Read John 1:29 silently.
Before Jesus came, the people of Israel lived with a system of sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin.
Under the Old Testament law, a person had to atone for their sin in order to approach God. Exodus 20 (as well as large portions of the book of Leviticus) details the system Moses gave the people to follow whenever they needed to make an offering to God. There was a peace offering. A sin offering. A guilt offering. A burnt offering.
Whenever forgiveness was needed, a sacrifice had to be made.
This idea of sacrifice is still central to the faith of the Israelites. Even today, Jewish people around the world commemorate the original Passover sacrifice found in Exodus 12. The Passover lamb had to be blameless. Death “passed over” any house marked by the blood of the Passover lamb.
The blood was applied to the doorway of a home using a hyssop branch.
So, when John the Baptist saw Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” something BIG was happening.
Read Hebrews 9:24-28 slowly.
The Gospel of John teaches us that Jesus was the new Passover lamb. Except this time, He would be the only sacrifice for our sin. Once. Nothing else would ever be needed again.
Read John 19:14 silently
Jesus begins His final hours when the Passover lamb would have been sacrificed.
Every moment of the last week of His life was for a purpose.
The Lamb didn’t waste a single breath.
Even though He was thirsty, Jesus waited until the very last moment to ask for a drink.
Even though He was offered something to drink two times previously, He waited.
Why?
The first time someone offered Him a drink, it was mixed with painkillers to hasten His death. Jesus refused it, remaining in complete control of His mission.
The second time, the crowd mockingly “brings the King his wine” after He prays.
Jesus refused once again.
It wasn’t time.
He knew they would use a sponge on a hyssop to bring Him the wine.
He knew the hyssop was the final piece of His mission.
The hyssop dipped in the lamb’s blood marked the doors to be passed over in Exodus.
At the cross, the hyssop once again marked those made clean by the Lamb of God.
As He says, “I thirst,” He completes His work of being the lamb of God.