“The Substitutionary Lamb”
John 1:29-42a
1-18-2026
In the name of the Lamb of God, dear friends in Christ. You know, since the Bible was written in 2 foreign languages, it would be easy for us to shrug our shoulders and say, “It’s all Greek to me!” Naturally, my sarcastic side would come out and ask, “Okay, but what about the Old Testament that was written in Hebrew?” Obviously, that first expression is trying to say that both of those languages would be foreign to us. But do you know what complicates things even more? It’s the cultural customs and traditions that were practiced when both Testaments of the Bible were written. As we read through the Scriptures there are certain things mentioned that we can still relate to today. And that’s because human nature hasn’t changed over the thousands of years since the Bible was written. For instance, people still need food to eat and water to drink; they also need clothing and houses. People still suffer from pain, both physical and emotional. And people still die. Those kinds of things never change. But on the other hand, some cultural things in the Bible just don’t carry over to modern society. And therefore, they don’t make much sense to us. We need to have it explained, otherwise the meaning will escape us.
Such is the case in today’s Gospel lesson. In it, John the Baptizer says something that may not make much sense to us unless it is explained. He points at Jesus and calls Him “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” What in the dickens did he mean by that? Well, it’s a very powerful statement, but in order to grasp the deeper and fuller meaning, we need to understand the system of animal sacrifice from the Old Testament.
Now, the animal rights activists don’t want to hear this, but the plain fact is that God Himself ordered His people to kill animals as sacrifices. If they think that eating meat today is so awful, then they would have gone berserk in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. Every single day of the year, numerous animals were killed and sacrificed at the Temple. Bulls, sheep, goats, and turtle doves. And the primary purpose for killing them was not so they could be eaten. No. They were killed so they could be offered as a sacrifice to the Lord. In fact, many of those sacrifices were placed on the Altar and burnt until there were only ashes left. On the surface, that may sound like a terrible waste and a senseless killing of an innocent animal’s life.
But it wasn’t a waste. It had a deeper purpose in God’s plan. You see, the need for all of those animal sacrifices can be summed up in one word: substitution. The rules were rather simple. If you sin, then you deserved to die. But God didn’t want that for the people that He had created and loved. He wanted them to live and enjoy life. He wanted them to be able to love Him in return. But as long as their sins were there, that couldn’t happen. So, God gave His people a method whereby they could get rid of the sins that were threatening to kill them and which were separating them from their Maker. He allowed them to place all their sins onto an innocent animal. And then that animal was killed as a substitute for the people. Through the death of that animal, their sins were removed from them. Since the people sinned every single day, there was a morning and evening sacrifice of a lamb at the Temple in order to take those sins away.
I want to assure you that even though I’m not an animal rights activist, I am an animal lover. Over the years we’ve had many dogs as pets. There may have been times when they were digging holes in the yard or chewing on stuff that I got angry. But I certainly didn’t want to kill them. Most people feel that way about their pets. We care about them and don’t want to see them suffer, especially if they’re hurt or ill. And so, it just doesn’t seem right or fair that an innocent lamb should’ve had to suffer and die because of the sinfulness of some human. Don’t think for a minute that this thought didn’t cross the minds of the Israelites. And that’s exactly the point that God was making to them. Because of their sins, an innocent lamb had to die. They had caused this unfair substitution to take place. I’m sure it made the true believers back then both sad and grateful at the same time. Sad because their sins had caused the taking of an innocent life, and grateful because God had allowed them to substitute an animal to die in their place.
Year after year the endless parade of sacrificial lambs went on. It never seemed to end. It surely caused a sense of futility in the Israelites. But this futility was a tool of God’s. It was preparing the world for the final Sacrifice that would take away the sins of the whole world forever. You see, all those dead lambs could never really accomplish what the people needed. Although the sacrifice took away the guilt of their sins, that dead lamb could never forgive their sins. Only God could accomplish that. And He did it through His own Sacrificial Lamb—The Lamb of God—Jesus Christ.
That’s the background leading up to John’s statement in our Gospel. Those were carefully chosen words given to John by the Holy Spirit. He saw Jesus nearby and called Him “The Lamb of God.” You’ll have to forgive me, but I just have to laugh when I think of how we envision the conversations in the Bible. We get this picture in our heads that John the Baptizer never smiled or spoke joyfully or excited. We only think of him speaking in harsh tones when he told the people to “Repent!” Or when he was chewing out the Pharisees, calling them a “brood of Vipers!” But we shouldn’t think that John always spoke that way.
You can be sure that when John saw Jesus, he didn’t say (in a somber voice) “Behold, the Lamb of God.” No, his words were full of excitement, because John was thrilled to see Jesus. After all, this was nothing new for him. Do you remember what he did the first time he was in the presence of Jesus? Think back to the Christmas story. When Mary found out she was pregnant with the Christ Child, she went to see her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth was six months pregnant with John. And the Bible tells us that when Mary greeted Elizabeth, baby John leaped for joy in her womb. Even as an unborn child, he got excited about being near Jesus, His Savior. So, you can be very sure that 30 years later, when John saw Jesus, he had trouble containing his excitement. When he spoke it was more like, “Hey! Hey! Look over there! He’s here! The Lamb of God is finally here! Praise God! I told you He was coming and now He’s finally here! Praise God!”
Like all the other sacrificial lambs, this Lamb of God would also be an innocent victim—suffering and dying for sins He did not commit. The sins of the people would be dumped on Him. His death would be a substitute for them. But that’s where the similarities end. Please notice what he called Jesus. He called Him, THE Lamb of God. In other words, this wasn’t just another lamb in an endless line of sacrificial lambs. This was the final one. This Lamb of God would fulfill the new covenant that God promised in Jeremiah 31:34 where God said: “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” This Lamb of God wouldn’t just temporarily remove the guilt of people’s sins. Through His death, He would pay the penalty for their sins and bring total forgiveness. Not just for the nation of Israel but for all people of all time.
No more innocent lambs would have to die for the sins of the people. Jesus Christ was the true Substitutionary Lamb who took our sins upon Himself. 1 Peter 3:18 says: “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.” Unlike all those other lambs, this Lamb of God didn’t stay dead. He came back to life. In His death, He destroyed all of our sins and the power of death. When He came back to life, He brought what no other sacrificial lamb could bring—eternal life for all believers in Him.
Christ the Lamb of God also promised to be near us. He said that whenever 2 or more gather in His name, He would be there. He comes to us in His Word and is truly present with us as we receive His body and blood in Holy Communion. Like John the Baptizer, we can point to our Lord as He comes to us in the bread and wine, and excitedly say “Hey! Look! He’s here! Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” We have been shown the glorious meaning of Christ as the true Lamb of God. He died on the Cross as our substitute. He also rose again so that we might have eternal life. So like John the Baptist, may God fill us with that exciting joy as we recognize Him as our Savior and as we stand redeemed and forgiven in His presence. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!