Jesus, the Lamb of God, effected our redemption from the bondage of sin
By Deacon Bob Hunt
The lamb has had a significant role in the religion of the Judeo-Christian people from time immemorial. Perhaps this was natural, given the role of sheep in providing clothing and nourishment to the people of Israel, who had been shepherds for centuries. David was a shepherd (1 Samuel 17:34-37), and Jesus described Himself as “the good shepherd” who lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:11). This was not mere hyperbole. Many shepherds lost their lives attempting to protect their sheep from hungry predators.
In his effort to convince Saul to allow him to go up against Goliath, David recounted how he killed a lion and a bear that had threatened his flock. The prophet Nathan’s parable of the man who loved his little ewe lamb like a daughter, told to convict David in his sin (2 Samuel 12:3), shows the affection the Israelites had for the lamb. The lamb, one of God’s more timid creatures, is embodied with deep religious symbolism forever tied to the Jewish and Christian faiths. The gentle lamb appears as a sacrificial saving grace from Exodus through the New Testament.
The first example of a sheep offered for sacrifice in the Scriptures is that of Abel, who offered to God the “fatty portion of the firstlings of his flock” (Genesis 4:4). From there we move to the story of Abraham sacrificing his son, Isaac, a story the Jews call the Akeidat Yitzchak, or “the Binding of Isaac.” God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, with as many descendants as there are stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5). Isaac was the son of that promise. Abraham must have been confused, then, when God instructed him to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22:1-19). How would God fulfill His promise to Abraham if Isaac were dead?
Abraham did not know, but he trusted God. As such, he obeyed, taking Isaac to Mount Moriah, where he bound him in anticipation of sacrificing him. But just before he did so, God told Abraham to stay his hand and not harm the boy. God was pleased that Abraham trusted Him and obeyed. Because of Abraham’s trust and obedience, Isaac was spared and God renewed His promise to Abraham (Genesis 22:17-18). The Akeidat Yitzchak is interpreted by the Jewish people, as well as by the Church, as communicating God’s condemnation of human sacrifice, a practice common among the tribes that surrounded Israel.
After the Hebrews had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years, Moses was called by God to go to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, with the demand that he let God’s people go into the desert to worship Him (Exodus 5:1). When Pharaoh refused, God set upon Egypt 10 plagues to demonstrate His power and authority over Pharaoh and convince him to let the Hebrews go. When all previous plagues had failed to soften Pharaoh’s heart, God let it be known that He would send the angel of death upon Egypt, killing every firstborn in the land (Exodus 11:4-7). The Hebrews, however, would be spared if they slaughtered an unblemished male yearling, spread its blood on the doorposts and lintel of their homes, and shared a common meal of the roasted lamb (Exodus 12).
The next day, finding all the firstborn of Egypt dead but the Hebrews spared, Pharaoh let them go, freed from their bondage in Egypt. The Passover meal of lamb was to be celebrated annually in remembrance of this central saving act of God in the life of His people (Exodus 12:14).
By the time of Jesus, God had commanded that the Passover celebration be centralized (Deuteronomy 16:5-6). Each Jewish family would bring their lamb to the priests of the temple to be sacrificed. The altar of the temple literally poured blood from the thousands of slaughtered lambs. The lamb would then be returned to the family to be roasted and shared in a common meal. The lamb represented redemption: redemption from the bondage of slavery and redemption from death.
When St. John the Baptist saw Jesus approaching him to be baptized in the Jordan River, he cried out, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Where John was baptizing people with a baptism of repentance, he told the crowd that one would come after him who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3:11). The Holy Spirit and fire both transform what they touch. Fire breaks down what it touches, while the Holy Spirit builds up. Just so, the baptism of Jesus will break down the old man, and the Holy Spirit will build up the new.
As the Passover lamb represented redemption from death and from the bondage of slavery, so Jesus, the Lamb of God, effected our redemption from the bondage of sin, the wages of which is death (Romans 6:23). Jesus is the Lamb God Himself brings to the temple to be sacrificed on the altar of the cross. Only God the Father did not spare Himself the sacrifice He spared Abraham. Rather, He offered His Son fully as a sacrifice for the sake of our redemption.
Covenant requires sacrifice, and sacrifice requires blood. There is no redemption without the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). And just as the Passover sacrifice was not complete until the lamb was roasted and shared among the family in a common meal, so Jesus makes Himself, the Lamb of God, available to be consumed in a common meal with all the members of the Body of Christ (Luke 22:14-20 and 24:28-32, 35).
I was asked once, “Why did Jesus have to die?” I’m not a theologian, but it seems to me that Jesus’ mission on this earth was to destroy the power of sin and death over us. Adam’s disobedience introduced sin and death into our world. Jesus’ life lived in perfect obedience, even unto death, reversed that curse and made amends for the offense against God of which we, as a human community, were responsible.
Neither am I a military man, but it seems to me that the most effective way to conquer an opposing kingdom is to infiltrate that kingdom and conquer it from within. That is precisely what Jesus did. He entered the kingdom of death and conquered it from within. As such, death is no longer our enemy but our ally. Death now flies our flag! As the birthing canal is our entry way into a new aspect of our life in this temporal order, so death is the entryway into life in the kingdom.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.
Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.
Deacon Bob Hunt is a husband, father, grandfather, and parishioner at All Saints Church in Knoxville.