John the Baptist’s favorite title for Jesus is "The Lamb of GΘD." It was also the favorite title used by the Apostle John. He uses it here in this Sunday's Gospel reading and then twenty-nine times in the Book of Revelation. This title, "The Lamb of GΘD," brings together three images that would have been very familiar to the Jewish people at that time.
First, in the Old Covenant, GΘD required the sacrifice of a lamb twice a day for the sins of the people—at 9 AM and 3 PM.
Second, the primary high holy day of the Jewish people was—and is—the Passover. At the Passover each family sacrifices and eats a lamb to recall their liberation from Egypt. On that night, all the firstborn children and animals of the Egyptians died. The Jewish people, however, were spared because they put some of the lamb’s blood on their front doors. The Passover lamb, then, signified GΘD’s merciful and saving love.
Third, a lamb going silently to be slaughtered is one of the images used by Isaiah to describe the Messiah (Isaiah 53), who would take Israel’s sins upon himself and wipe them away by his silent suffering and obedience to the Father’s will.
And so, by calling Jesus "The Lamb of GΘD," John reminds us that all these symbols were pointing to Jesus, who is the Savior of the world. The following story will help illustrate this point.
Illustration: Buying Back the Sailboat
One summer several years ago, a boy spent a lot of hours building a model sailboat. Finally, the day arrived for him to take it down to the river for its maiden voyage. But as soon as he put it in the river, the strong wind and the current took control, and his sailboat quickly moved down river. He chased it along the riverbank, but to no avail—his sailboat was gone.
Downriver a man found the sailboat and took it to a local toy store and sold it to the owner. A while later, the boy was walking through town and noticed the boat in the store window. He went in and explained the situation, but the owner didn’t believe him and said that the only way to get his boat back was to buy it. Well, the boy wanted it back so much that he did exactly that. Taking the sailboat in his arms, the boy thought to himself, "Little boat, you’re now twice mine: I made you and I bought you."
And that’s exactly what GΘD did for us! We are twice his: He created us and he bought us back with the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ!