John 1:29-34 | Ravenna Mosaics | Jesus is the is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world

John 1:29-34   Jesus is the is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world

The Sacrifices Presented by Abel, Melchizedek, and Abraham,  Mosaic decoration, Part 6th Century, © Basilica di Sant’Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna, Italy Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.’ John also declared, ‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.” Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’   READ MORE   Reflection on the Mosaic Decoration In today’s Gospel reading John the Baptist’s prophetic role is clearly outlined, where he announces Jesus as the Promised Messiah. But let’s have a closer look at the words ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world’. Looking at the Old Testament, we see a whole myriad of sacrificial offerings taking place. People were offering sacrifices for just about every aspect of life: sacrifices for thanksgiving, harvest offerings, sin offerings, offerings for good health, etc… Christ came to bring an end to such sacrifices. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice in dying, once and for all, for the forgiveness of sins, so no need for sacrificing any animals anymore. However, we might be tempted to think that the ancient peoples were crude in their worship and that sacrifices were something that ‘people did back then’. Sacrifice though, is still as necessary and revenant today within our Christian faith. Every dimension of our human existence often require sacrifice anyway. There are certain things we have to give up for our family, or for our careers or for our studies. But a sacrifice to God, is very different. It is a sacrifice which is freely given by us to God as a sign for reverence and submission to him. They are acts of love for God and that is what God wants from us more than anything else: love! Such small sacrifices that come from a place of love for Our Lord, can come in a wide array of different forms: fasting, penances, controlling pride, ceasing to gossip, etc… What all these types of sacrifices share is that the meaningfulness of the sacrifice depends upon the greater value of that which the sacrifice was intended with and if it is done out of love for Our Good Lord, then we enter into His arms, through the way of sacrifice. by Patrick van der Vorst