John 1:29-34

In this gospel John the Baptist sees Jesus coming towards him and says: "There is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

All the New Testament gospels tell the story of John the Baptist, but only the gospel of John contains this statement. Exodus 12 relates that God told Moses and Aaron to have the Israelites sacrifice a lamb without blemish and mark their doorposts with its blood, so they would be protected from the plague that God sent upon the land of Egypt. The Jewish feast of Passover celebrates this act of God's love for the people, and the gospel of John affirms that Jesus is the Passover lamb to be sacrificed for the salvation of the world.

In the gospel of John, Jesus does not eat the Passover supper with his disciples, because he is arrested the night before Passover begins. (In the other three New Testament gospels Jesus eats the Passover meal with his disciples.) In the gospel of John, Jesus is the Passover Lamb. His flesh and his blood are given for the whole world, and the Eucharist in the life of the church is the celebration of God's love for all those with faith.

Grace and peace...Bob