JARGONOLOGY: THE LAMB OF GOD

If you’ve never really dipped your fingers into the early parts of the Old Testament then you may have problems figuring out exactly what that guy at church is on about when he prays, “Lord, cleanse us by the blood of the Lamb.” Blood-of-the-wha? Is this something to do with Mum’s undercooked roast or did I have too much communion juice?

Fundamentally, the Lamb of God is just a metaphor for Jesus. In Genesis 22 God tests Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Abraham is willing to obey this tough request, but when it comes to the crunch God supplies a ram as a replacement; echoing Abraham’s earlier words of comfort to his son, “God himself will provide the lamb.” Now there’s a prophetic word about Jesus if I’ve ever heard one!

The name also links to the lamb of the Passover that protected the Israelites from God’s impending judgement on Egypt (Exodus 12). Paul connects the dots for us in his guidance of the Corinthian church, explaining that Christ is our true Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7) who saves us from death.

The first time John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). This was a pretty huge call, and having grown up in a Jewish family, yearly celebrating the Passover, and with a Priest for a Dad, John would’ve instantly recognised the importance of the coming of the Christ. I guess, over 2,000 years later, the real question for us is, do we?