Behold
29 June 2026|Papa God & Denae Roth
Behold. If only we could grasp the vastness of this simple command. When I was little my favorite verse was John 1: 29, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” I don’t know why that held such weight with me as a little six year old and as I grew up I found other favorites, but recently I was brought back to this verse. What had my little self seen in this verse? Why had I been so fascinated with this statement from John? As I questioned I realized something, this is why we're on the earth, to behold the glory, splendor, and holiness of the Lamb of God. We are made to worship. Colossians 1:16, “Everything is created through him and for him.” My six year old self knew the importance of beholding above performing, the importance of worshiping above my feelings, the importance of being completely in awe of our amazing God instead of normalizing his presence.
Let’s imagine it was a bright sunny day, John is walking with his disciples down a dusty road in Bethany. They're discussing the events that have been taking place, in deep conversation when suddenly their teacher, John exclaims, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” Suddenly their attention is shifted from arguing about theology to standing in awe of the Messiah, the one they’ve been preparing for. They took their eyes off themselves and focused on the Lamb of God. Things are constantly pulling for our attention, but what if we were beholding our King? How would that change our attitude, our mindset, our lifestyle? “And we all, with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Cor. 3:18. We have this great privilege of seeing the glory of the Lord and being in his presence, we can never take this for granted! As we gaze on our Creator we are transformed through a process of glory to glory. One step at time, we mature, but we can’t lose sight of the one transforming us. Beholding should not be primarily for our personal gain, but to be so moved by his magnificence that we can’t help but worship him and give him the honor that he is due.
John was an amazing example of consistently turning the glory from himself to the Messiah, he says in John 3:30, “He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.” His goal was literally to get as many people as possible to turn their attention to the Lamb of God, to behold their Messiah, not to make himself famous. This convicted me, is my life an example of beholding Jesus? Am I passionate about helping others SEE the Messiah for who he truly is? Or am I satisfied with knowing I’m going to heaven?
I want to be so moved by the power of God that I have the revelation that John has of Jesus, that I am not even worthy to be his slave or untie the straps of his sandal and yet he calls me his daughter. That is mind boggling. As we pay attention-behold, may we receive new downloads of our Creator's majesty and may we be moved to create a lifestyle of worship that leads others to behold the glory of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Take a moment to reflect on this saying: “You become what you behold.”
What are you beholding currently? Is it the worries and the cares of this life or the face of Jesus?