Used only in John 1:29, 36, as John the Baptist points to Jesus, this image became much more
popular in later Christian art and in the Eucharist. By doing so, he reveals that Jesus is at the same time the suffering Servant who silently allows Himself to be led to the slaughter, who bears the sin of the multitudes, and also the Paschal Lamb, the symbol of Israel's redemption at the first Passover. Christ's whole life expresses His mission "to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many." In John it is related to the detail that Jesus’ death occurs at the very same time that the Passover lambs were slaughtered in the Jerusalem Temple (John 19:28-42 - on the "Day of Preparation"), so Jesus himself replaces the sacrificial lambs, whose blood was necessary for the forgiveness of sins in the Jewish sacrificial system.