The Lamb
Do you ever think of Jesus as a Lamb?
That’s one of his names in the Bible: “Lamb of God.”
John the Baptist was among those who referred to Jesus by this name:
The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. As Jesus walked
by, John looked at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!” When John’s
two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus. (John 1:35-37).
Clearly “Lamb of God” meant something to John the Baptist’s followers,
something powerful enough for them to leave John and begin to follow Jesus.
Pastor Andrew and Pastor Brenda are going to spend the next few weeks talking
about what the “Lamb of God” means and what it means for us to follow The Lamb.
I think it might mean more than we can imagine.
Last night I woke up and started pondering the image.
It’s a pretty preposterous thought, actually,
that we can be saved by a lamb.
As I continued to ponder I realized
we are not talking about a lamb.
We are talking about THE Lamb.
And while the visual imagery is the same,
there is a world of difference.
Because THE Lamb is….
A lamb who is docile but not weak.
A lamb whose submissiveness is born of his strength and power.
A lamb who does not need rescued, but rescues us.
A lamb who does not wander off
but shows us the narrow path
and helps us stay on it….
God’s worthy Lamb.
As always, the “God” part makes all the difference.
For those of you thinking “Pastor Cathy surely you are aware of
the First Testament imagery of sacrifice.”
Oh, yes.
I know about the spotless lamb and sacrifice and the Passover
and how allllllll of that leads to Jesus, The Lamb of God.
And I believe it.
But here is what I’m also thinking:
O Lamb of God,
who takest away the sins of the world have mercy on us.
O Lamb of God,
who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
O Lamb of God,
who takest away the sins of the world,
grant us your peace.
How great is God’s love for us
that God calls us to confess our sins….
to The Lamb?
Think of all the pictures we are given of who God is, who God’s Son is…
and God has asked us that when we
bear our souls, make our deepest confessions,
are at our most vulnerable
we are invited to do so (by God!)
not to some image that invokes in us
fear of the wrath of God
but to The Lamb.
Somehow in my mind that makes it easier to confess.
And perhaps that is the point.
Or at least one of them.
❤
Cathy