The Lamb
Most of us are buzzing around at warp speed this Christmas season. We’re filled with stress and anxiety. It’s like we’re stuck on "fast forward" as we race toward Christmas Day. Bill Flick, a columnist for The Pantagraph, has compiled some crazy stories that have taken place during the holidays. Here are three short ones:
• In Thousand Oaks, California, a department store Santa was dismissed when an elf called him a name and Santa drew a handgun, threatening to shoot him if he didn’t stop.
• At a Seattle charity event sponsored by union meat cutters, a volleyball game was played using frozen meats instead of a ball. It was cut short when one of the players was hit on the head by an 11-pound turkey.
• Outside a church in Miami, a woman was charged with assaulting her husband with an umbrella shaft after he fell asleep during a special Christmas service.
I hope none of you fall asleep this morning, but if you do, we’ve outfitted the ushers with some umbrellas! Some of us are tired because we’re running and moving and shopping and going to parties. This morning I want us to push the "pause" button. Actually, we’re going to hit "rewind" and take another look at Christmas B.C. As we rewind, we’ll understand more about Christmas - and maybe even slow down enough in the process to rediscover the true meaning of the Babe’s birth in Bethlehem.
Last week we went "back to the future," to the days right after the creation of the world to discover that Christmas was God’s plan from the very beginning. Genesis 3:15 shows us that while Satan wounded Jesus on the heel, the "Seed of the Woman" crushed the evil one when He died on the Cross.
This morning we’re going to focus on Jesus as the Lamb. Jesus is the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Even before God began to construct creation, he made provision for the sins of a fallen race. The Lamb is cradled in the womb of the Old Testament, whose types and symbols, promises and prophecies are pregnant with Jesus. Instead of just camping in one passage, I want to do a Scriptural survey to show that Mary’s little lamb was the promised Lamb of God, sent to save people from their sins.
The Lamb on the Mountain
We begin just a few chapters from where we started last week. If you have your Bibles, please turn to Genesis 22. After nearly wiping out the population during the flood, God calls Abraham to continue the righteous seed of Eve in chapter 12. Abraham receives the promise that he will be made into a great nation and that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. God eventually provides Sarah and Abraham with a son named Isaac in chapter 21 when Abraham was 100 years old!
Genesis 22 begins with God’s instructions for Abraham to take his son, the son of promise to the mountain of Moriah. In verse 2, God tells him to "sacrifice him there as a burnt offering..." Early the next morning, Abraham set off to the mountain with his son. The journey took three days. I can’t imagine what must have been going through his mind during this trip! Verse 6 tells us that Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac. In verse 7, young Isaac asks his dad a haunting question, "The fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" I love how Abraham answers his son in verse 8: "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."
Abraham then builds the altar, arranges the wood and ties his only son to the altar. As he reached out his hand to slay his cherished child, the angel of the Lord speaks in verse 12: "Do not lay a hand on the boy...do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." Abraham then looks up and sees a ram that is caught in the thicket. He then substituted the ram for his son and sacrificed the ram in his place. From that point on, Abraham called that place, "Jehovah-jireh," which means, "The Lord will provide."
Let me point out some truths from this passage:
1. Mount Moriah is where the Temple was eventually built. Scholars tell us that it was in close proximity to where Jesus was crucified as the final sacrifice.
2. God "himself" provided the lamb. The word "himself" is significant. God "himself" sent his lamb to die for the sins of the world. The sacrifice came from Him. It was no accident that the ram was in the thicket. God provided the sacrifice. Just as Abraham offered his only son, so too, God himself provided the sacrifice of His one and only son on our behalf.
3. The ram was a substitute offering. Jesus died in our place, as our substitute, when He paid the price for our sins. The ram points to the "Lamb of God." Verse 8 shows us Abraham’s faith that God would provide a "lamb." Verse 13 tells us it was a ram, which is a male sheep. Abraham’s statement was really prophetic, foretelling a day when the Lamb of God would be sacrificed on the altar of Calvary. The ram served as a substitute sacrifice, but only the sinless, stainless Lamb of God can effectively wipe out our sins once for all.
As we continue to sail through Scripture this morning, I want to frame our study by asking and answering Isaac’s question, "Where is the lamb?"
