Genesis 22:7-8 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"
"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
Abraham answered, "God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."
Leviticus 14:12a Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and offer it as a guilt offering,....
Jesus became the pure spotless Lamb of God so that He could satisfy the requirement of the law. He became the lamb offered for our sins. He took on the sin of us all so that we would be able to approach the throne of God without fear of our lives. He did this willingly. His word tells us that no man took His life, that He laid it down for us. He went
willingly to the cross enduring the shame and torture
for the world.
We are all guilty from our mother's womb. We carry the guilt bestowed on us by Adam in the garden. Our savior spent time in another garden, in prayer and supplication to His Father. He poured out His heart to the Father, then rose and faced His chosen fate. He carried the cross and the weight of the world's sin willingly. Jesus became the perfect sacrifice so that we, His chosen people, would not have to.
When we read John's words, we should be more aware of the true reverence and awe in the words he spoke. John knew the Levitical laws and knew the cost to Jesus. John proclaimed to the world that the prophesies were being fulfilled before their eyes. Many of the priests chose not to believe the fulfilling of the prophesies because this was not the Messiah they were looking for.
The prophesies told of two separate types of Messiah. The people were seeking the conquering king. They received the sacrificial Lamb of God. They wanted the king who would free them from the oppression of Rome but they received the Lamb Who would free them from the eternal oppression of sin.
We, too, are seeking the easy way out. We want to have our problems eliminated but we must first confess our sins to the One Who has paid for those sins. We must, then, accept the free gift that He, our Lamb of God is offering and then we will spend eternity with Him rejoicing and praising His holy name.
"Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." He stands before us, carrying the scars that He received when He took our place on the cross. Those scars are our declaration of forgiveness and freedom. We no longer need a sacrificial lamb to pay the debt for sin. That debt has been paid once and for all by the true Lamb of God. We are free from the demands of the law. Our sins have been taken away for all eternity.