One day early in his ministry, when John saw Jesus coming toward him, he declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John bore witness to the authenticity of Jesus as God’s chosen Messiah, for God had told him that the one you see the Spirit descend upon and remain, he will be the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. John testified, “And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” Jesus is the Paschal sacrifice of God, the lamb offered to God to make atonement for the sins of the people.

Only in Christ are the sins of the world taken away. He is the one and only Lamb of God. There is no back door into the kingdom of heaven. If anyone comes to know God, to be reconciled to the Father, it will be through the Son. John makes this explicit just a few verses before the story we considered this week, when he says in 1.18, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

God our Father, we come to you in the name of the only savior, Jesus Christ, and pray that all may come to him and believe.

Jesus’ whole life was a ministry to others, designed to serve (diakonēsai) their needs. But ultimately his service to them meant offering himself in death, in perfect obedience to the will of his Father, as a payment for their sins. Although the language of worship is not specifically used in this context, the notion of Jesus’ death as an atoning sacrifice is close at hand.

~ David G. Peterson, Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992. p. 119.

Let God Arise! Seasonal Focus
Behold the Lamb of God, John 1.29-42

Book Reading
Peterson, Engaging with God