The Lamb in the Passover
As God progressively reveals Himself through the pages of Scripture, we learn in Leviticus 22:19 that sacrificial animals had to be free from all defects.
Let’s fast forward now to the nation of Israel as they prepare to leave the bondage they have been under in the land of Egypt. Please turn to Exodus 12.
For 400 years the Jews have lived in harsh, difficult conditions until God raised up a leader named Moses. He goes before Pharaoh with a message from God: "Let my people go!" Pharaoh blows him off, so Moses comes back several times with the same refrain: "Let my people go!" But Pharaoh has no intention of letting the Israelites go free.
So God devises a plan that will cause Pharaoh to beg the Jews to leave his land. He sends a series of terrible judgments (called Plagues) on Egypt. Although the first nine inflicted severe suffering upon the people, Pharaoh hardened his heart against God. The tenth plague would get his attention. At midnight on a certain night, the Lord would go through the land of Egypt and every firstborn son would die immediately.
But God would spare the Israelites - if they followed His instructions. When the blood of the lamb was sprinkled on the doorpost of each Jewish home, God would see the blood and would literally "pass over" that house. But if God didn’t see the blood, he would take the life of the firstborn in judgment. It was the blood of the lamb that saved the people of God that night. Every year since then, for 3500 years, the Jews have observed a Passover celebration as a solemn reminder of God’s amazing deliverance in Egypt.
My pastor friend Ray Pritchard points out ten of the most notable similarities between the events of the first Passover and the sacrifice of Jesus as our Passover Lamb. I want to briefly mention seven of them.
1. It must be a lamb. Exodus 12:3 says that each man is to "take a lamb" for his own household. It couldn’t be a bull or a dove, which were sometimes used in other Old Testament sacrifices. God was very particular--it was to be a lamb and only a lamb. Nothing else would do. In 1 Corinthians 5:7, Paul refers to Christ as our "Passover Lamb, who has been sacrificed."
2. It must be a male. Exodus 12:5 states that "the animals you choose must be year-old males." Jesus fulfilled this in that he was the son born of the Virgin Mary.
3. It must be a year-old lamb. Verse 5 continues by saying that the lamb must be in its prime, neither too young nor too old. Jesus was in the prime of his life when he died as our sacrifice on the cross.
4. It must be without blemish. The Hebrew text in verse 5 uses a phrase that means "without defect." This means that the Jewish men would have to carefully inspect their lambs to make sure there were no open sores, no patches of bare skin, no infections, no diseases, no blotches or blemishes, no sickness of any kind. This prevented a man from offering a lame or inferior creature while keeping the best for himself.
1 Peter 1:19 speaks of Jesus Christ as being "a lamb without blemish or defect." Hebrews 4:14-16 emphasizes that though Christ was tempted in every way that we are, He was without sin. When Pontius Pilate finished examining him, he declared in John 19:6, "I find no fault in him."
5. It must have no broken bones. Exodus 12:46 states that the Passover lambs must have no broken bones. It was the custom of the Romans to break the legs of those being crucified in order to hasten their death. John 19:32-36 tells us that the Roman soldiers did not break Jesus’ legs because he was already dead. Verse 36 points out that this happened to fulfill the Scripture that says, "Not one of his bones will be broken." Although the verse that is quoted is Psalm 34:20, the ultimate reference goes back to Exodus 12.
6. It must be offered "between the evenings." This unusual expression is the literal translation of the Hebrew phrase found in Exodus 12:6. Although the NIV says that the offerings were to be made at twilight, the words literally mean "between the evenings," which in Jewish thought meant between 3-5 p.m.
The New Testament tells us that Jesus was nailed to the Cross at the "third hour," meaning 9:00 a.m., since the Jews reckoned time in 24-hour periods beginning at 6:00 a.m. Matthew 27:45 tells us that there was darkness from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, or from 12 noon to 3:00 p.m. Shortly thereafter Jesus uttered his final words and died. His body was then taken down from the cross before sundown. Thus, Jesus died "between the evenings" (3-5 p.m.) at the exact hour the Passover lambs were being sacrificed throughout Israel.
7. The blood must be applied. Verse 7 states that after the lamb had been slaughtered and the blood drained, the father was to put some of the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe. The blood would be the sign that the family had sacrificed a lamb as the Lord had commanded in verse 13: "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."
