“Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” We have heard and repeated these words of John the Baptist thousands of times! They are enshrined within the sacred liturgy. Jesus is many things…Lord, God, Savior, Messiah, Priest, Prophet, King—but a Lamb? Why is Jesus called the Lamb of God and why does this Lamb take away the sins of the world?
The Baptist’s audience realized that the Baptist was reaching back into the Old Testament. They understood that John was identifying Jesus with the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, the Messiah who would be “like a lamb led to the slaughter…like a sheep that was silent and opened not its mouth.” The Baptist’s pronouncement would also evoke images of lambs offered in sacrifice in the temple daily, and the Passover Lamb.
Just as the Passover Lamb was a symbol of Israel’s deliverance from the slavery of Egypt, so Jesus, the new Passover Lamb, by his death on the cross would be the symbol of deliverance from the slavery of sin, not only of the Jewish people but of the whole world. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross would end all the temple sacrifices; his would be the ultimate sacrifice that would reconcile God and mankind, heaven, and earth. John is lifting the curtain to reveal the salvation that was on the horizon and that would take place on Calvary.
With this done, John knows that his mission is complete and he directs his disciples from himself to Jesus. Before the greatness of Christ, John becomes conscious of his own littleness, his unworthiness. He would say of Jesus, “He must increase, I must decease.” We find in John the virtue that must be ours—meekness and humility—virtues that find their highest expression in Jesus, the Lamb of God.
Putting ourselves first, having an inflated sense of ourselves, is a wall that impedes the entrance of God into our lives, and our entrance into the lives of others. Many years ago, an elderly Abbess who sought humility wrote the following. It might be our prayer today:
“Dear Lord, You know that I am growing older. Keep me from becoming too talkative, especially from the unfortunate habit of thinking that I must say something on every subject and at every opportunity. Release me from the idea that I must straighten out other peoples’ affairs.
With my immense treasure of experience and wisdom, it seems a pity not to let everybody partake of it, but you know, Lord, that in the end I will need a few friends. Give me patience to listen to the complaints of others and help to endure them with charity.
I do not ask you for improved memory, only for a little more humility and less self-assurance when my memory doesn’t agree with that of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be wrong. Keep me reasonably gentle. Make me helpful but not bossy.
Let me discover merits where I had not expected them and talents in others whom I had not thought to possess any. And, Lord, give me the grace to tell them so. Lord, only when I decrease and you increase, will I become what you want me to be...a worthy dwelling place in which for you to dwell. Amen.”
