When John the Baptist states that Jesus is the "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world", he is drawing on two important realities from the Old Testament: The Passover Lamb and the Suffering Servant of Isaiah. Yesterday we meditated on the Passover Lamb, today we will reflect upon the Suffering Servant. 

We will hear this reading proclaimed on Good Friday. Jesus fulfills this prophetic word as the suffering servant of the Lord. In the Old Testament, the priests would offer animal sacrifices in atonement for the sins of the people. In the Liturgical rituals, these are two separate entities. In the New Covenant, the priest and victim are one, as Jesus Christ offers Himself as a living sacrifice to the Father, to take away the sins of the World. Isaiah helps us to enter into the heart of Jesus and the reason why he came: t o become "an offering for sin" who justifies many by "bearing their guilt" (Is 53)