“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” We hear the same expression at every Mass, but do we hear the words in the same way as John the Baptist would have understood them? For us, the image of a lamb conjures up thoughts of innocence, cuddly and cute.
John the Baptist, the son of the priest Zechariah, was one who would have been steeped in the traditions of religious practices and beliefs of the Jewish people. He would have understood the ways in which a lamb was at the center of the sacrificial rituals of the people of God from the beginning of all that was recorded in the sacred scrolls.
Abel offered a sacrifice of the best of his lambs to God. Abraham offered sacrifices of lambs, as did Isaac, Jacob and all the patriarchs and people of Israel. While in slavery in Egypt, the Hebrew homes offered a sacrifice of lamb, using the blood to mark the homes so that the angel of death would pass over their dwelling
In the Book of Leviticus, lambs are involved in four types of offerings: an offering of dedication (Olah), an offering of peace/thanksgiving (Shelamim), a guilt offering (Hattat), and a sin offering (Asham). In each of the offerings the blood of the animal was central to the concepts of atonement as the blood was considered sacred. By sprinkling the blood on the altar, the worshiper acknowledged God as the source of life and expressed devotion by offering the life of the animal to God as a means to establish and maintain the covenant of God with his people.
And yet we forgot our dedication, turned away from peace, sinned, and broke the covenant relationship. And so, again, we the people provided the lamb, the lamb that belonged to us and again turned toward God to offer the prescribed sacrifices.
But when John proclaims “the lamb of God,” these are words as yet unknown to Scripture. More literally the expression can be understood as “provided by God” or “belonging to God.” In all the sacrifices before we the people provided the lamb, the lamb that belonged to us. Now God provides the lamb, his only Son, to be the one sacrifice for all the world. The sacrifice that forever extends the peace of God, covers sin, and in the shedding of the blood makes the covenant eternal.
When we celebrate this Eucharist and the celebrant proclaims, “Behold the Lamb of God” – don’t think “Oh look, there is the gentle, innocent, loving Jesus” – be mindful of all that is being proclaimed. Behold the One who is our peace, our atonement – the one who covers our sin and eternal restores our covenant with God.
Image credit: “Saint John the Baptist Preaching to the Masses in the Wilderness” by Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564–1638), Galerie de Jonckheere, Paris | US-PD