For He was the Lamb that takes away sin, according to John the Baptist, when he said: "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world," and He was the Lamb led to the slaughter in the oracle of Isaiah, which said: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before her shearers is dumb." And of Him as of a lamb was it said: "For the sins of my people he was led to death." For it was necessary that the Lamb of God, taken by the great High-Priest on behalf of the other kindred lambs, for all the flock of mankind, should be offered as a sacrifice to God: "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead," says the apostle; "and as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation: even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." Hence, also, He taught His disciples that He was life and light and truth, and the other conceptions of His Divinity, whereas to them that were not initiated into the secrets of His nature, He said: "Why do ye seek to kill me, a man that has told you the truth?"