The
next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin
of the world!
John 1:29*
Leviticus
law allowed that if anyone of the common people sinned unintentionally, he
would be guilty but it could be atoned for by sacrificing a spotless lamb as a
sin offering. The sinner would lay his hand on the head of the animal
confessing his sin before slaying it. He would then hand it over to the priest
to be burnt outside the community. Since most families rarely had more than two
or three dozen sheep, the economic impact of such an offering would be clearly
felt.
The
legal requirements varied according to who made the offering. A priest had to
provide a young bull, a ruler a male goat. The very poor could substitute a
pair of pigeons as their sacrifice but two principles always applied, no matter
who brought the offering: 1. A sin offering without imperfections was necessary
for all, and 2. The cost would be significant for those who offered it.
If
God was to provide the sin offering for fallen man, what could He give that
would fulfill the law? He is not poor. He owns the universe. He could offer a million spotless lambs and if that was not
enough, He could create an additional million sheep in an instant and never
suffer loss.
No,
the only thing that could serve as God’s lamb was His own spotless Son. The
expense was so great that the banks of heaven would have broken if indeed His
life could have been taken from them. The sacrifice was so sinless that it is
superfluous to think that a sin offering would ever need to be made again.
When we behold Thee, Lamb of God,
Beneath our sin's tremendous load;
Expiring on the accursed tree,
How great our guilt, with grief we see.
Mary Walker
(1878)
*see
also John 1:36
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