The lamb alone could not save an Israelite. Not even a dead lamb could save. Not even the blood in the basin could save. Only the blood sprinkled on the doorpost could spare the people from the terrible judgment of God. The death angel stopped at every home in Egypt, but every home in Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was spared. From Pharaoh’s palace to the lowest household came loud wailing and screaming. It was quite different for the Israelites. Exodus 11:7 tells us that it was so quiet in their homes that not even a dog barked.
Soon after that Pharaoh sent word that the Israelites were free to leave. In fact he begged them to boogie before anyone else died in Exodus 12:33! That’s why God told the Jews to eat the Passover in haste. He knew they would be moving soon.
Jesus Christ is our only hope of salvation. He is God’s Lamb offered for the sins of the world. However, Jesus’ blood saves only when it is applied to our lives. For those who reject the blood, even the Lamb of God cannot save them. If you want to experience freedom from bondage and avoid the sure judgment of God, the Lamb’s blood must be applied over the door of your heart.
The Lamb in Prophecy
Isaac’s question was, "Where is the Lamb?" The answer to that inquiry was given in stages, as God’s redemptive history unfolded through the chapters of Scripture. The first part of the answer was that the sacrifice was caught in the thicket. The second part of the answer is expanded in the Passover, as we see God establishing the necessity of the substitutionary blood sacrifice. We now fast-forward to the prophet Isaiah to get a more detailed description of the Lamb and a more complete answer to Isaac’s question.
Please turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 53. We don’t have time to plumb the depths of this incredible predictive prophecy but I encourage you to study it for yourself. There is no way to read this passage and fail to see that the Lord’s Lamb is the great divine Substitute for the evil of the human heart. Check out verses 4-5: "Surely he took our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." What a beautiful picture of His work on the Cross.
Drop down to verse 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 his shearers is silent, so he did not open His mouth."
Once again, Scripture preserves carefully the sinlessness of Jesus. He was without sin, but he bore the sins of others. That is why he did it in silence. He had no interest in defending himself, so he never spoke up. He was led to death as a Passover lamb. I’m told that when cows are about to be slaughtered, they get real nervous and start bellowing. Sheep on the other hand, are silent.
Writing over 500 years before Christ, Isaiah answers Isaac’s question of "Where’s the Lamb?" by answering that the Lamb is the promised Messiah, the suffering servant, who will be pierced for our transgressions and will be our sin-bearer.
The Lamb in the Manger
Though lambs are not specifically mentioned in the Christmas story, they are implied by the presence of the shepherds and by the fact that Jesus was born in a place that was frequented by animals. Let’s look now at how Luke 2:8-20 sheds further light on Isaac’s question of where the Lamb is.
An angel gave the first announcement of the Messiah’s birth to some anonymous shepherds. No one paid much attention to these guys who smelled like sheep. They didn’t have refined social skills. They couldn’t bring expensive gifts. They were regular guys who had a part in the greatest drama in history.
Warren Wiersbe points out that it is quite possible that that these shepherds were caring for the flocks that provided sacrifices for the temple services. Imagine that if you will. Here we have men who are caring for lambs who are being prepared to die in the temple. Then, the angel comes and tells them the good news about the baby lamb who will one day take away the sins of the world. The shepherds have spent their lives caring for lambs and now they have the privilege of meeting the Lamb who will die in their place and care for them for eternity.
When they heard the great news, verse 16 says that they "hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger." They were pumped! They didn’t waste any time. This is a good application for us. Instead of being so busy running around this Christmas, let’s learn from the shepherds and run to the lamb nestled in the straw. Let’s be in a hurry to worship the Christ of Christmas who is both Lamb and Lord.
Once they saw the Lamb of God, verse 17 says that "they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child." They didn’t keep the news to themselves. They told everyone they came in contact with about the baby in the barn, lying in a feeding trough made out of stone.
There’s no way of knowing whether they made the connection between Mary’s little lamb and their sheep that were prepared for sacrifice. We don’t know if they recognized the newborn boy as the ultimate Passover Lamb. What we do know is that they went to check it out. The word "found" in verse 16 means "found after a search." They didn’t just sit back and wonder. They were moved to action. Friend, if you’ve never come face to face with the one who exchanged His life for yours, would you run to the manger right now? We know that things must have clicked for the shepherds when they got there because verse 20 says that they returned "glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told."
