Some of the lyrics to the song are:
Now, behold the Lamb. The precious lamb of God.
Born into sin, that I might live again. The precious lamb of God.
Holy is the Lamb. The precious lamb of God.
Why you loved me so, Lord, I'll never know. The precious Lamb of God.
...
Even when I broke your heart, my sins tore us apart.
But I'm standing right here, in the midst of my tears.
I claim you to be the Lamb of God.
New life can begin, because you washed away every one of my sins.
Whom the Son sets free, is truly free indeed.
I claim you to be the Lamb of God.
...
As I was contemplating this song, several things came to mind. I am a very visual person, so as I was going over the lyrics, these are some thoughts that came to me. What is a lamb? A young sheep, correct? Yes. Typically when someone says lamb, our mind conjures up something similar to this:
This is NOT what the Bible is referring to when it mentions a lamb. In the Old Testament, after Adam and Eve sinned, God made a plan for them to have their sins cleansed or rolled ahead. Every year, they were required to bring a beautiful spotless lamb or goat or bull, the very best they had, to be offered as a sacrifice to God. This was God's rule: Blood is required for cleansing. Hebrews 9: 22 states: And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. So, every year the people would bring a sacrifice and their sins would be rolled ahead or cleansed for that year... year after year after year. This is the image that should come to mind when we think of the lamb in the context of Easter.
It is not pretty.
It is not pleasing to the eye.
It is pain.
Death.
SACRIFICE.
We want to look away.
Hide our face from the gruesome reality.
Hebrews 10:3-4 states, But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
The blood of animals could not permanently wipe sin away. Something greater was needed. It was time for the next phase of the plan of salvation. God came down to earth and robed himself in flesh as the man, Jesus, that he would be the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation means to satisfy the demands for righteousness. Isaiah 64:6 states: But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. There is no way we could meet God's standards... so he himself made a way to bridge the chasm between God and man. Jesus lived on the earth for 33 years and was without sin. Perfect. Spotless. Blameless.
And yet, he took on himself, the weight of the sins of the world, past, present and future.
John 1:29 The next day, John seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith: Behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.
Now, Behold the Lamb.
Behold- to see or observe.
Look. Observe. See.
Isaiah 53:3-7 states: He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a LAMB to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
John 3:16-17, as we all well know, gives us the answer to the question we must all be asking now... Why? Why did he do it? Why did he die? For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
It was his great love. There is a song that states: His love for me had to be what held him on the cross.
My mind cannot comprehend such a love. A love for every person, at every time, every where.
His love is extended to:
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| Adolf Hitler |
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| Victims of Nazi concentration camps |
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| Pol Pot |
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| Victims of Pol Pot's killing fields |
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| Charles Darwin |
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| Norma McCorvey (Roe of Roe v. Wade) |
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| Gianna Jessen, abortion survivor |
Unnamed aborted fetus
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| Me |
* Insert own photo here*
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| And most assuredly, the person you see in the mirror. |
He loves everyone. Those who kill and those who are killed. He loves us whether we be rich or poor. Sick or well. Beautiful or less so. He loves the whole and the maimed. The angry and the hurting. The happy and the blessed. The lonely and broken. The strong and young. The frail and old. When he looks at humanity, individually or as a whole, he sees the possibility of what we can be, covered with his blood. He looks with eyes of love, wanting, yearning for us to accept his gift. He covers with his blood. He cleanses us from sin. He has provided us with a choice to accept his gift, his wonderful precious gift, bought with his blood... the gift of eternal life.
I hope this Easter, you will be reminded of the truth of these words. That you will look back to his gruesome sacrifice, so you can look ahead to eternal life. I hope you will remember his death and burial with sobriety and his resurrection with hope and celebration. He is alive. He is risen. He loves YOU!
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