Day 4: An Unimaginable Sacrifice

Read: John 1:29-34 

Countless people in history have made unimaginable sacrifices, many of whom are unknown. Maximilian Kolbe was a Franciscan friar who devoted his life to building monasteries and publishing religious texts until he was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Auschwitz in 1941. In July of that year, ten men were chosen at random to starve in an underground bunker in response to a successful escape that occurred the day before. One of the men chosen pleaded to not be killed because he had a wife and children. Maximilian heard this offered to go in this man’s place. His request was accepted, and he died an awful death. His sacrifice was an unimaginable one that saved the life of a father.  

We see again that John does not wait to proclaim who Jesus is. In the first chapter, he already proclaims that Jesus is going to take away the sin of the world. This is not a light matter. As someone who has heard this message my entire life, it’s easy to address it as a casual thing. Notice though that “sin” is singular in this passage. This is not saying that Jesus is taking away the sin of one person though. It is as if sin is a collective bundle that Jesus is carrying and doing away with. I can hardly stand under the weight of my own individual sins when I struggle with clinging to them, yet Jesus takes away the sin of the world in its fullness. He does away with our individual sins, our sinful states, and the depravity that is at the core of the world’s workings. He takes away it all. Maximilian made a sacrifice that is hard to wrap my mind around. But Jesus made an even greater sacrifice because His was the only sacrifice that God accepts for our sins. 

When we believe that this message is true, we are covered in Jesus’ perfect life, death, and resurrection. Because of this, when God looks at this, He doesn’t see our sin any longer. He sees Jesus. Our sins are far removed from us, all because of Jesus! 

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If you have not believed this to be true, I encourage you to sit with this passage. Allow it to stir in your thoughts. Consider what it could mean. If you have already trusted in Jesus, I encourage you to not take this for granted, but to sit with this passage as well. Let the weight and wonder of this reality sink in and praise God!