Hey guys. This is not necessarily a "Randumb Thought;" however, it is something I put together and something I find very interesting. Hope ya'll enjoy it, too...
Jesus, The Lamb of God
I. Introduction
There are thousands of names for Jesus—Lord, God, Savior, Messiah, King, Priest, Prophet.
But there is one title that may be above all of the others: that is that Jesus is the Lamb of God.
Now, you might be thinking, “A lamb? Why would Jesus, God-incarnate, stoop so low as to be such a menial creature?” The problem is that you (like me) are thinking in 20th century America terms. In Jesus’ time, lambs were viewed much differently
II. The Passover
Lambs were used as an offering, as atonement for sins. On Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement), some 2.5 million pilgrims would travel to Jerusalem to sacrifice animals, lambs among them (in fact, in the year 70 AD, the Jewish historian Josephus recorded that 256,500 almbs were sacrificed at the Temple's altar!). But the most striking use of the lamb occurs during the Passover celebration. The Passover service required an unblemished lamb—The lamb also had to be without any broken bones. The lamb was then killed and the blood was sprinkled on the doorpost using a hyssop branch. Finally, the family would consume the lamb, thus completing the ritual. The penalty for not doing this—death to the first born son (Exodus 12). Thus, the sacrificial lamb died as a ransom, in place of the firstborn son.
III. The New Lamb
All of this was good and pleasing to God; however, it was not enough. “But in those sacrifices there is only a yearly remembrance of sins, for it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats take away sin” (Hebrews 10:3-4). To atone for our offense, we needed a perfect sacrifice, a sacrifice as perfect as God Himself.Jesus, then, was the One that could redeem us. His sacrifice would accomplish what the blood of millions of sheep and bulls and goats could never accomplish. Jesus truly is the New Paschal Lamb:
I. Introduction
There are thousands of names for Jesus—Lord, God, Savior, Messiah, King, Priest, Prophet.
But there is one title that may be above all of the others: that is that Jesus is the Lamb of God.
Now, you might be thinking, “A lamb? Why would Jesus, God-incarnate, stoop so low as to be such a menial creature?” The problem is that you (like me) are thinking in 20th century America terms. In Jesus’ time, lambs were viewed much differently
II. The Passover
Lambs were used as an offering, as atonement for sins. On Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement), some 2.5 million pilgrims would travel to Jerusalem to sacrifice animals, lambs among them (in fact, in the year 70 AD, the Jewish historian Josephus recorded that 256,500 almbs were sacrificed at the Temple's altar!). But the most striking use of the lamb occurs during the Passover celebration. The Passover service required an unblemished lamb—The lamb also had to be without any broken bones. The lamb was then killed and the blood was sprinkled on the doorpost using a hyssop branch. Finally, the family would consume the lamb, thus completing the ritual. The penalty for not doing this—death to the first born son (Exodus 12). Thus, the sacrificial lamb died as a ransom, in place of the firstborn son.
III. The New Lamb
All of this was good and pleasing to God; however, it was not enough. “But in those sacrifices there is only a yearly remembrance of sins, for it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats take away sin” (Hebrews 10:3-4). To atone for our offense, we needed a perfect sacrifice, a sacrifice as perfect as God Himself.Jesus, then, was the One that could redeem us. His sacrifice would accomplish what the blood of millions of sheep and bulls and goats could never accomplish. Jesus truly is the New Paschal Lamb:
- A. Jesus was without sin (1 John 3:5).
- B. Jesus was slaughtered and killed (Matthew 27:33-50)
- C. Yet his bones were never broken (John 19:36).
- D. While on the cross, he was offered a sponge soaked with wine on a hyssop branch (John 19:29)
- E. His death served as the atonement for our sins (1 John 2:2)
IV. In Conclusion
With all of this in mind, we become more fully aware of the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Just as the Jewish believer had to eat the lamb in order to renew his covenant with God, we Catholics must eat the paschal lamb, Jesus, in order to renew our covenant.Why? Because He said so: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” (John 6:54)
posted by Kujo @ 1:52 AM
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