A New Creation
Lamb of God
And God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. (Book of Genesis)
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Gospel of Saint John)
It is on the second day of John’s gospel that we notice he is giving us a daily account of this renewed creation story by noting the days, creating anticipation in what is to come. Is he giving us another creation story that covers the first week of a new creation? Our first clue, of course, was by starting the gospel with the famous words, “in the beginning.” The next clue comes on the second day, for he starts the section by saying, “the next day” which allows us to assume the 1st day was what we talked in the previous insights on John the Baptist testifying to the light and baptizing Jesus, the light of the world.
Yes, on the first day of Genesis, God said, “Let there be light” and the first day of John’s gospel Saint John the Baptist testified to the light of Christ, the one who has been and was yet to come, and clarified that John was there to prepare the way of our Christ Jesus. John’s testimony wasn’t the only testimony, for at Christ’s baptism the Father also testified when his voice rang out from heaven, “This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased,” mixing multiple prophecies from the Psalms and the Prophets.
On the second day of John’s gospel, the Baptist sees Jesus and makes another powerful proclamation for all to hear, he sees Jesus and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Now, what a curious thing to say about the one greater than he, that this great one for whom he was sent to prepare the way, that he is the Lamb of God! What would the ancient Jews of the time have thought?
They had hopes and expectations of the coming Messiah, for one, because of ancient promises by the prophets, they expected the Messiah was to be a king, perhaps a conquering king like the kings of old. More a lion, not a lamb. But John sees Jesus and boldly and proudly proclaims, “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
What is a lamb but an innocent and dumb animal? Yes, a lamb is key to many cultures, as sustenance, as a sheep to be sheared, an animal for the slaughter, a tasty meal even. And for ancient Jews, a lamb is needed for the sacrificial meal at Passover. A lamb is a sign and symbol of their freedom as a people, conquering slavery and death. That is key to understanding John’s message about Jesus, which he succinctly summarizes in thirteen words, “Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
This is another example of how the gospel writer is telling a story in ways that evoke so much more than the literal words being said. There are deeper and spiritual components to these stories that must be pondered in our hearts, enlightened in our minds by the holy Spirit, and understood with the heart of faith. Otherwise, we’ll never discern the deeper truths recorded for us in the sacred stories and holy scriptures.
By making the simple statement about Jesus, “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” we have the salvation story in brief. Once again, we look to the Old Testament stories to prefigure the deeper meaning of who Jesus is – the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is part of the infinite, intricate, and intimate God who designs his holy stories so that we have biographies of Jesus in the stories of Genesis, Isaiah, and Exodus to name some of the books of the Old Testament. Inspired and enlightened by the Holy Spirit, the Baptist helps us see the biography of Jesus encoded in the ancient stories, including the book of Exodus.
The story of Exodus starts with Moses being drawn from water (Moses means delivered from water). Israelite babies were slaughtered, and by divine providence, Moses was saved from the water and raised in Pharoah’s house. Enraged at the treatment of his kinsmen and slaves, Moses commits murder and flees into exile where he builds a new life. In exile, God appears to him in a miraculous burning bush that won’t burn up and reveals to Moses the divine name, “I am,” translated from the original “YHWH.” This appearance of God is called a theophany as it is a visible manifestation of God to mankind.
During this theophany, God sends Moses on a mission. He tells Moses,
I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the Sons of Israel, out of Egypt. I will be with you. And this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God upon this mountain.
The Prophet Hosea captures this story succinctly,
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
But there was a lot more that complicated the deliverance of the Israelite slaves than simply obeying the call of God. There were others involved wanting to keep the Israelites as slaves. Pharoah had a hard heart, and God sent plague after plague in attempt to have Pharoah recognize His divine will. Finally, the tenth and last strike against the slave masters and oppressors that would set the slaves free was the evening of the Passover lamb.
For Ancient Israelites, the Passover lamb is similar to American independence in that it represented freedom. Freedom from death, freedom from slavery. And for the ancient Israelites, that freedom comes with a miraculous sacrifice, blood crossing doors, a family ritual, and the angel of death. Every household was told to take lambs without blemish for their households and families, sacrifice them, take the blood and cover the entry ways of their households, and share the lamb as a family meal.
God told the Israelites,
It is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments. I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, upon the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And no plague shall fall upon you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord, throughout your generations you shall observe it as an ordinance forever.
After the first Passover was celebrated, Pharoah let the slaves go and they passed through the Red Sea into freedom, once again a story about passing through the waters of salvation. Their goal was to enter the promised land as a free people. On the way, they would worship God on the mountain that Moses experienced his original theophany. As a people of God, they would experience their own theophany with God, and Moses as mediator.
So, when the Baptist sees Jesus and says “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” he is making awe-inspiring insights into who Jesus is and what he’s about to do. John has taken a story over a millennium old about the origins of his people and centers it on Jesus. That would be like Americans today having prophecies and promises from European rulers of the first millennium, Charlemagne perhaps, and find the future fulfillment in a humble day labor identified by a modern-day poet or monk. Incredible when we try to normalize it. But would we expect anything less from an infinite and intimate and intricate God?!
And so, to the ancient Jewish eye, Saint John the Baptist very efficiently gives his compatriots the mission of Christ Jesus. This lamb of God is slave liberator, purchasing freedom from sin, death, and slave masters by his blood. Those who follow Jesus have been purchased from the kingdom of darkness to walk in the kingdom of light, worshipping God in freedom, in intimate relationship with the creator of heaven and earth, the maker of all that is good, beautiful, and true, the beloved caretaker of our souls. A sacrificial meal, by whose blood we are purchased for life, freedom, and family.
“Behold, the lamb of God.” What a genius and efficient way to impute multiple salvific stories from the Old Testament onto Christ. This is the most efficient way to possibly tell the story. And it’s no wonder that our infinite, intricate, and intimate God can use his prophet’s thirteen words to evoke stories and tales from a holy culture and sacred traditions over thousands of years of Ancient Hebrew history, memory, and stories. Truly, how great our God is! And how amazing the holy Spirit who works all this through his prophets and saints to prepare the way for his son, telling the divine story of God’s love for his people in Christ Jesus. “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
Now, what’s a little perplexing about this story is the second part of the phrase, “who takes away the sin of the world.” The story John evokes with telling us about Jesus, “behold the lamb of God” is clearly the Exodus story we covered, followed by a millennia of Passover sacrifices at the temple and celebrations in family homes. But sin isn’t anywhere explicitly in the Exodus story. Maybe the sin of Pharoah’s hard heart. Of course, we know that death is a consequence of the original sin in paradise by Adam and Eve, so when the angel of death passes over these homes, there’s an assumption that for that night they are liberated from the consequences of sin in that they are saved by the blood of the lamb. But nowhere is sin explicitly mentioned. The explicit discussion of sin comes from another of the stories of Moses.
For the ancient Israelites, there was an explicit day that was to remove the sin of the world, or God’s people at least. It happened once a year on the Day of Atonement, as documented and recorded in the Book of Leviticus, the book of Israel’s priests – the Levites. The whole passage is instructive for Christians as a fulfillment of Old Testament covenants and requirements, but for our purposes, we’ll simply quote some shorter passages.
And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves, and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you; for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before the Lord.
It is a sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves, it is a statute forever. And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments. He shall make atonement for the sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.
And this shall be an everlasting statute for you, that atonement may be made for the sons of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.
So, this “lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” is a fulfillment not simply of the Exodus story of freedom from slavery and death, but also a greater fulfillment of the yearly religious practice of atonement for the sins of God’s people.
“Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” What a genius and efficient way to impute multiple salvific stories from the yearly festivals and solemnities of the people of God, including stories that would become central to their own temple worship. Amazingly, to this day, Jews still celebrate both these holidays, though they are not able to celebrate as described and prescribed in the Old Testament scriptures. But there are a holy people of God who today celebrate in a way where the New Covenant fulfills the Old. That occurs in the celebration of the holy Mass by the people of the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church.
Yes, today Christians celebrate the fulfillment of these stories in the holy sacrifice of the mass, where we “behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” in the celebration of the eucharist. The Catholic religion is a fulfillment of the Old Testaments, not an abolishment.
Now, for an apostolic Christian – whether Catholic or Orthodox – framing Jesus as the lamb of God in Saint John’s gospel helps set up the importance of the sacraments, especially the eucharistic meal. Remember, salvation came not only by the blood of the lamb, passing through the waters of baptism into the Red Sea, but also through a meal, consuming the sacrificial lamb. Families not only covered their doorposts in the blood of the lamb, but they sat down to share a communion meal as the family of God, where they ate the unblemished lamb. The lamb wasn’t simply sacrificed or slaughtered, the lamb was eaten and consumed. The lamb had to be eaten. The sacrifice needed a sprinkling of blood and the consuming of flesh. Just a hint of a theme that would be spelled out explicitly in later chapters of John’s gospel. By the gift of the holy Spirit, John is setting up key themes that would be take precedence later in the story. For now, we have a hint of a theme fulfilled only in the eucharist.
