29 "The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 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.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”"
John 1:29-36
Bishop Ryle says of 29 that as one star differs from another star in glory, this is one of the texts that shines more brightly than others in the Scriptures. It is a glorious, sublime statement, but familiarity with it may conceivably obscure its significance. It needs to be pondered quietly and patiently. It was spoken by John the Baptist, an orthodox Jew, son of a Priest. It was spoken to orthodox Jews deeply versed in Old Testament Scripture. We must remember these facts when we seek to interpret its meaning. There are those who take from the phrase, 'the Lamb of God' lessons about the meek and gentle nature of Christ. One well-known phrase speaks of 'the lamb-like character' of the Son of God. But this is surely to miss the point John is making. He is not thinking of meekness and gentleness as such here. The phrase 'the Lamb of God' could only have certain associations for an orthodox, pious Jew; he would immediately think, in the first instance, of the great Messianic passage in Isaiah 53, where the suffering servant of God is spoken of as a lamb led to the slaughter. And his mind would just as inevitably go back further to the story of the Passover lamb in Exodus 12. And further back still, he would think of the st ry of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22. 'Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?' asked Isaac and Abraham replied, ‘God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering'. Is it without significance that the first mention of a lamb in the Old Testament is in that story, and the first mention of a lamb in the New Testament is in John's words? God has indeed provided Himself a lamb for a burnt offering!