Jesus is ‘the Lamb’
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Editor,
Last week as Joyce and I drove north from St. George, Utah on I-15, we enjoyed seeing the newborn calves and lambs in the fields. Our parents were ranchers; we were in 4-H activities in Ronan and in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, before our teen years. Joyce’s parents had their Hereford ranch on Mud Creek just west of the Ronan Airport, she attended Ronan schools from grade one to 12 and graduated in the class of ‘52; my folks raised Shorthorns on Mud Lake Trail north east of Pablo, I graduated from Polson High in ‘51. Since our marriage in 1955, we have lived in small towns and big cities. We’ve missed the ranch but we’ve served “the Lamb.”
Like John the Baptizer, who introduced Jesus to the multitudes of people who came out of the towns and cities to hear him, John said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29 NLT); Joyce and I left the ranch to go into the towns and cities (more than forty countries) to declare this wonderful Easter message, “the Lamb of God (Jesus) takes away the sin of the world.”
When Jesus is called “the Lamb,” we are reminded of his character; his purity, his gentleness, his meekness, the simplicity of his life, etc. He is indeed the “Lamb.” There is nothing harmful, harsh, or haughty about him. To those who know him, he is as sweet as a little lamb. However, the fact remains that when Jesus is called “the Lamb of God,” the reference is not primarily to his character, but to his substitutionary sacrifice as the world’s sin-bearer. John makes it so very clear, “he takes away the sin of the world.” Jesus did this when he died that first Easter weekend. “He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins – and not only our sins but the sins of all the world” (I John 2:2 NLT). This Easter, we celebrate Jesus, “the Lamb of God.”
Harvey A. Town
Polson
