John 1:29Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He narrates the events after Jesus came down from the mountain. After relating many things, he then adds: "For John had not yet been put in prison" (Jn 3:24).

But why, you ask, does Jesus now come to John, and not once only, but a second time? Matthew says that He had to come for baptism.

Jesus Himself indicates this when He adds: "For thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness" (Mt 3:15).

John shows that He came a second time, already after the baptism. He notes this through the words of the Baptist: "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him" (v. 32).

Why, then, does He come to John? He did not simply come there, but came precisely to him. It is said, "John sees Jesus coming toward him."

Since John baptized Him together with many others, many might suppose that He came to John for the same reason as the others.

That is, they might think He came to confess sins and to be washed in the river with repentance.

Therefore Jesus comes again, so that He might give John himself the opportunity to correct this impression.

Indeed, when John said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world" (v. 29), he completely destroyed such a suspicion.

If He is so pure that He can even absolve the sins of others, it is clear that He does not come to confess His own sins.

Rather, He comes to give the wondrous preacher an occasion, by repeating what had been said before, to instill it more precisely in the hearers. He also adds something else to what had already been said about Him.

The particle "behold" is used because many, from John's words, had long desired to see Him. Therefore John points Him out when He appears and says, "Behold," thereby showing that He is the One long awaited.

"Behold, the Lamb." He calls Him the Lamb, recalling to the Jews Isaiah's prophecy and the type from the time of Moses, so that through the type he might bring them nearer to the truth.

But the Old Testament lamb never took upon itself anyone's sins. This One took the sins of the whole world and delivered it from the wrath of God when destruction threatened it.

He says, as it were: "Behold the Lamb Whom you seek. That Lamb is here." It is natural that many who diligently studied the prophetic book of Isaiah were occupied by the question of who that Lamb might be.

Therefore John points Him out. He did not simply say "a lamb," but "the Lamb," since there are many lambs, just as there are many christs.

But He is the Lamb whose type was shown by Moses (Ex 12), and whom Isaiah proclaims (Is 53).

Christ is called "the Lamb of God" either because God gave Him up to death for us, or because God accepted the death of Christ for our salvation.

As we usually say, "this is the sacrifice of so-and-so," instead of saying, "so-and-so offered this sacrifice," so the Lord is called the Lamb of God.

For God the Father, out of love for us, gave Him to be slain for us.

John did not say, "He has taken away" sin, but "He takes away," because He takes our sins upon Himself every day. Some He takes away through baptism, and others through repentance.

The lambs slaughtered in the Old Testament did not completely destroy even a single sin. But this Lamb takes upon Himself the sin of the whole world, that is, He destroys and blots it out.

Why did John not say "sins," but "sin"? Perhaps because, by saying "sin," he spoke generally of all sins.

As we commonly say, "man" fell away from God, instead of "all mankind," so here, by saying "sin," he indicated all sins.

Or perhaps it is because the sin of the world consisted in disobedience. Man was cast down into the passions through disobedience to God.

The Lord wiped away this disobedience by becoming obedient unto death, healing the opposite by its opposite.

It was no longer timely to say, "Prepare the way," when He for whom the way was being prepared had already appeared and was before their eyes. The state of the matter required other words.

It was necessary to reveal who the One who had come was, and why He who came down to us from heaven accomplished His descent. Thus it is said: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."

The prophet Isaiah pointed to Him in the words: "Like a sheep He was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer is silent" (Is 53:7). The Law of Moses once prefigured Him.

But then He saved only in part, not extending mercy to all, for it was a figure and a shadow. Now, however, He who was once depicted through riddles is the true Lamb, the blameless Sacrifice.

He is led to slaughter for all, in order to drive away the sin of the world, overthrow the destroyer of the universe, and abolish death by His death for all. He does this to loose the curse that was upon us.

He does this so that at last the sentence may cease: "You are earth, and to earth you shall return" (Gen 3:19). He does this so that the Second Adam may appear, not from the earth, but from heaven (1 Cor 15:47).

He became for human nature the beginning of every good thing, the destruction of the corruption that had entered, the author of eternal life, the foundation of transformation according to God, the beginning of piety and righteousness, and the way into the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Lamb died, "One for all," saving the whole assembly of men for God and the Father. He died "One for all," in order to subject all to God. He died "One for all," in order to gain all.

Thus at last all might "no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again" (2 Cor 5:15).

Since we were in many sins and were therefore liable to death and corruption, the Father gave the Son as a "ransom" for us (1 Tim 2:6), one for all. For all are in Him, and He is above all.

One died for all, that all might live in Him. Death swallowed the Lamb for all, and in Him, with Him, also cast forth all. We were all in Christ, who died and rose for our sake and on our behalf.

