It is most interesting that in the very first chapter of the fourth Gospel, the writer calls attention to the Lord Jesus Christ as the “Lamb of God.” The Bible says, “The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). What joy, admiration, and great wonderment must have filled John’s heart as he sees “God’s Lamb” face to face. John also declared, “This is He of whom I said, “After me comes a Man who ranks before me, because He is before me” (John 1:30). “After me comes a Man.” That Man is Jesus Christ. Further on in chapter one John again writes, “The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked by and said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:35,36).
It appears that there was nothing of greater significance for John than to actually look at the “One” who would be God’s “sacrificial Lamb” as the only Savior of sinners. Yes, this is the purpose for which He came into the world. Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). Why not come and trust the Lamb of God, right now, by believing that He is able and willing to save you. There is no time like the present. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. The Bible says, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Whereas those of us who have not physically seen Jesus Christ, but trusted Him as our Savior, can “behold” Him by faith in all the splendor of His glory and join with the Apostle Peter in saying, “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8).
In the book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ, John wrote, “And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6). This Lamb was none other than “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” who was God manifest in the flesh justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16).
The Bible presents an unmistakable “connection” in type with the “passover lamb” in Israel’s day and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul writes, “For even Christ, our passover, is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). William MacDonald writes as follows: “The LORD gave detailed instructions to Moses and Aaron on how to prepare the primary Passover. The lamb, of course, is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 5:7). It was to be without blemish, speaking of the sinlessness of Christ; a male of the first year, perhaps suggesting our Lord’s being cut off in the prime of life; kept until the fourteenth day of the … month, pointing forward to the Savior’s thirty years of private life in Nazareth, during which He was tested by God, then publicly for three years by the full scrutiny of man; killed by the congregation of Israel, as Christ was taken by wicked hands and slain (Acts 2:23).” (Believers Bible Commentary by William MacDonald, p. 97).
The passover lamb was a foreshadowing of what the Lamb of God would accomplish through His shed blood and death on the Cross to bring about our salvation. To obtain the blood, the passover lamb had to be slain. The believer in Jesus Christ is saved by the blood of “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation13:8). Thanks be to our sovereign God as only He could make such a divine arrangement for us. Paul, in his letter to the Roman christians, wrote, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!” (Romans 11:33). “Unto Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins through his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen”