Lambs of God
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. (Luke 2:8)
Six miles from Bethlehem were Jerusalem and the temple. Every morning and evening, an unblemished lamb was sacrificed on the altar as an offering to God. Those lambs likely came from the fields of nearby Bethlehem, where a band of lowly shepherds cared for their special flock.
Little did those shepherds watching over God’s lambs realize that the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” was lying in a manger in the nearby town of Bethlehem.
As they huddled together, taking shifts sleeping and watching their sheep, an angel appeared announcing the birth of the one whom John the Baptist would declare as the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)
In Revelation, chapter five, the apostle John gazes into the midst of the throne of God. He expects to see the “Lion of the tribe of Judah” but sees instead “a lamb looking as if it had been slain.” (Revelation 5:5-6)
And it is this slain lamb who receives the highest praise of heaven -“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:12, NIV)
God’s Lion is a Lamb. In the words of I Corinthians 1:25, “the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”
The image of these shepherds watching over the sacrificial lambs in the fields outside of Bethlehem points us, once again, from the cradle to the cross and God’s answer to our sinful, broken world.
In Christ,
Dan
‘Tis the season to remember the lamb that takes away the sin of the world.
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