5.24.26 – The Lord's Supper, Part 3

 I left you with a question on Shabbat morning, the 49th day of counting the Omer, and here we are on the 50th day—Pentecost.

If lambs do not remove sin in the sacrificial system, what is John saying? Why does he say it? John knows lambs are not the animals used at Yom Kippur. He knows the Passover lamb is not a sin offering or a purification offering for the sanctuary. So why does he say, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29)?

Because John is doing what the prophets do: bringing multiple streams together into a powerful statement. "The Lamb of God" draws us into Passover, Exodus deliverance, and the birth of a redeemed people. It draws us into the prophetic promise that God Himself would remove sin, end exile, cleanse His people, give them a new heart, and pour out a new Spirit. These are not competing ideas. John is saying, "Behold the Lamb of God"—the place where these ideas converge in Yeshua.

Speaking from within the prophetic stream, John does not say that Yeshua merely forgives individual sinners (though He certainly does that). He says Yeshua takes away the sin of the world—the whole corruption, rebellion, exile, and the death that has marked creation and humanity. Yeshua is the Lamb because He brings the new exodus. He takes away the sin of the world because through Him, God does what only God can do: forgive grave sin, cleanse moral impurity, defeat death, give the Spirit, and renew the covenant from the inside out.

We have to be careful with "takes away the sin." Many people hear John 1:29 and immediately think: the Lamb is a sacrificial victim whose blood substitutes for punishment. But that is not how blood works in the Torah or the Prophets. Blood does not substitute for sin. Blood does not function as a moral detergent to scrub rebellion from the human heart. Blood purges the sacred spaces, consecrates, marks status, and carries life.

Grave sin—deliberate rebellion—defiles the land and brings exile. It requires something beyond ordinary sacrificial remedies. It requires God to act: to forgive, cleanse, give a new heart, and pour out the Spirit. That is what the prophets promised (Ezekiel 36, Jeremiah 31). This is the hope. And John says, "Behold, the hope has arrived in Yeshua."

Peter's words and actions confirm this. He stands up in Jerusalem while the Temple still stands and sacrifices are still being offered. Peter does not speak against any of that. He announces Yeshua's death and what His resurrection accomplished. The people, cut to the heart, ask, "What shall we do?" Peter does not say, "Go offer a sacrifice." He says, "Repent and be immersed in the name of the Messiah for the removal of your sins"—water washing. Then you will receive the gift of the Ruach ha-Kodesh (Holy Spirit). That is Ezekiel's language: washing, forgiveness, the Spirit. That is the promised cleansing.

Let me be clear: I am not saying that Yeshua's death is unrelated to atonement. But atonement is bigger than punishment transfer. In the biblical world, atonement includes cleansing, consecration, covenant restoration, access, and the defeat of the forces that keep humanity enslaved. Yeshua's blood matters because His life matters. His death matters because His faithful life was carried into death and vindicated in resurrection. His resurrection matters because it opens the way to the Spirit. This is how the Lamb takes away the sin of the world.

That is good news. Did you feel the goosebumps? This news should make us giddy :-)

So what are we doing when we come to the Table?

• We are remembering the Lamb.

• We are receiving the life of Messiah.

• We are renewing covenant loyalty.

• We are participating in His blood.

• We are tasting the new creation in advance.

• We are being reminded of our metamorphosis.

Now I want to say this very carefully, because many of us were trained to come to the Table primarily through guilt: "My sins nailed Him there. My punishment fell on Him. It should have been me." I understand why people say this, and I do not question the love of Yeshua behind it. People are trying to express gratitude: He loved me. He gave Himself for me. He rescued me...

Yes—but the Table is bigger than guilt. The Table is life, covenant, participation, and transformation. When I take the cup, I do not need to imagine God's wrath being poured into Yeshua instead of me. I need to remember that Yeshua carried God's life into the heart of death—and death could not hold Him. The life in His blood is stronger than the forces of death. I receive that life by inviting Him in. I become the kind of person who looks like the One whose life I am taking into myself.

That is what the Table is supposed to do. It is not supposed to push you down into self-condemnation. It is supposed to say: You have been redeemed. You have been washed. You have been forgiven. You have received the Spirit. You belong to the Lamb. Now live from His life.

Imagine Yeshua speaking to His disciples at the Table—and to you. He says: I want you to understand. My murder will not be just another innocent prophet's death. It will be the event that delivers Israel—and thus the world—from the covenant curses of exile (Deut. 24:1–4; Rom. 7:1–6). My death is for the sake of that promised moral purification, the forgiveness of grave sins, including the very murder they will commit tomorrow. This is why we celebrate. I am inaugurating and sealing the new covenant. This is what the prophets promised: forgiveness of sin, washing with water, and the fullness of the Spirit. This is for you.

That changes how we come to the Lord's Supper. We are not coming to a transaction inside the heart of God. We are coming to the Table of the Lamb—to the Passover, the new exodus, the blood of the covenant. We are coming to the meal where Yeshua gives His life to His people.

Yes, He suffered. We are not avoiding that. We are not softening the cross. We are not pretending His death was only symbolic, inspirational, or a tragic misunderstanding. He suffered—the Righteous One was rejected, the Servant bore the weight of Israel's sin. The Messiah entered the place where sin, death, violence, exile, and corruption had done their worst. But that suffering is not the mechanism that makes God forgiving. Suffering is what happens when perfect faithfulness walks in a world ruled by sin and death.

Next week, as promised, we will tackle Isaiah 53 and the Suffering Servant. But on this Pentecost day, I encourage you to look at the text with wider, clearer, bigger eyes.

We are not minimizing sacrifice. We are seeing it as bigger.

Yeshua's death is central to taking away sin—but central as part of the whole covenant event: His faithful life, His murdered innocence, His covenant blood, resurrection, and the gift of the Spirit. It is so much bigger than punishment transfer theory. It is Passover. It is covenant. It is life in the blood. It is the Lamb at the Table. It is the Son giving life to the people so that His life becomes ours.

He goes ahead—not instead. And as we will see, He expects you to participate in that. We, too, will pick up our cross, even in suffering.

Chag Sameach Pentecost! Shabbat Shalom!
Alan