May 1

God Has Provided a Lamb

John 1:29-51              New American Standard Bible (NASB)

 

²⁹ The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who ^[a]has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ ³¹ I did not recognize ^[b]Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing ^[c]in water.” ³² John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. ³³ I did not recognize ^[d]Him, but He who sent me to baptize ^[e]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes ^[f]in the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

Jesus’ Public Ministry, First Converts

³⁵ Again the next day John was standing ^[g]with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” ³⁹ He *said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the ^[h]tenth hour. ⁴⁰ One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ He *found first his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means ^[i]Christ). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of ^[j]John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated ^[k]Peter).

⁴³ The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He *found Philip. And Jesus *said to him, “Follow Me.” ⁴⁴ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip *found Nathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip *said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael *said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

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If you have read the Old Testament, or just know the stories of the ancient forefathers, you probably know the story of Abraham taking Isaac, his long-awaited son, up that mountain to sacrifice him.
It is a very different story isnt it? Always makes us a little uncomfortable that our loving and holy God would make such a request~
And then....what relief we feel when God stops Abraham from taking the life of his precious son, Isaac!
I want to take you to that very moment.
 Genesis 22:"Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a lamb caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the lamb and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son."
Do you see? God provided a lamb for us!
The Lord Jesus Christ......the Lamb of God.........provided by God to take our place as the sacrifice for our sin. 

Lord, open our eyes that we may fully see the truth and what you reveal to us today in these scriptures... Amen