55:10 "We Have Found the Messiah!

We have found the Messiah!

35The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"
37When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?"
They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"

39"Come," he replied, "and you will see."
So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.

40Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). 42And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter.

Prior to this passage, on the previous day, John the Baptist had his first encounter with the Messiah, the one he had been preaching about and preparing people to receive as the Messaih! On this day, he saw the Messiah again and said "Behold the Lamb of God" Of course "Lamb of God" refers to the fact that Jesus would become a sacrifice for our sins! Under the old Testament law, lambs were sacrificed in order for us to be forgiven for our sins. Jesus would now become the once and for all sacrifice for our sins. We first see the concept of the sacrificial lamb when the Children of Israel were delivered from the oppression of Egypt: Here's a great description:

"God told Moses to ask Pharaoh to release the slaves, which Pharaoh was reluctant to do. So God sent seven plagues upon Egypt, each one more devastating than the previous. The last of the plagues was the death of the firstborn of all of the children and animals in Egypt. But God spared the Israelites from the plagues. In order for them to be spared the final plague, the children of Israel were commanded by God to take a one year old male lamb without any defect and sacrifice it. The blood of the lamb was to be spread over the doorframes of the house where they then ate the lamb. That night the Lord passed over Egypt and killed the firstborn of every household except those homes that had blood over their doorframes. An innocent lamb was sacrificed and its blood was shed to spare them from death" ( from http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/behold-the-lamb-of-god-faq.htm)

Fast forward to Revelation 5 and see the scene that John sees as the 24 elders worship Jesus as the The Lamb of God: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open it's seals because you were slain, and with your blood, you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation."

Let's pray:
Lord , I thank you that you sent Jesus, The Lamb of God to be slain as a sacrifice for our sins! Thank you Lord for dying for me that I might be saved from the wrath of God. Thank you that I do not have to face the penalty of my sins because you have already taken my punishment!
Help me Lord to let others know that I have found the Messiah so that they too can follow you!
In Jesus Name! Amen.