Lamb (noun): the young of a sheep; a person, especially a
child, who is innocent, meek, good
Okay. That lamb is super cute, right? It just makes you say, "Awwww!"
So how can something that looks like that be a picture of Jesus, the all-powerful God?
Let’s just go through a couple of verses, spanning from
Genesis (the first book in the Bible) to Revelation (the last book). I think the beauty of this picture will be
evident.
Genesis 22:8 “God himself will provide the lamb…”
God told Abraham to give up His only son (Isaac) as a
sacrifice in Genesis 22. We are told
that God was using this to test Abraham, to see if he was willing to give up
what he loved most in this world.
Abraham willingly took Isaac to a mountain…and on the way, Isaac asked
where the lamb for the burnt offering was.
Abraham replied, “God Himself will provide the lamb.” And when they got to the top of the mountain,
God stopped Abraham, saying “Do not lay a hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, for you have
not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
God then provided a ram for a burnt offering, and Abraham named that
mountain: The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain
of the LORD it will be provided.’ (Gen 22:14).
But we are still left waiting for the Lamb.
Exodus 12:21 “…and slaughter the Passover lamb..”
Many years after Abraham, the people of Israel live in the
land of Egypt, where they are slaves.
God performs miraculous signs and wonders to demonstrate that He is the
God they should follow, and then asks them to celebrate the Passover. The Passover is a special meal of
remembrance, sacrifice, and prophecy all in one. Jewish families had to slaughter a one-year
old lamb without defect (a perfect lamb), and wipe the blood on the top and
sides of the doorpost of their house. If
they did so, then the angel of death would “pass over” them. “The blood will be a sign for you on the
houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I
strike Egypt.” (Ex 12:13).
The blood of a perfect, innocent lamb saved the lives of the
Jews and provided a means of rescue from slavery.
Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did
not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb
to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not
open His mouth.”
The prophet Isaiah penned his 53rd chapter many
years after the Passover, and many years before the birth of Jesus Christ. Some estimate he wrote this around 700
BC. In it, God inspired Isaiah to write
a description of the Messiah, the suffering servant. It was told that the Messiah would be a lamb,
one “cut off from the land of the living”, stricken “for the transgression of
my people” (Isa 53:8). We are told that
it was the Lord’s will to “crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the
Lord makes his life guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong His
days” (53:10). The Messiah was said to
be coming to “bear the sin of many and make intercession for the transgressors”
(53:12).
The blood of a perfect, innocent man will save the lives of
many and provide a means of rescue from punishment.
John 1:29 “The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him
and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’”
At the beginning of His earthly ministry, Jesus was
immediately referred to as “the Lamb of God.”
Luke 22:7 “Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on
which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.”
Jesus came to Jerusalem during the Passover feast, knowing
that that was the time He would be crucified on a cross. He celebrated the feast of Passover with His
disciples, and throughout the meal, He switches the focus from the Passover
meal to Himself, breaking bread and saying, “This is my body which is given for
you; do this in remembrance of me” and passing the cup, saying “This cup is the
new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
Jesus said some pretty crazy things to the disciples throughout
His time with them. He claimed to be God
in many ways – and on this day, he identified with the Passover lamb…the
innocent one whose body and blood would provide a means of rescue. His death on the cross was His sacrifice for
us.
***interestingly, some say that the same mountain on which
Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb” was the place which Jesus was
crucified…and we finally see the Lamb we were waiting for.
I Corinthians 5:7 “For
Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”
Throughout the rest of the Bible, the recognition that Jesus
acted to fulfill that picture from so long ago is clear. We even saw this verse in the previous post:
I Peter 1:19 ““For you know that it was not with perishable things such as
silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to
you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”
Beautiful picture, right?
Jesus’s purpose on Earth was somewhat unmistakable. He even told Pilate in John 18, “You are
right in saying I am a king. In fact,
for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to
the truth. Everyone on the side of the
truth listens to me.”
Jesus came to make God understandable (the Word).
Jesus came to bring hope in this dark world (the Light).
Jesus came to be crushed for the healing of many (the Worm).
Jesus came to be the Passover Lamb, to be the substitute for
the punishment we deserve (the Lamb).
God’s word tells us that we all have done wrong (sinned) and
fallen short of God’s perfect standard (Romans 3:23). He tells us that what we deserve for our
sinful rebellion against God, what our wages for that work are, is death
(Romans 6:23). We do not deserve to live
in the presence of a Holy God for eternity.
We deserve to be separated from Him forever…and some people want that
separation. But God doesn’t want
it. He, because of His great love for
us, demonstrated His love by sending Christ to die on the cross while we were
sinners (Romans 5:8). Christ took that
punishment on our behalf…and it doesn’t need to be paid for twice. If we confess with our mouths Jesus is Lord (that we want Him to be in control
and over our lives) and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead
(because He not only paid for our sins…he conquered
our sins!), then we will be saved (Romans 10:9).
Rescue plan complete.
All that’s waiting is for us to choose to receive the
precious gift that Jesus offers us.
Because you see, Jesus is a gentleman. He will not force Himself on us. He loves us enough to let us choose whether
or not we want to be with Him…whether or not we want to accept His
mind-bogglingly free gift.
But even if we don’t accept it, someday with the rest of the world, we will be forced to recognize just who Jesus really is.
The book of Revelation is the last book of the Bible, filled
with imagery of what will happen in the future.
It was written down by John, and in Revelation 5:1-6, he writes this
about the throne room of heaven:
“Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll
with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.
And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to
break the seals and open the scroll?’
But no one under heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the
scroll or even look inside it. I wept
and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look
inside.
Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root
of David, has triumphed. He is able to
open the scroll and its seven seals.’”
And John looks, expecting to see a fierce conqueror, one
like a Lion. But he writes,
“Then I saw a Lamb, looking
as if it had been slain…”
He saw the Lamb.
An unlikely conqueror (in our eyes).
Yet powerful and worthy of worship because He shed His
blood. As those who sang to Him said,
“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and
language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom of priests to serve our God, and
they will reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10)
Someday, all will join in bowing the knee to the Lamb who is
worthy.
It is my prayer that those I know and love take advantage of
accepting this gift that’s offered – the best Christmas gift ever – the sacrifice
of the Lamb of God.
I want this so that not only will they be saved from the judgement
they deserve, but that they will be able to be with Jesus forever! He is SO Wonderful.
And, we will be able to worship and sing to the One who is
worthy – and even join in this chorus at the end (and beginning) of all things:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory
and praise!
…To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
Be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!”
Amen.
Jesus truly is the Reason for this Season.
Merry Christmas :)
