Behold

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 

John 1:29 

We encounter here one of the most sublime declarations of all of Scripture. The Book of Acts tells us that the Apostles, ‘ceased not to teach and preach, Jesus Christ.’ I may make true statements from the Bible, and yet not preach Christ. The hallmark of the ministry of John the Baptist, and of the Apostles, was that they made much of Christ. Our text begins with, ‘Behold.’ If we take this one word from our text today, it points us to the attention which Christ attracts. Expand it to its widest context, and ‘to Him give all the prophets witness.’ The message of all the prophets is, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God.’ Down through the ages, the ‘Holy men of God, who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost’ all bore witness to the Person and Work of Christ. He is ‘the seed of the woman’ in Genesis 3; the ‘Shiloh’ of Jacob’s dying prophecy; the Passover Lamb; the Prophet, like unto Moses; the Lion of the Tribe of Judah; and David’s Greater Son. As Christ is so lifted up, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, He attracts all manner of people unto Himself. From those that are like Nicodemus, to the woman at the well; from Mary Magdalene to the Maniac of Gadara; from the fisherman of Galilee to Saul of Tarsus, Christ being lifted up, attracts souls unto Himself from every walk of life, from every culture, and from every conceivable background. Let us spend some time today contemplating Christ as the prophets have presented Him, and drawn our attention to Him with their oft-repeated, ‘Behold.’ 

Our Living, Loving, Lamb of God, 
how we long today to look full in Your Wonderful Face, 
and to find ourselves enraptured with You, 
‘The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.’ 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning