to love to the point of death and even in the gospel today when John the Baptist sees Jesus he says behold the lamb of God we hear lamb we think innocent we hear lamb we think light and fluffy we hear lamb and we think oh Jesus tender meek and mild no John said behold the lamb because that meant lamb means sacrifice that's the one who's going to give of himself why because He came here to play, but he also came here to love to the point of emptying himself out. He's going to win our souls by offering himself. He's going to win our bodies by offering his own. And he's going to win our hearts by revealing us his heart. There's a story in the Gospels I love. It's in John chapter 11. In John chapter 11, it's three friends of Jesus. There's Mary and Martha and their brother. back down to a B. Okay, it's okay. Lazarus, his name's Lazarus, right? …
… Let me read to you the first couple lines here. John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him. So there's John in the banks of the River Jordan, and people are coming to him. So he sees Jesus and he says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Now, you recognize that line because at the Mass, right, when we hold up the consecrated elements and the priest says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He repeats John the Baptist's words here. Can I suggest to everybody, this is of absolutely decisive significance. As I say, you can't get at Jesus without going through John. John is giving us the interpretive lens by which we see and understand Jesus. Now, let me just do this by way of contrast. And please, I don't mean any disrespect at all here to other great religious founders. I just want to make a distinction. Let's say if the Buddha were coming forward. …
… space but he came the least of all to show us what it means to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. John 1 29 says, behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And here he is. This is the lamb of God. He's not a ferocious beast seeking to devour the enemies, but he is a lamb, the lamb of God. The beauty of the flourishing is bound in the beginning. The flourishing that happens is bound in that tiny seed. In that day, rabbis would use a grain of mustard to explain how minute something would be. So as they're teaching their students, they're saying, this is so tiny. It's as tiny as a mustard seed. And so Jesus's audience would understand that this was the smallest of all the seeds. And the mustard shrubs, which could grow to a full height of 15 feet could have very well been in their view. As Jesus was teaching these people, they would grow, the shrubs and trees would grow along the sides of the shore of Galilee, and they could have just, and I love how Jesus taught. He would teach in a way that was just clear. Oh yeah, you're teaching about that. It's right there. That's amazing. Something small can hold something great at the same time. Something small can hold something great at the same time. Matthew 17, verses 20 through 21, the disciples were asking Jesus why they couldn't cast this demon out of …
… But to John, it would be given the privilege of saying, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Not just looking to the future, but declaring in the present, it is he. You notice in verses 16 and 17 what John's ministry is? Going, turning, preparing. He goes before the Lord. He turns. He turns. You think of John's message when he bursts on the scene is repent. He turns many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. we read he turns the hearts of the father to the children which is a summary from Malachi which also says he turns the hearts of the children to the fathers and he will turn the disobedience of the wisdom to the just so he goes before and then he turns and he prepares he makes ready he announces he preaches the good news and points to the one whose life, death and resurrection will mean the forgiveness of our sins. So we ought to end with this question, connecting the two. …
… And when he sees him, this is what he says. The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and he said, look. I like the translations that say behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. There's your simple answer for why did Jesus die, by the way. We'll peel back some layers on that. But John, when he sees Jesus, his proclamation, the first thing he says about him is not, he's the Son of God. He's the King of Kings. He's the Lord of Lords. He's the bread of life. He's the great I Am. He's the way, the truth and the light. He said, behold the Lamb of God. And this would have set off a tremor in the mind of the Jewish person who is nearby. Because in the culture and the mindset of the Jewish religion was the Lamb. All the way back to the Exodus moment, the Lamb was the sacrifice by which The blood was put over the doorpost so that the angel of death passed over every home with the blood on the door. …
… your small groups you've looked at these passages look at John chapter 1 verse 29 this is the introduction of Jesus the Word made flesh verse 29 says the next day John meaning John the Baptist, saw Jesus coming toward him, and he said, look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So as soon as John sees Jesus, he proclaims, he shares the truth about Jesus. Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Now look at what happens as a result. Go over to verse 40 in John chapter 1. It says, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. And the first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, we have found the Messiah, that is the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. So John sees Jesus. He announces who he is. Andrew sees who he is. First thing he does is he goes and tells Simon. …
… Jesus from Nazareth. Listen from the first chapter of St. John's Gospel. The next day, he, John the Baptist, saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me. I myself did not know him. I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him. But he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, he on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. Why do I say this is important? Like John the Baptist, you and I do not naturally know that Jesus is the Son of God come to save us from the closing vice of judgment on our sins. When life narrows down and the great crisis of sin and judgment closes in, God has to show us Jesus, just as he showed John. …
… Christ came the first time, and John the Baptist said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This lamb is amazing. It's as if He has been slain, which is to say that He bears the marks, the wounds of His death, the wounds of His death. But He is standing triumphantly, and He is about to engage this time in another conflict. This one will leave no scars on Him at all. This time He will deal with the dragon. This time He will be the lion. This time He will bring the ultimate triumph. The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world will come back to take the world and rule it in righteousness. What does it say? He has seven horns. Horns are symbols of power. Seven is the number of perfections. So this is symbolic of His power. Seven eyes, again, perfection in terms of knowledge, omniscience, understanding. Seven spirits of God that He is experiencing the fullness of the Holy Spirit. …
… John the Baptist, he's the one who said, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. He's the one of whom Jesus said, Not a greater was born of woman than John the Baptist. He was a prophet and more than a prophet. But John the Baptist got into such darkness he sent his servants and said, you go ask that man Jesus, is he really the Messiah or should we look for somebody else? That's John. I mean in darkness. The Apostle Paul, the great Apostle Paul said on one occasion, we are perplexed. But thank God he said, but not in despair. But not in despair. There's going to come a time when all your theology will go upside down. There's going to come a time when you won't understand where God is You're going to be in such darkness you won't see your hand in front of your face Do you know what you do then? Isaiah says just stay upon your God Trust him Trust him Though he slay me yet will I trust him Can you trust God when you're submerged in sorrow? …
… was John the Baptist. He bore witness to me. He announced me before you. He's the one who said, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. But you don't believe Him. even though for a time you basked in the glory of His light. But I have a greater witness, He said, than John's, for the works which the Father has given me to finish, the very works that I do, bear witness of me that the Father has sent me, and the Father Himself who sent Me has testified of Me." And let me comment on that briefly. Jesus does something that was not strange in His day, but something that we tend to overlook every time it comes up in the New Testament, and that is the purpose and function of miracles. I've talked to you about this before because the biblical purpose of miracles has all but been eclipsed in the contemporary church. Some people today look at the biblical miracles and they say, the miracles of the New Testament prove the existence of God. …
… reading through verse 42, John 1, 29 to 42. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This is He of whom I said, After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me, and I did not know him, but that he should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water. And John bore witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he remained upon him. I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, Upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God. And again the next day John stood with two of his disciples and looking at Jesus as he He walked, He said, Behold the Lamb of God. …