The Paschal Lamb of God
by Patrick Henry Reardon
It is a unique feature of St. John's Gospel that it explicitly introduces the sacrifice of Christ in the preaching of John the Baptist. When Jesus first appears, the Baptist proclaims, "See! The Lamb of God, he that takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).
John had earlier declared his expectation of someone "who comes after me [but] is preferred before me, for he was before me" (1:15). It was foretold, in fact, that on such a one John would see "the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and remaining upon him" (1:32). Then, when Jesus appears, John recognizes him by this sign: "I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God" (1:34).
The occasion of this disclosure was certainly our Lord's baptism, when, according to the synoptic Gospels, the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus, while the voice from heaven declared him to be God's "Son" (Matt. 3:16–17; Mark 1:10–11; Luke 3:22). This is the setting in which the Baptist calls Jesus the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
Three Images
The metaphor John uses in this identification—God's Lamb—combines the evocation of three biblical images. We may take them in order.
First, inasmuch as this Lamb of God is said to take away "sin," John's reference here certainly signifies the Old Testament's "sin offering," chatta'ah. The purpose of this sacrifice was to heal and repair the spiritual state—the inner self, the nephesh—of the offender. The "sin" (chet') in the context of this sacrifice was not so much the act of the sinner as the moral, cultic, and/or spiritual impairment—even the ritual contagion—that resulted from his moral, physical, or social failing. The chatta'ah did not attempt to satisfy a divine claim but to rectify, cleanse, and consecrate the human being.
It is significant, therefore, that the Lamb of God is said to take away the "sin" of the world, not its "sins." John has in mind the world's fallen state, not men's individual failings.
Whereas a bullock was the prescribed victim in the Old Testament chatta'ah, Jesus is identified as "the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world." John did not invent this change in the image. It came from another biblical source, which we will consider now.
Thus, second, in declaring Jesus to be the "Lamb," John certainly has in mind the description of God's Suffering Servant in the Book of Isaiah: "He was led as a lamb to the slaughter" (Is. 53:7). John elsewhere identifies Jesus as this Suffering Servant, declaring that the Father "did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:17).
Thus, when John says that the Son of Man "must be lifted up" (hypsothenai dei) (3:14; cf. 8:28; 12:32), he is invoking Isaiah's prophecy that the Lord's Servant "will be lifted up" (hypsothesetai, Is. 52:13 LXX).
Patrick Henry Reardon is pastor emeritus of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago, Illinois, and the author of numerous books, including, most recently, Out of Step with God: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Numbers (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2019).
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