When sin has been abolished, is it not necessary to accept that death, which appeared from it and because of it, has also been abolished? When the root dies, can the branch from it still survive?

For what reason must we die, when sin has already been destroyed? Therefore we celebrate the slaughter of the Lamb of God and say: "O death, where is your victory? O Hades, where is your sting?" (Hos 13:14; 1 Cor 15:55).

For "all iniquity," as the Psalmist said in one place, "will stop its mouth" (Ps 106:42). It is no longer able to accuse those who have sinned through their weakness.

For "it is God who justifies; who is he who condemns?" (Rom 8:33-34). "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us" (Gal 3:13), that we all might escape the curse of sin.

The blessed prophet Isaiah says somewhere to the Master of all: "Who is a God like You, taking away iniquities and passing over transgressions?" (Mic 7:18). Therefore, when it is said of God that He does this, and Christ is He who takes away the sin of the world, how is He not God? And if He is God, then He is not a creature.

Or "of God" means "divine," because of His Godhead.

"Who takes away the sins of the world." The lamb slain according to the Law destroyed the sins of the one people of Israel, as shadow, outline, and type of the truth.

But the slain Lamb of God destroys the sins of the whole world and cleanses all who live in the world, as the truth itself. That lamb was irrational, but this One is rational, and more than this, divine.

By "sins" understand not only the defilements of the soul, from which He frees those who keep His commandments, but also bodily infirmities, from which He frees the sick.

By saying, "Who takes away the sins of the world," he destroyed the suspicion mentioned above. Clearly, He Who destroys the sins of others has no sins Himself.

And He Who has no sins came to baptism for an entirely different reason, which the Baptist indicates a little later.

For He was begotten as Son, brought forward as a lamb, slain as a sheep, and buried as a man. He rose from the dead as God, being by nature God and man.

He is all things: as He judges, Law; as He teaches, Word; as He saves, grace; as He begets, Father; as He is begotten, Son.

As He suffers, He is sheep; as He is buried, man; as He rises, God. This is Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory unto the ages. Amen.

Cf. Rom 11:36; Rom 14:26.

He bore witness to the lawless that the goat they drove out into the wilderness was in vain. "Behold," he proclaims, "the Lamb. There is no longer any need for the goat.

All of you, stretch out your hands to Him, confessing your sins. For He has come to destroy, together with the sins of the God-chosen people, the sins of the whole world."

As a gift, the Father from heaven sent to all Him Who appeared and enlightened all.

The white garment is part of the rite of baptism. See 1 Cor 15:53. See Lev 16:8. Cf. Lev 16:21.

Then the Law commanded that two unblemished lambs be offered daily at the tabernacle as a sacrifice for sin on the altar, one in the morning and the other in the evening (Ex 29:36-42).

Later, when through the prophets God was pleased to reveal ever more clearly the image of the coming Messiah, they began to portray Him as an innocent sufferer.

He would suffer for the sins of men, for their redemption and reconciliation with God.

Isaiah, the greatest of the prophets, likewise portrayed the suffering Messiah under the image of a lamb, led without resistance to slaughter (Is 53:7).

John the Baptist, the greatest and last of the Old Testament prophets, now points out to the people Jesus as the Messiah already come under this very image.

He is the One Who is to suffer for the sins of men. This is a wondrous clairvoyance, which even the Lord's closest disciples did not possess.

They themselves could not for a long time understand the Lord's speech about His sufferings. It remained closed and incomprehensible to them for a long time (Lk 18:31-34).

"He calls Him the Lamb, recalling to the Jews Isaiah's prophecy and the type from the times of Moses, so that through the type he might bring them nearer to the truth" (Chrysostom).

"The Lamb of God" means that He came forth from God and was appointed by God Himself for slaughter (cf. Theophylact).

"Who takes away" means takes upon Himself, voluntarily. "Sin" is the general instead of the particular (cf. Theophylact), sin as the totality of all the sins of the world.

That is, of the whole world, not only the Jews but also the Gentiles.

"The lambs slaughtered in the Old Testament did not completely destroy even a single sin. But this Lamb takes upon Himself the sin of the whole world, that is, He destroys and blots it out" (Theophylact).

"John did not say, 'Who will take away,' or 'Who has taken away,' but 'Who takes away.' Indeed, He did not take sin upon Himself only when He suffered.

From that time until now He takes away sins, not as though He were always being crucified, for He once offered sacrifice for sins. Rather, by this one sacrifice He always cleanses sins" (Chrysostom).

