The Lamb of God

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).
- John 1:35-42

What does it mean to call Jesus the "Lamb of God?" My first thoughts conjure up not-very-pleasant things, like the sacrifice of a lamb to God. But truly, we should think a little more about this, and I think it warrants some consideration. A sheep first of all - or more specifically, a lamb - is one that follows. The lamb is devoted to his shepherd, the one that leads him. So first of all I believe we should consider the Lamb of God to be a title of great honor in the sense that this holy man is indeed a chosen follower of God, of unquestioning loyalty to God.

I also think of the unblemished lamb as the great sacrifice, as Jesus would give himself in order to minister to us and to bring us to reconciliation with God, to give us his Holy Spirit. But I think there is more to this symbolism than only sacrifice. I think that in this Lamb we must remember salvation, that he is willing to do a job for our salvation, to show us a way out of our distress, and to bring us into a place where we have hope for something, and spiritual aid that we did not have before. This is the Lamb of God for me. He is the lamb that helps us to be redeemed, transformed - who loses his life so that we may find ours.

Appropriately, this particular passage ends with the naming of Peter. Jesus has already spotted the man who will be his most volatile, changing, emotional apostle, and christened him "Rock." In that naming, the Logos has spoken the new, transformed nature that will be the result of baptism in Spirit, the process of transformation unleashed by Jesus' sacrifice and mission in the world. Let us remember we are all lambs as we follow to do our own part for the redemption and transformation through us.