Behold The Lamb

The Word (who was with God and who was God)

The Christ

The Son of God

The Son of Man

Lord

The Consolation of Israel

The Lion of Judah

The Alpha and Omega

For thirty minutes. Just reciting a litany of titles given to Jesus in Scripture.

Dr. Sproul went on to talk about incredible it is there there were enough scriptural titles that God the Father had been pleased to ascribe to His Son to be able to fill an entire half-hour lecture period.

Agnus Dei

But again the title: Lamb of God or Agnus Dei, that title ascribed when John the Baptist exclaimed, "There He is!!!" "The Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!" What an appropriate title to launch the ministry of Christ. What an magnificent title for us to consider and discuss today as we continue in this Easter season.

And here's something that I think is pretty interesting.

And believe me, I, Frodo, could be wrong here, but I'd wager that the title "Lamb of God" isn't probably a new title for you to hear regarding Jesus. Throughout the history of Christianity and the Church, imagery, writing, and songs of Jesus as the Lamb of God are featured pretty prominently. It's not a foreign concept for many of us.

Yet - and here's the interesting part - out of the 66 books of the Bible, and the 27 in the New Testament, there are just two books that use this title - where Christ is called, "The Lamb of God." And only by one author: The Apostle John. We hear it here, right near the beginning of John's gospel, and then again in John's vision while on the isle of Patmos in Revelation 5:12 as he's waiting for the Lion of Judah, and he beholds not the Lion, but a Lamb as it was slain. And songs from the voices of the angels were surrounding and singing:

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain! To receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” The list just doesn't stop.

How well-known of a title this is for us to associate with Christ, but how rare we find it in Scripture. But there it is, right at the beginning of His ministry, right there in his introduction by John the Baptist as he saw Him walking toward him. And further, beyond just this title, did you notice just how many titles there are in the short passage we read?

In v. 34, we see:

“And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

— John 1:34 (ESV)

And then in v. 38, the title of Rabbi or teacher:

“Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, ‘What are you seeking?’ And they said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?’”

— John 1:38

Continue with me in v. 41: as Andrew is the first to announce the Messianic identity of Jesus, as he finds Simon Peter and says:

“He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means Christ).”

— John 1:41 (ESV)

In v. 45, Philip says to Nathanael:

“Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.””