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John 1:29-42

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And 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).

By: The Rev. Dr. W. Ross Blackburn

The translation above is not common, but I trust uncontroversial. But let me defend it. The literal meaning of the word often translated “forgive” in the Old Testament is nasa’, which means to bear or to carry. It is the word behind such passages as Exodus 34:6—“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving (nasa’) iniquity and transgression and sin…” In a similar way, the word John uses to speak of Jesus “taking away” the sin if the world is airo, a Greek word often meaning to carry or bear away (e.g. Matthew 11:29, 16:24; Mark 2:11).

Why is this important? Because it makes plain that sin is a weight that must be borne, an understanding of sin that is often obscured by our modern understanding of the word “forgive.” Part of the reason that our word of forgiveness can go unheard is that we don’t acknowledge the weight of sin. And abortion is a particularly heavy weight, for it (usually) involves the abandonment of a child by his or her parents. Sin is never simply forgotten—if it is forgiven, it is borne. And that is costly. This is the reason why the pro-choice movement can never be life giving, for by refusing to acknowledge that abortion is a sin (or even that it has very real aftereffects—physically, psychologically, and spiritually), it tells weary and guilt-laden women and men to forget about it. It is in effect the same thing that the false prophets of old proclaimed—“peace, peace, when there was no peace” (Jer. 6:14, 8:11). So the weight remains.

But, thanks be to God, Jesus came to bear heavy weights, even the sin of the world. It is a strong man that lifts heavy weights, and only a great Savior that saves great sinners. Like you and me. And the millions and millions that, one way or another, labor under the heavy weight of abortion.

Behold, the Lamb of God who bears the sin of the world! should be the first word that the church says to the world concerning abortion.