Advent- December 6
Listen:
Before Jesus came, God had provided a way for His people to be forgiven of sins. Every year, a lamb would be killed, and its blood would temporarily cover over their sin. For a year, the people could live at rest knowing they were forgiven, until another year came and their sins had to be forgiven again.
When a lamb was brought to the Priest, He would examine it to ensure it had no spot or blemish. Then it would be killed as a sacrifice.
When John the Baptist saw Jesus for the first time, He cried out, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John, the last of the Old Testament Prophets, the only one to see Jesus face to face, recognized that Jesus was the perfect lamb who would die for the forgiveness of sins. His sacrifice would be the final time a lamb would have to be killed for forgiveness. His blood would not just cover over sin temporarily; it would remove them! Jesus traded places with us and delt with the problem of sin which kept us in bondage.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
For Adults:
John 1:6 Tells us that a man named John was sent from God to confirm that Christ was God. This man, John the Baptist, was the last of the Old Testament prophets. He was the only Prophet to see God in the flesh. All the other Prophets of Old longed to see what John got to see. They could only know God partly; John saw Him, testified of Him, and then recognized that it was time for the Prophets of Old to take a step back so that Christ could take center stage.
As a prophet, John was instructed to baptize people to “prepare the way.” His method of baptizing was unusual and so drew the attention of the religious leaders. In those days, it was not uncommon to baptize. Typically, if a Gentile converted to Judaism, they would be baptized with total emersion in water. However, to baptize a Jew meant they were removing their Jewishness to become a Gentile. This was cause for much alarm to the leaders. Baptizing was also a common practice among a particular group in which part of their practice was to baptize themselves for religious purposes. Because John is the one who administered each baptism, they wanted to know why and by what authority.
John admitted that he did not have the ultimate authority but was a herald to declare the coming of the King and His Kingdom. In the days of old, a herald was sent out before a visiting king to declare that the king was coming and to clear the path of any weeds, thickets, and debris so that the king would travel without obstruction. John recognized that he was fulfilling the prophecy of scripture declaring the coming Messiah. When Jesus came to be baptized, John’s spiritual eyes recognized Him as the Passover Lamb who came to “lift up” and carry away the sin of the world. The word “sin” in John 1:29 (“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” ) is “hamartia.” It is a noun in Greek. Its primary meaning is “to be without a share in.” When sin entered the world through Adam, it removed the “share” of sonship mankind was created for. We were created to be in right relationship with God.
Jesus came to be the final down payment the law required to pay for transgression, abolish that system, but also to “lift up and take away” the thing (sin) that entered the world and establish a covenant of forgiveness. - an excerpt from a study on the Gospel of John