Ken Russell

Most of us are city dwellers and have never seen an animal slaughtered. We are sympathetic towards the animal and find it distasteful to kill an animal even though we have no qualms about eating meat. God chose animal sacrifice to show us how much He hates sin and as a forerunner to the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus would make for us. God's feelings about sacrificing His Son are infintely more acute than any we could ever have over sacrificing an animal.

God is Holy and commands us to be holy also. When we sin we break this commandment and rightfully deserve to incur God's wrath and righteous anger. God is angry with the sinner - why else would He condemn the unrepentant sinner to eternal punishment? God is a God of justice as well as mercy - when He punishes He does so to satisfy His justice and not out of arbitary anger.

A lamb was the common sacrifice in the Jewish religion. The passover lamb was a yearly sacrifice for sin and the Jewish hearers of John's proclamation would have had no doubt as to its meaning. The Jewish religion was very exclusive, so the concept of a lamb being sacrificed for the world - not just for Jews - would have been radical indeed.