The Gracious Lamb

We like to take our grandchildren to the petting zoo.  They reach out timid hands to feed the donkeys and horses.  They are hesitant with the baby pigs and calves.  But when we come to the pen for the lambs and kids they are ready to walk right in.  There is something so welcoming and safe about a little lamb. 

Jesus has a blessed name: Lamb of God.  Lambs don’t roar.  I have never seen a lamb charge at a single child at the petting zoo.  Lambs eat peacefully from the hands of the little children who go into their pen to feed and pet them.  The children are comfortable with the lambs.  They find them to be good friends.

Jesus is that blessed Lamb of God who is kind to little children.  He is that blessed Lamb of God who is safe for them to be around.  He is that blessed Lamb of God who welcomes their attentions and love.  He is that blessed Lamb of God who is happy to be their friend. 

But Jesus, the blessed Lamb of God, is more than that.  I don’t take my grandchildren to the slaughter house to see those lambs processed for our meal.  That little lamb will give its life to feed my family.  Jesus the blessed Lamb of God is that lamb as well.  He laid down His life for the sins of mankind.  He is the one announced by John the Baptist, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” 

My little grandchildren cannot make any connection between the leg of lamb we have for supper and the little lamb they played with at the petting zoo.  That is OK.  He has still been their friend and he has still nourished them.  This is the twofold reality of Christ, the Lamb of God.  He is both Friend and Savior.  He is both gentle and meek while being both Mighty and Victorious Lord.  We are blessed when we grasp this total picture of Christ.  We need Him both as the little Lamb and the Lamb of God.

Charles Wesley wrote a simple hymn titled “Lamb of God, I Look to Thee” which sees Jesus mostly as the Lamb that is our earthly example, the Lamb of the field, gentle and mild.  “Lamb of God, I look to Thee; Thou shalt my Example be; Thou art gentle, meek, and mild; Thou wast once a little child.”  Henry Jackson, the American hymnist, put the emphasis on the Lamb of God, the sin bearer, in his hymn, “Look to the Lamb of God”.  If you from sin are longing to be free, look to the Lamb of God. He to redeem you died on Calvary, look to the Lamb of God.”  Look to the twofold gracious Lamb of God today.  

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