Lessons from the Lamb
Let me see if I can pull all these passages together with some lessons for today.
1. Jesus Christ is God’s lamb. He is the only person who meets all the qualifications. He fulfills every detail of the Old Testament picture. No other person in the Bible meets the requirements.
Later, after Jesus was born, Simeon took Him in his arms and blessed Him, saying that Jesus would cause the rising and falling of many in Israel, indicating that while some would follow him, others would bitterly oppose Him. Then he added a special word for Mary in Luke 2:35: "And a sword will pierce your own soul too."
This was an early reference to the kind of death Jesus would die. From the very beginning he was marked out as God’s sacrificial lamb. He was born to die! Although Mary did not know all the details, from the earliest days she knew that suffering was his future. That’s why many of our greatest artists, when painting Mary and the Christ child, have portrayed her with a sense of sorrow and heaviness on her face, as if she can see the form of a cross on the horizon.
Since the lamb must die in order for the blood to provide salvation, Jesus must someday die and his blood must be shed. This is the fate and appointed destiny of the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world.
2. There is no salvation without sacrifice. Hebrews 9:22 reminds us that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." A living lamb may be cute and cuddly, but it saves no one. Unless the lamb dies, his blood does no good. In God’s economy, only shed blood can forgive sin. As the great Lamb of God, Jesus had to go to the Cross in order to save the world.
I talked to a sheep owner this past week who told me that sheep have a "death wish." They do things that put them in danger. He told me that he has to keep them from hurting themselves and to protect them from dying. Friends, the Lamb of God came not to come, but to die. He had a death wish. He was born not just to be born and have us focus only on Christmas. He came to give His life a ransom for many. He was the lamb of substitution. The babe in the manger was marked out for Passover sacrifice. As a result, 1 Peter 1:19 declares that we are "not redeemed by perishable things...but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."
3. Even Jesus cannot save you without faith. Abraham had faith that God would supply a substitute. In the Passover we learn that it is blood that saves, when it is applied. Isaiah predicts how the Messiah would suffer and die in our place. The Shepherds responded and then told others about the One who can take away sins forever. Friends, attending Pontiac Bible Church doesn’t save you. When God looks down from heaven, the only thing that matters is that he sees the blood of the Lamb applied to the doorposts of your heart.
4. When you know the Lamb, you’ll follow Him. Later, when Jesus was just about to begin His public ministry, John the Baptist calls out to Him with yet another part of the answer to Isaac’s question in John 1:29: "Look the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" There can be no doubt now. Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of the Old Testament pictures and prophecies. He is the Passover Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. John was so convinced of this that he said it again the very next day when he saw Jesus in John 1:36: "Look, the lamb of God!" Verse 37 says that when two men heard this proclamation, they decided to follow Jesus. Friend, when you know the truth about the Lamb, you will follow Him!
It’s interesting that while Jesus is referred to as the Lamb of God, He is also our shepherd and we are referred to as sheep. Isaiah 53:6 says, "We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
This week I talked to Harold Davis to find out what sheep are really like. Harold owns sheep and also has a sheep-shearing business. He told me two things. First, they are stupid. He asked me if I knew what was dumber than a sheep. I told him I didn’t know. Here’s his answer: "Two Sheep." I know I’m a lot like a dumb sheep. We all are. Second, he told me that sheep are natural followers. You and I were created to follow the Good Shepherd. Because we’re not too bright morally and spiritually, and tend to go astray, we need to follow the Lamb who is also Lord.
5. If you refuse God’s lamb, there is no other plan of salvation. Consider two men in Egypt on the afternoon before that fateful night. One is a good, moral Egyptian, the other an immoral, dishonest Israelite. Somehow the two men have become friends, despite their many cultural differences. As they chatted, the Israelite described in some detail his plans to kill a lamb and put the blood on the doorpost. Only he sees no purpose in this strange thing. Why should he waste a perfectly good lamb (his best one) on such a useless endeavor?
