1:29 On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 1:30 This is the one about whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is greater than I am, because he existed before me.’ 1:31 I did not recognize him, but I came baptizing with water so that he could be revealed to Israel.”

What does this identification of Jesus as ‘the Lamb of God’ mean?

The expression only occurs here and in v36, although the word amnos is also found in Acts 8:32 and 1 Pet 1:19, arnos in Lk 10:3, and arnion in Jn 21:15 and twenty-eight times in Revelation.

Various proposals have been made:

1. The God-provided lamb of Gen 22:8.  The Commentary on the NT use of the OT notes that the link with Gen 22:8 is especially suggestive, ‘because John 3:16 probably alludes to this scene, highlighting one important difference: what Abraham was spared from doing at the last minute, God actually did—he gave his one and only Son (cf. Rom. 8:32).’

2. The Passover lamb.  See Ex 12.  The Jewish festivals feature prominently in John’s gospel, and the Evangelist is careful to connect the crucifixion to the killing of the Passover lamb.  Jn 19:6 may, therefore, contain a further reference to the Passover lamb.  In 1 Cor 5:7 Paul sets forth Jesus as the ultimate Passover sacrifice.  Although the paschal lamb did not take away sins, it did protect from the judgement of the 10th plague, which was the death of the firstborn, Ex 12:29.  The lamb was to be cooked whole: a symbolism reflected in the Fourth Gospel (Ex 12;4/Jn 19:14,31,36.  This last verse quotes Ex 12:46).

3. The ‘lamb that is led to the slaughter’, Isa 53:7.  The word ‘amnos‘ occurs in the LXX version of that verse.  Isa 53 clearly refers to sin-bearing.  The verse is also alluded to in Acts 8:32 and 1 Pet 1:19.

4. The lamb of the daily sacrifices.  The phrase ‘who takes away the sin of the world’ lends support to this.

5. The ‘gentle lamb’ of Jer 11:19.

6. The scapegoat.

7. A guilt-offering.

8. The horned ram who led the flock (cf. also triumphant lion/lamb of the apocalypses, including Rev 5).  The lamb of God’ would then be virtually a kingly title.  Carson inclines to this view.  Beasley-Murray notes that the representations of Christ as a lion and as a lamb are not contradictory, but complementary.  As a lamb, he is one who has been slaughtered in (Passover) sacrifice; and yet he stands, for he lives.  As a lion, he is all-conquering.  The thought of Jn 1:29 and Rev 5:6 are essentially the same: ‘In this work from the Johannine circle, then, we have an apocalyptic representation of the Christ adapted to the Christian doctrine of redemption; the mighty Christ wins salvation for the world through his sacrificial death. Precisely the same has taken place in John 1:29.’

Although it is not plausible to argue that the expression contains deliberate resonances of all of these, it is certainly possible that several were intended: especially the lamb of the daily sacrifices, the lamb provided by God as a substitute for Isaac (Gen 22:10-13), the Passover lamb, and the submissive lamb of Isa 53.  So Beasley-Murray.  Lincoln agrees, noting that this Gospel ‘often draws from a cluster of sources rather than a single identifiable one.’

At any rate, it is clear that Jesus is likened to a lamb not only because of his gentleness and innocence, but also in anticipation of his sacrificial death, towards which these OT examples all pointed.[/su_spoiler]