“Fix these words of mine in your hearts . . . tie them as symbols on your hands” Deuteronomy 11:18
Tuesday, September 8

May the Lamb of God Receive the Reward of His Suffering

Today's Verse

19And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”20He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”21And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”22So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”23He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”24(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.)25They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”26John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know,27even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”28These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1:19-29 · NIV

The Devotion

All the sacrifices and rituals in the Old Testament seem so strange to us today. If you study them, they all have symbolism and meaning. They were all required because God is Holy (set apart, with no equal) and mankind is sinful (we break God's law, lie, cheat, steal, murder, have fits of rage, etc.).

There's one sacrifice in the Bible that shows up again and again: the sacrifice of a spotless, pure lamb. In Exodus, God commanded His people to put the blood of a lamb over their doorposts, as a covering of protection. In Exodus 29:38-42, God told His people to offer a morning and evening sacrifice of a year-old lamb. Then, prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah predicted a spotless lamb who would be sacrificed for our sins - hundreds of years before Jesus Christ was born.

One day, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming His way and gave the boldest statement of all about the Lamb of God. He told the crowd gathered to "Listen up! Pay attention! Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

The Old Testament sacrifices had to be offered over and over, because it's impossible for the blood of animals to take away sin in God's sight (Hebrews 10:4 tells us that). But Jesus Christ, conquered sin, death, hell, and the grave, as a perfect, sinless, suffering lamb.

In Revelation, the last book of the Bible, the word "lamb" is used at least 27 times. John (not the Baptist, but the apostle) says in Revelation 5 that "I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!"

The Lamb of God is the only one who can take away your sin and mine - as far as the east is from the west. He is the only One worthy of our worship, work, honor, and praise: 24/7, 365! That's good news!

A Prayer for Today

Lord, thank you that you took away my sin on the cross. Thank you for the victorous lamb who has conquered sin and death. So, let me live in the righteousness of Jesus and the life of Jesus today. In His name, Amen.

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