One of the most powerful symbols in Holy Communion is the image of the lamb. You may notice it in hymns, in prayers like the Agnus Dei – “Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us” – and in the way Christians speak of Jesus himself as the Lamb of God. But where does that image come from?
The story begins in the Old Testament. In the book of Exodus, when the people of Israel were enslaved in Egypt, God commanded each household to sacrifice a lamb and mark their doorposts with its blood. That night, death passed over their homes, and the people were set free. Ever since, the Jewish people have celebrated the Passover meal, remembering how God saved them through the blood of the lamb.
Later, the prophets took up the image in new ways. Isaiah spoke of a suffering servant who would be led like a lamb to the slaughter, bearing the sins of many and bringing healing through his wounds. It was a striking picture: salvation not through power or violence, but through sacrifice and gentleness.
So when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1.29), it would have startled his hearers. He was saying: here is the true Passover lamb, the one whose death will bring freedom.
And in the New Testament that image unfolds. St Paul writes, “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5.7). In the book of Revelation, the throne of heaven is occupied not by a lion or a warrior, but by a lamb – a lamb that has been slain, and yet is alive. The whole of creation sings, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise.”
What does all of this mean when we come to Holy Communion? When we receive the bread and wine, we are sharing in the sacrifice of Christ, the true Lamb. His death on the cross is our Passover – the moment when sin and death are defeated, and God’s people are set free. Communion is not a new sacrifice, but it makes present to us the one sacrifice of the Lamb of God.
This is why we sing or say the Agnus Dei just before communion: “Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world.” These words remind us that the bread we are about to eat and the wine we are about to drink draw their meaning from Christ’s death for us. They invite us to receive not just food, but mercy, forgiveness, and peace.
And notice: the Lamb is not only about sacrifice, but also about gentleness. A lamb is vulnerable, innocent, harmless. In becoming the Lamb, Christ shows us that God’s power is revealed not in force, but in love. The cross is not a defeat, but the victory of love over sin and death.
So when you hear Christ described as the Lamb of God in the communion service, remember the story it carries. The Passover lamb that set God’s people free. The suffering servant who bore our sins. The Lamb slain yet triumphant at the centre of heaven’s worship. And Jesus Christ, who through his death and resurrection gives himself to us in bread and wine.
To call Christ the Lamb of God is to proclaim that our freedom, our forgiveness, our hope, all come through him. And in communion, we share in that life, nourished by the Lamb who once was slain, and who lives and reigns for ever.