Look! -John 1:29-34

John 1:29-34 ESV
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me. ’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. ’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

The words John uses to identify the Son of God would have no meaning if God had not revealed Himself through Israel, but He did and so we know what is meant when John calls Jesus the Lamb of God. With the Law given, we know about sin and its ever present grip on our lives.

John says something amazing. He was in the wilderness to reveal someone, yet he did not know ahead of time who would come. Though he leapt for joy in his mother's womb at the sound of Mary's voice, Jesus had not been revealed to John as the Christ. During the course of his baptizing he finds God's Chosen One. This is the One!

The Spirit had been in the world and had touched many people before Jesus, but He had come and gone, passing among God's people, but never to stay. With Jesus it is different. The Spirit descends and remains. It is with this Spirit that Jesus will baptize. John's baptism would reveal the Christ, for repentance is necessary to see Christ and to take hold of His grace, as it is today. The Greek for "remains", μένω menō, is also translated as abide, dwell, etc. It carries the the meaning of close, intimate connection.

When John says that Jesus was before him, he is confirming that Jesus is the Alpha and Omega of creation.


The Greek behind "take away" carries the meaning of bearing, of lifting up. Jesus would indeed be lifted up and bear our sins. Doing so, He would lift the burden of sin for those who believe.

αἴρω [Attic form = ἀείρω, etym. uncertain] – 1. ‘to cause to move upward’, raise up, lift: take up a pallet Mt 9:6 ; a cross 16:24 ; 27:32 ; pick up a stone J 8:59 ; 11:41 . The 1st aor. act. impv. ἆρον 19:15 , in view of the attendant cry σταύρωσον, is prob. to be understood as hoist (him), namely on a cross. Lift/draw up skiff Ac 27:17 (MCED)


Isaiah 53:7-8
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?

Revelation 5:6-10
And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. 7 And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. 8 When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty- four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they *sang a new song, saying,
“ Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

Isaiah 53:11-12
As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.

Hebrews 9:28
so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

Psalms 2:7-8
“I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,
And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.