The Lamb

In today's reading, John 1:19-51, we hear the thunderous cry "Behold the Lamb". "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world", John the Baptist cried. In the O. T. the question was, "where is the lamb", when Abraham and Isaac climbed Mount Moriah. The progression of the Lamb, throughout Scriptures, looks like this:

• "Where is the Lamb?"--the cry of the Old Testament.
• "Behold the Lamb!" --the hope of the New Testament.
• "Worthy is the Lamb!"-the summation of eternity.
  

In Genesis, Abel brought a lamb for sacrifice. There the lamb was offered for the individual.
In Exodus, each household sacrificed a lamb. There the lamb was offered for the family.
In Leviticus, the lamb was offered for the nation. And all of these pointed to Jesus, which in John...
In John, the Lamb was offered for the whole world. Praise God for the sinless, spotless Lamb who took our place!

"What can wash away my sin?/ Nothing but the blood of Jesus./ What can make me
whole again?/ Nothing but the blood of Jesus./ Oh precious is the flow/ that makes
me white as snow./ No other fount I know/ Nothing but the blood of Jesus.