Read John 1:26-30 and Revelation 5:6  

Lamb of God

One of John’s favourite descriptions for Jesus is “lamb”, and we find it in both of today’s readings. John the Baptist identified Jesus as “the Lamb of God” because he wanted people to know that Jesus was God’s sacrifice for sin, but I find it interesting that in Revelation 5, John refers to Jesus as the Lamb immediately after calling Him the Lion of Judah!

What does a Lamb have to do with a Lion?

Everything, as it turns out.

John’s word “lamb” refers to a little, pet lamb and Jewish people would have been reminded of the Feast of Passover when they were required to take a one-year-old lamb into their homes as a pet for four days – it was to have no defect at all – before sacrificing it to God.

The lamb was also innocent. It had never sinned, and it carried no guilt or shame because of sin, but its life would be given for the sins of people. Importantly, every time an animal was sacrificed for sin before the coming of Christ, it looked forward to the day when God would provide one, perfect sacrifice that would take away sin permanently.

For these two reasons Jesus is called “the Lamb of God.”

Jesus “committed no sin” (1 Peter 2:22) – He was perfect, living His life in perfect obedience to God.

Jesus died as “the just for the unjust” (1 Peter 3:18) – He was innocent, totally free from the guilt and shame of sin.

How then, can Jesus be both the Lion and the Lamb?

As the Lion, He possesses the power to destroy His enemies, but as one author said, “Jesus could not be the Lion of Judgement until He was first the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.”

Jesus, the Lion and the Lamb, Who both takes away and judges the sin of the world.