Interestingly, the book of Exodus doesn’t end with the amazing stories of the Passover lamb and crossing the Red Sea. The book of Exodus ends on another very important point, the holy presence of God. Yes, Exodus ends with God dwelling (literally, tabernacling) with his people. Hear the last words of Exodus,
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would go onward. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not go onward till the day that it was taken up. For throughout all their journeys the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.
Powerful background and context to consider from Beloved’s prelude,
And the Word became flesh and dwelt (‘tabernacled’) among us, full of grace and truth. We have beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten Son from the Father.
And so, there is so much more to the phrase of the Baptist beloved phrase, “behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” on this second day of this new creation account. Grasping a small part of all this meaning embedded in the culture and theology of the ancient Israelites helps us understand how powerful the Baptist’s words truly are and possibly why disciples who followed John would so readily follow Jesus in the days to come.
But before we move onto day three of the Beloved’s new creation account, let’s note what each of the day twos have in common. In the original account of day two in Genesis, heaven and waters are separated. In contrast, in Saint John’s new creation account, we have Jesus come to John to be baptized. And heaven and earth are united in Christ Jesus. No longer are the heavens separated from the earth, but the kingdom of God is becoming manifest on earth through Christ our King. Heaven and earth is united in Jesus. The Baptist testifies,
I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven and remain on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.
In the new creation account, heaven comes to earth, to dwell on mankind, not simply in a tent of meeting or a temple of stone, but in human flesh, the flesh of our Savior has come from heaven to dwell on earth. First in the womb of his mother, now in the hands of holy priests and in the daily bread we consume at holy mass.
For Catholic Christians, we have the sacraments of baptism and confirmation in day two of new creation. Whereas in the original creation account, heaven and earth are separated, in John’s account of day two, the Spirit descends to dwell on Man. Christ is baptized by the Baptist and confirmed by the Holy Spirit.
The Father testifies to the sinlessness of Christ by sending the holy Spirit to dwell on him in his baptism. Christ is confirmed as the Father’s beloved son. The wisdom of Solomon confirms the holiness of Christ,
Wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul,
nor dwell in a body enslaved to sin.
For a holy and disciplined spirit will flee from deceit,
and will rise and depart form foolish thoughts,
and will be ashamed at the approach of unrighteousness.
The fact that the Holy Spirit could come to dwell at baptism on Christ, without need of a sacrifice shows that Jesus was sinless. For there was no need for purifying sacrifice, the Spirit simply testifies to Christ’s sinlessness by coming to dwell at him at Baptism. And for Catholics, this logic applies to Mary as well, for as the earthly dwelling of the Savior in her womb, she had to be prepared to be a proper dwelling place of God, hence as the new Eve she was preserved from sin by a singular grace of God to prepare a proper womb for his beloved Son. The ritual cleansing for Jesus, our Last Adam, or Mary, our New Eve, was not needed as their sinlessness was testified by the Angel Gabriel and our heavenly Father at his Son’s baptism. And is it not fitting that if the original creation, mankind was created in holiness, that in the new creation, our heavenly Father would once again ensure the sinlessness of our savior?
Let’s consider the testimony of the Hebrews writer,
For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, he did this once for all when he offered up himself. Indeed, the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.
More even and once again, there is a clear and implicit confirmation of the holiness and sinlessness of Christ’s mother, Mary. For if it is established that Wisdom will not dwell in a body enslaved to sin, how much our sinless Savior? Just as much as the holy Spirit could dwell in Jesus due to his sinlessness, so too could Jesus dwell in Mother Mary due to her sinlessness, again, by a singular grace of God to prepare an appropriate holy womb for our sinless Lord to dwell in.
It is firmly established in the sacred scriptures – God cannot dwell in sin. It is only fitting that God prepared a sacred vessel free from the stain of sin by which his holy Son could dwell in while in the womb, our Mother Mary, our New Eve, whom all generations call blessed in fulfillment of the promises of holy scripture. Catholic teaching on Mother Mary’s immaculate conception is really all about Jesus. And firmly rooted and taught in the stories of scripture, if only we are illumined by the light of the holy Spirit and given eyes to see and hearts to understand.
More on this later, but for now, I suppose the world itself cannot contain the books that would be written.