Our hindsight encourages our arrogance. Rather than gratitude for all we’ve been shown we scoff at those who saw less. We expose our ingratitude for the full revelation of God’s Word by laughing at those who lacked it. Indeed we’re fools enough to believe that those who were witnesses to the life and ministry of Jesus had the advantage over us who have a mere book. Why, we seem to believe, had I been there, had I witnessed the miracles, had I heard Him declare “Before Abraham was, I AM,” I would have been on my face in worship.
We’re no better, and likely worse, than those who saw and didn’t believe, who heard, and didn’t understand. There is nothing new under the sun, and thus no reason to believe ourselves more astute than our often obtuse fathers in the faith. That we wouldn’t have seen it coming, however, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have.
Genesis 3:15, that text that theologians call the “proto-gospel” reads- And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” This is the gospel in its least revealed form. God does not tell us about the incarnation, about the crucifixion, about the resurrection.
Instead He tells us two key points. First, the good guys win. The devil will be defeated. But the second point is a bit puzzling at first glance- the judgment on the serpent includes the news that the serpent will bruise the heel of the Seed of the woman. With our hindsight we know this speaks of Christ’s suffering on our behalf. The cost of our redemption will be great indeed. The notion that the savior would be a suffering savior is right here, where the notion of a savior is first mentioned.
The same principle, the idea that suffering, or the shedding of blood, must come to pass shows up again in the same chapter, as God replaces the fig leaf coverings Adam and Eve fashioned for themselves with with the skins of animals. The message of sacrifice, the shedding of blood, suffering, substitution, appeared first in the Garden.
It is a ram that shows up in the account of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah. Remember, however, that when Isaac asked his father about the missing sacrifice as they made their way, Abraham noted that the Lord would provide. And so He did. Is it just possible, I wonder, if the ram was stuck in the thicket not only to make him accessible, but to prefigure the crown of thorns our Lord would be forced to wear?
The lamb, however, first comes into clear focus at the Passover. How easy, however, it is to miss even this. The first message of the Passover is something of a surprise. Throughout all the plagues that God sent we are reminded that God’s people are spared. The destruction falls upon the enemies of God, precisely because they had enslaved the friends of God.
The function of the Passover, however, the blood upon the lintel wasn’t merely to inform God the Holy Spirit that there were Hebrews in the house. The blood was no mere “Do not disturb” sign. Instead it communicated a vital truth- that those inside were likewise, in themselves, under the curse of God. The lamb was the substitute, the expression of the wrath of God poured out on the innocent.
This, of course, was why the lamb had to be spotless. The issue wasn’t merely that God is particular, that He wanted His people to give of their best. Rather the purpose was to represent the purity of the lamb. It had to be without physical blot or blemish because the One the lamb pointed to would have to be spiritually without blot or blemish. One could argue in turn that this at least is a hint of the necessity of the incarnation. While ewes give birth to lambs, sinners give birth to sinners.
Isaiah the prophet, of course, gave us still more clues about the nature of the Messiah and His work. Isaiah describes for us the suffering servant, the one by whose stripes we are healed. He even draws on the imagery at the very opening of the book that bears his name, as he, speaking for God calls us to come and reason together, and promises that though our sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they will be like wool. The Lamb of God will make us white, like He is.
It should not surprise us, since such was his calling, that John the Baptist would be the one to make clear all that had been shrouded in mystery. The one who prepared the way of the Lord, upon seeing His Lord approaching the Jordan declared, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” Here John affirms that the reality of which all other lambs had been but types, has come. John affirms that the Lamb will take away our sins. And perhaps more shocking still, he affirms that the Lamb is the sacrifice not just for the Jews, but for all who would turn to Him. Thus Jesus’ earthly ministry begins.
It is near the end of His earthly ministry, however, that we see still more the lamb-like quality of our Lord. The One who is the conquering Lion of Judah, the One who carries a rod of iron with which to break the knees of kings and rulers, the One who is bringing all things under submission to Himself, the Lord of lords, goes to His death like a lamb to the slaughter. He opened not His mouth. He did not speak in His own defense. He did not call upon the heavenly host to come to His aid. With all meekness He laid down His life for us.
Those who loved our Lord longed to see Him as a devouring lion. They wanted fire called down on the Samaritans. They wanted Rome under their own boot. But for three years He had told them that things are not as they seemed. Those who wanted to be first get that way by going to the back of the line. Those who wanted to receive would only do so as they gave. The first would be last. And conquest happens by surrender, victory by defeat, exaltation by humiliation. Lambs, in the end, are lions. Behold the Lion of God, without blemish, gentle, and silent as a lamb.
In the first century they missed Jesus for the same reason that we do. They thought Him a perfect fit for their own agenda. They held on to their plans. For a time they dared to hope He would be the one to bring them to pass. Just like us. We are called however, to lay aside our agendas. To joyfully confess with Him, “nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done.” We are to give up on our leading, and take up our following. He is not just the lamb with blemish, but the Shepherd without flaw.
For the Lamb sits upon His throne. He rules and He reigns. And He does it all for the sake of His glory. Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. World without end. Amen.