For any devout Jew in the time of Jesus, a lamb would have evoked powerful religious meaning. Far more than a typical food source in that day, a lamb was considered the most appropriate sin-substitute when it came to making sacrifices, which were a huge part of Jewish tradition back then.
Jesus himself was raised Jewish and came from a long line of Israelites dating back to Abraham, the first major patriarch in the Bible. Abraham’s son was Isaac, and his grandson was Jacob, from whom the 12 tribes of Israel came. Jesus was descended from the tribe of Judah, a son of Jacob.
They all would have been very familiar with the need to regularly make animal sacrifices to the Lord as a way to atone for their sins, particularly the sacrifice of an unblemished lamb as a way of cleansing, purifying, and honoring the Lord (Exodus 12:3-13; Leviticus 14:10-25).
But when John the Baptist encounters Jesus in the wilderness, as Jesus is walking toward him, John announces, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, ESV).
Why would John refer to Jesus as a lamb, which was a typical religious sacrifice? Why a lamb of God? And what does he mean, who “takes away” sin?
Why did John say, “Behold the Lamb of God”?
What Does This Text Mean?
In the original Greek used by the Apostle John, who wrote the Book of John, he uses the Greek word ide for behold, meaning “look,” “see here,” or “consider.” He uses amnos for lamb, meaning exactly that — a young sheep. And he uses theos for God, referring to “the one true God.”
He also uses the word airō for takes away, which means “carries away” or “gets rid of.” He uses hamartia for sin, meaning "wrongdoing.” And he uses kosmos for the word world, referring to the entire world — that is, the universe, not just the local place in which he is situated.
Essentially, John is saying: “Look, it’s God’s lamb who gets rid of the wrongdoings of the entire universe.”
This would have been a powerful and revelatory statement to make about Jesus.
Why Were Sacrifices Important to Jewish Culture Then?
Sacrifices had been prioritized in the Bible since the very first days. Genesis 4:4 talks about how Abel gave the Lord the firstborn of his flock of sheep (that is, a lamb), which greatly pleased God.
We also know Jesus’ descendant Abraham was tested by God and asked to sacrifice his son, Isaac, with whom God had promised to establish His covenant and bring forth a multitude of offspring.
Isaac’s apparently innocent question to his father, “Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (Genesis 22:7) is a poignant moment between them, for only Abraham knew he was supposed to be sacrificing Isaac on the mountain.
Abraham simply insisted to Isaac that God would provide, and God did indeed, providing a ram at the last moment for Abraham to sacrifice instead of his own son.
Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy further prescribe animal sacrifices, usually a lamb but also other animals, as a way for the Jewish people to make up for their wrongdoings, providing forgiveness and the removal of sin.
But these were temporary sacrifices. They had to be done repeatedly — yearly or whenever a person was in need of cleansing from unrighteousness — to ensure good standing with the Lord.
What Was the Context of This Verse, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God’?
In this first chapter of John, we are introduced to John the Baptist, whom the Bible here calls “a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him” (John 1:6-7).
But Scripture is careful to note that John was not the light but rather the precursor to that light, the one who introduced the light or bore witness in advance. Like the person asked to introduce the main speaker onstage, John was the introducer; Jesus was the “keynote,” the main event.
Later in this chapter, we’re told priests and Levites from Jerusalem asked John who he was, for he’d been baptizing people in the wilderness and urging them to turn from sin. They asked if he was a prophet or even if he was the great prophet of old Elijah.
No, John said, adding, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said” (John 1:23).
He further added that he was baptizing with water as a way of forging the path to Jesus, so he could bear witness and point Jesus out when the time came.
And indeed, John added, “I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34).
Does John Actually Say Jesus Is the Lamb of God?
John reiterates twice that Jesus is the Lamb of God, first here, when he’s with the priests and Levites and sees Jesus walking toward him, and then the next day, when he’s standing with two disciples and sees Jesus, he points this out again: “Behold, the Lamb of God” (1:36).
Those two disciples included Andrew, who immediately followed Jesus and then went to fetch his brother, Simon Peter. The two were Jesus’ first disciples and among the 12 apostles.
Make no mistake, John is saying: Jesus is the Lamb of God. The Apostle Paul describes him later as “Christ, our Passover lamb, (who) has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
What Does ‘Lamb of God’ Mean?
There are two key inferences here. One is that Jesus, as the “lamb” of God, is God’s perfect sacrifice. Sacrificial lambs had to be unblemished, typically the best of the best, pure, and perfect. They also were innocent — blood, and lives, were exchanged as debt payment.
In His willing sacrifice on the cross, Jesus paid our sin debt penalty “once for all” (Colossians 2:14). It’s a substitute for sin, the way the people could atone for wrongdoing, and what God was willing to accept to make things right.
John was perhaps referring to Scripture foretold in Isaiah 53:7, where the prophet described the savior of the world as one oppressed and inflicted, a “lamb that is led to the slaughter.”
The other meaning is the lamb described in the Book of Revelation, the triumphant “Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth” (Revelation 5:6).
Did John Know What He Meant Here?
We aren’t told whether John knew what he was alluding to by calling Jesus the “Lamb of God,” especially as later he seemed doubtful and sent word asking if Jesus really was the one who was to come (Matthew 11:3).
That doesn’t really matter, though, for sometimes people speak words of the Lord without understanding what they fully mean, such as in prophecy. What matters is that John identified Jesus not once but twice before others as the Lamb of God and that we understand the meaning.
Only through Jesus do we receive salvation. Jesus, God’s son, died a sacrificial lamb for all (John 3:16), but only those who repent, believe and follow Him receive that salvation.
We must understand that Jesus is the only way — indeed, as the Apostle John later notes Jesus as stating, “The way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6).
So, behold, all reading this piece — Jesus is Lord, Word become flesh, the Living God, whose innocence and purity and perfect, divine nature paid the price of our sins forevermore so that we who believe may live forever with Him. He did this for you, for me, and for us all.
He is the Lamb of God, and we are His.
For further reading:
Why Do We Say ‘Worthy Is the Lamb’ at Easter?
How Are the Righteous as Bold as a Lion?
What Are the Names of God Found in the Bible?
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