Later that afternoon the Israelite keeps putting off killing his best lamb. His wife pleads and begs, "Sweetheart, it’s time. Don’t wait too long." When the appointed hour comes, he kills the lamb but not with any enthusiasm. He doesn’t take the blood and put it on the doorpost. 10:30 comes and goes, then 11:00 and the dear wife is fearful her husband will put it off too long. Their four children, including the firstborn son who looks so much like his father, gather round the table. 11:30 and still the man delays. 11:45 and still the man has not done it. His wife weeps before him. "How can you risk the life of your oldest son like this?" Grudgingly, the man takes the hyssop and applies the blood to the doorpost. His wife smiles because her family is safe. Midnight comes and goes and nothing happens. Not a sound is heard. Not even a dog barks.
But in Egypt there is wild screaming, shrieks, wailing, women crying, and fathers shouting. Death! Everywhere, death! Firstborn sons dying in their sleep. Firstborn cattle dead in their stalls. Not a family is left untouched by the death angel. In the home of the good and moral Egyptian man, sudden terror and then wailing. Their 15-year-old, the heir to the family business, their hope for the future, their comfort in old age, has suddenly stopped breathing. He dies so suddenly they don’t even have time to say good-bye.
Why did he die? Because there was no blood on the door!
But what if the Egyptian had put blood on his door and the Israelite had not? Then the roles would be reversed. It’s the blood of the Lamb that makes the difference. For those who reject the blood, God has no other plan of salvation. Acts 4:12 puts it this way: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
Where’s the Lamb?
Isaac asks, "Where’s the Lamb?" He’s the substitute sacrifice. He’s the Passover Lamb. He’s the prophesied redeemer. He’s Mary’s little lamb lying in the manger. He’s the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world by dying a cruel death on the cross.
The Book of Revelation refers to Jesus as the "Lamb" 30 different times. The Lamb will one day return but first He had to die. And you must apply His blood to the doorposts of your heart. That is, you must trust in the blood for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you must follow Him.
Where will you find such a lamb? Look to the Cross! Gaze upon the bloody body of the Son of God! Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! Jesus is the Lamb you need. He is God’s Lamb for your sin. He is Mary’s Little Lamb...
Mary had the little Lamb, who lived before His birth;
Self-existent Son of God, from Heaven He came to Earth. (Micah 5:2)
Mary had the little Lamb; see Him in yonder stall-
Virgin-born Son of God, to save man from the Fall. (Isaiah 7:14)
Mary had the little Lamb, obedient Son of God;
Everywhere the Father led, His feet were sure to trod. (John 6:38)
Mary had the little Lamb, crucified on the tree
The rejected Son of God, He died to set men free. (1 Peter 1:18)
Mary had the little Lamb-men placed Him in the grave,
Thinking they were done with Him; to death He was no slave! (Matthew 28:6)
Mary had the little Lamb, ascended now is He;
All work on Earth is ended, our Advocate to be. (Hebrews 4:14-16)
Mary had the little Lamb-mystery to behold!
From the Lamb of Calvary, a Lion will unfold. (Revelation 5:5,6)
When the Day Star comes again, of this be very sure:
It won’t be Lamb-like silence, but with the Lion’s roar. (Psalm 2:12; Revelation 19:11-16)
On Thin Ice
This past week Beth and the girls were driving across Mill Street Bridge when they saw some kids walking on the ice on the Vermillion River. [I’m going to ask her to come up and share the experience with you]. They pled with Beth to stop and do something. They said, "Mom, you have to say something to them." Our girls were really afraid because my dad had just told them about a man who fell through the ice in Wisconsin and died.
Beth told me that she didn’t want to stop. She was busy and didn’t feel like getting involved. She thought they’d be fine. The girls didn’t let up, however. Finally, Beth turned the car around, went down by the river and yelled at the kids to get off the ice, and said, "The ice isn’t thick enough. Get off, you’re going to fall through." They didn’t listen the first time so she had to tell them two or three times. They finally got off and the girls were relieved.
Some of you are on thin ice this morning. I want you to know that the only way to be saved is to listen to the Lamb’s own words in John 3:3: "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of heaven unless he is born again."
Jesus promised you a way - it’s now up to you to listen to Him. Do you realize that you’re on thin ice? Hear the warnings and run to the shelter of the Cross - where God provided a lamb for you.