This is the first teaching on the redeeming death of the Messiah, so clear even in its imagery. Before this, only the elder Simeon the God-receiver had indicated it, though not so definitively (Lk 2:34-35).

In the Evangelist John himself, the Forerunner says: "I saw the Spirit descending like a dove, and He remained upon Him" (Jn 1:32). It is clear that, according to the Evangelist John, the Baptism had already been performed upon Jesus.

Christ Jesus now comes to the Forerunner a second time. When exactly does He come? Although the original word επαυριον sometimes means an indefinite time, "on another day," there is no need here to depart from its main meaning: in the morning, on the next day.

After those sent by the Sanhedrin had left John, the next day John sees Jesus coming to him from the mountain wilderness, where He had fasted forty days.

Does Jesus now come to John intentionally, and with what intention? Undoubtedly intentionally. Jesus is more than a great teacher, in whom every step is measured.

"Because John baptized Him together with many others, and many could suppose that He had come to John for the same reason as the rest, to confess sins, Jesus comes again to give John the opportunity to correct that mistaken supposition" (Chrysostom).

"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world," the Forerunner said, pointing with his finger to the approaching Jesus.

"Lamb" signifies the innocence and meekness of Jesus, and that He silently endures humiliations and sufferings (Jer 11:19; Is 53:7). "Lamb of God" means the One appointed by God Himself, proclaimed by the prophets, and dedicated to fulfilling the will of God.

"Who takes away the sins of the world." Αιρειν αμαρτιας, corresponding to the Hebrew expression nasa avon, means to take sins, to accept punishment for sins. This expression is used in this way in Lev 10:17; 20:19-20; Ezek 18:19-20; Num 18:22.

We see it in the same sense in the Evangelist at 1 Jn 3:5. In support of the Socinian thought about Jesus, some say that among the LXX αιρειν is not used in the sense of φερειν. But this too is false.

See Lam 3:27; Job 21:3; Gen 45:28. On the other hand, wherever Jesus is called the Lamb, His death is spoken of, insofar as He bore it for men.

The Apostle Paul, calling Jesus Christ the Passover, or the Paschal Lamb, says: "For us He was sacrificed" (1 Cor 5:7). The Apostle Peter, in 1 Pet 1:18-19, compares Him with a blameless and pure lamb.

He says that by His blood, not by silver, we have been redeemed from vain conduct. The same is found in John's Revelation, where Christ Jesus is called the slain Lamb, or the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 5:6, 9; 7:14; 12:11; 13:8).

In the prophet Isaiah (Is 53:7), the Messiah is presented as a meek lamb. Yet at the same time it is said: "He was wounded for our sins," and "the chastisement of our peace was upon Him" (Is 53:4, 10-11).

In the same way, the Forerunner calls Jesus Christ the Lamb of God not merely in the sense of meekness, instructive for men, but as the Sufferer who dies for the sins of the world.

The new disciples of Socinus say that the Forerunner not only did not have, but could not have had, the thought of the Savior's propitiatory sacrifice. They say he could not because he had been raised in Jewish opinions about the Messiah as an earthly king.

They say this was still more impossible because even the apostles, until the descent of the Holy Spirit, likewise expected an earthly kingdom from Jesus. But the Forerunner was not among ordinary men, so as to learn about the Messiah from popular opinions.

Before his birth it had already been said of him that he would be filled with the Holy Spirit and would go before the Lord in the spirit of Elijah, to prepare a people ready for the Lord.

Thus his teacher was not the people, but the Holy Spirit. The people had to learn from him about the Messiah, not he from the people.

If Zachariah (Lk 1:76ff.) and Simeon (Lk 2:32-33) had heaven as their teacher concerning the Messiah, and therefore knew more about the Messiah than the apostles of their time, then it is not surprising that the same teacher instructed the greatest born of women.

John's calling was entirely different from the calling of the apostles. The latter entered fully into their calling only when the risen Lord sent them with preaching into the whole world. Then they received the abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit needed for their calling.

But the Forerunner was appointed for another time and another ministry. Therefore he was furnished at another time than the apostles with the knowledge needed for his ministry.

For this reason, in his preaching about Jesus we see the same lofty thoughts about Him, precisely as the Son of God and the only Redeemer of the world, as the apostles later handed down when overshadowed by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Jn 1:27, 33-34; 3:31, 36, 38).

"He did no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth" (Is 53:9).

Jeremiah, another Hebrew prophet, utters words like these in the person of Christ, saying: "But I was like a meek lamb led to the slaughter" (Jer 11:19).

John the Baptist seals these prophecies concerning the appearing of our Savior. Seeing Him and pointing to Him standing there as the One of Whom the prophets had spoken, he cried out: "Behold, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world."