Behold, The Lamb

We sit listening to her Daddy read.

“It was Passover, the time when God’s people remembered how God had rescued them from being slaves in Egypt.  Every year they killed a lamb and ate it.” -The Jesus Storybook Bible, 286.

At the word “lamb” she begins to chirp with excitement.  “Baa!  Baa!  Baa!” 

“Yes, dear.  The lamb does say “baa”,” I respond with a smile.

Her Daddy continues to read.

““The lamb died instead of us!” they would say.” -The Jesus Storybook Bible, 286.

She shouts her refrain with glee.  “Baa!  Baa!  Baa!”

Yes, dear.  The Lamb. 

You have got it!  The Lamb. 

He is the one in this story to pay attention to.

Daddy continues to read.  My girl continues to “baa.”  I sit in wonder considering this Lamb.

This Holy Week began with whispered prayers about how to lead this Little Love of not quite eleven months to consider what was important this week.  I find now that she is reminding me.  “Baa!  Baa!  Baa!”  The Lamb.  She knows it.  Do I know it?

My husband is still reading.

“Then Jesus picked up some bread and broke it.  He gave it to his friends.  He picked up a cup of wine and thanked God for it.  He poured it out and shared it.  “My body is like this bread.  It will break,” Jesus told them.  “This cup of wine is like my blood.  It will pour out.  But this is how God will rescue the whole world.  My life will break and God’s broken world will mend.  My heart will tear apart—and your hearts will heal.  Just as the passover lamb died, so now I will die instead of you.  My blood will wash away all of your sins.  And you’ll be clean on the inside—in your hearts.  So whenever you eat and drink, remember,” Jesus said, “I’ve rescued you.”  -The Jesus Storybook Bible, 292.

I think of the lamb in the thicket, rescuing Isaac.  This rescue involved a family.

I think of the blood of the Passover lambs above the doorposts in Egypt.  This rescue involved a nation.

I think of John the Baptist’s words about Jesus:  “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  This rescue is for the world.

I think of Isaiah 53.

"Who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

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 its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
    Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
    for the transgression of my people he was punished.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
    and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
    nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
    and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
After he has suffered,
    he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
    and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
    and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
    and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
    and made intercession for the transgressors."

This is what we remember this week—the rescue that comes through the death of Jesus, the Lamb, on the cross.  Yet, this rescue doesn’t end in death, but resurrection!  Jesus has victory over death.  We remember this too.  He is who He says He is, God.

I think of the scene John describes in the throne room of heaven. 

"Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.  In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
    and honor and glory and praise!”

 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
    be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped."  - Revelation 5:11-14

Somehow, in these words, I can picture the voice of my Little Love calling out “Baa!  Baa!  Baa!”

Yes, Little One.  

Behold, the Lamb and worship Him.

***

This is a repost from the archives.  It still amazes me the way God uses my Little Love to draw me nearer to him.  I hope you have enjoyed remembering with me.  A new post will be up tomorrow about how God is using this Little Love to draw me into His presence as we move toward Easter right now. 

***

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as we behold the Lamb who was slain, the Lamb who lives!  May we give thanks for the redemption that comes through Christ and worship with every breath and action of our lives.

Jessica :)


P.S.  Behold the Lamb.  Remember and worship Him today.  

I highly recommend this Matt Maher album.  It is one of my favorites and is a great a Lenten and Holy Week album.