John 1:29 “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Jesus is a lamb. Nothing very spectacular about that. We could interpret John’s metaphor to mean a number of different things if he called someone a lamb today. You could be as gentle as a lamb, or as soft and cuddly as a lamb, or as easily led astray as a lamb. But there is only one point of comparison, one picture, “Lamb of God” would have raised in the minds of a 1^st Century Jew. Jesus was a Lamb of sacrifice. This was a man destined to die. And a lamb died as a sacrifice for only one reason: “…who takes away the sins of the world.”

That’s not something many people want to look at. The problem isn’t with the blood and the gore. No, it just doesn’t interest them very much. They don’t see the need. If John had said, “Look, the motivational speaker of God, who inspires the hearts of the world,” now we’re talking. That’s something I can use. Or maybe, “Look, the life coach of God, who mentors the behaviors of the world.” We’re headed in the right direction. Inspiration, direction–maybe I can get my act together. Or try this one: “Look, the role model of God, who shows the world how the job’s done right.” I need an example I can imitate. Then there’s always, “Look the therapist of God, who makes everybody feel better about themselves.” Bullseye!

If John the Baptist had announced Jesus this way, the priests, Pharisees, and leaders would have beaten a path to his door. They would have embraced him as prophet, promoted him as a celebrity, maybe even hailed him as some sort of savior. But people wouldn’t see Jesus. They wouldn’t see his main purpose. They wouldn’t see the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.

 There’s another reason some don’t want to see this Jesus. They don’t want to see their sins taken away. They kind of like them. Sometimes we like the four letter words we use to pepper our speech. We don’t see a need to give them up. The world around us certainly doesn’t.

Maybe we like getting physically intimate with someone we practically just met. Waiting for marriage has become so old fashioned.

Maybe we think our parents are kind of idiots. “Honor” isn’t something we intend to give them. Maybe we just don’t want to work so hard, and sacrifice so much, to live the kind of life the Ten Commandments tell us to live. It’s easier to get comfortable with our sins than to repent and let Jesus take them away.

 Still, John calls out to us, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!” Have you ever read John Bunyan’s classic story The Pilgrim’s Progress? It is an allegory of the Christian’s journey of faith through life to heaven. In the early chapters, the hero, Christian, is troubled by the heavy burden he carries. It is tied to his back and shoulders, and nothing he tries gets rid of it. It gets heavier, and more uncomfortable, and he is desperate to find relief.

One day he finds himself at the foot of a cross alongside the road, and there his burden finally falls off. It rolls down a little hill into an empty tomb, where it is never seen again.

When a person is in great discomfort or pain, and they are desperate for help, they will try almost anything to find relief. I’ve known victims of nerve pain ready to amputate a limb. I’ve known cancer sufferers who traveled half way around the world to inject untested poisons into their bodies.

For those whose burden of guilt and sin is too heavy to carry themselves, John doesn’t propose anything so outlandish. He simply says, “See this man. He is here to remove your burden and carry it for you. He will let it kill him so that it doesn’t kill you. He takes away the sins of the world, and the world includes you.” Let him have your sin. It’s the reason he came. It’s his purpose.