jnaumann

John's declaration that this is the lamb of God has a lot of historical background in scripture. Animal sacrifice was a common practice in that time. Also Abraham was taking Isaac to be sacrificed and Isaac asked where is the lamb or goat. Abrahan replies -- God will provide -- which of course God does. On the Jewish feast of Atonement, they sacrificed an unblemished animal - lamb as an atonement for the sins of the past year. God initiated Passover with the killing and roasting of an unbemished lamb. It was the blood of that lamb that saved them -- it was the sign on the door post by which the angel of death recognized God's people and spared them. This ritual had been practiced for centuries before John uttered this phrase. To the people of the time, the Lamb given to God or the Lamb provided by God clearly referenced one of the ceremonies which included the blood sacrifice. Atonement for the world was a radical idea -- radical means going back to the root of something. If one carefully reads the OT, one will find references that indicate that the People of Israel were chosen for the task of bringing all to God (wasn't Jonah sent by God to Nineveh -- a non-Jewish city?). In the time of Jesus, however, most Jews saw that their sacrifice only atoned for their sins. They were God's people and all others were lost. Jesus came to remind them of the larger vision of God. Jesus wasn't going to usher in some new twist on the relation of humans with God -- he came to restore it or renew it so that it returned to what God intended. I am yours truly in Christ's Love, Joe Naumann

Hi, my name is Joe. I participated in the Bible studies on James and Luke and am looking forward to this one. I'm a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Florissant, Missouri. I enjoy sharing faith with Christian brothers and sisters of all denominations. I've met some beautiful people through these Bible studies. They have been a real blessing in my life.