The Lamb of God

Introduction

When thinking of a lamb, what comes to mind?

What you do thing when you use lamb in context of Jesus?

Both biblical and Near Eastern literature symbolize the lamb as innocent and defenseless. The lamb is symbolic of the ideal kingdom

The word lamb is prominently used in the NT scriptures, especially by the apostle John

John the Baptist proclaims Jesus to be the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. What would that mean to the people of that time?

Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments 4. Conclusion > Lamb

The primary background for the image of Jesus as a lamb in early Christianity was the Passover lamb, combined with allusions to sacrificial lambs; the secondary background was probably the image of the Suffering Servant as a lamb in Isaiah 53:7, a passage to which early Christians devoted much attention.

Historical and Cultural context of the lamb

Cultures prior to establishment of Israel used the lamb in their sacrificial system: Mesopotamia used it for substitutionary rituals, seeking to transfer evil to animals. (Ex. Woman who wants to transfer issue with stillbirth to a lamb). The substitutionary concept also applied with a human as the object of receiving evil called the substitutionary-king ritual, which this idea is reflected in Isa 53:2-6 where the Suffering Servant bear both the iniquity and punishment of others

Israel’s sacrificial system where lambs could only be used in certain instances in peace offerings, sin offerings, guilt offerings, burnt offerings, and freewill offerings. However, provisions were made for the poor where they could use turtledoves or pigeons instead. Under Israel’s system, the lamb had to be ritually pure.

Lamb was hyper-domesticated animals. They did not merely escape, but strayed away. They required human leadership, human intervention, and human assistance in order to survive.

Perspective of God in the Old Testament

Although God is known to be merciful (compassionate), gracious, stead-fast in love, slow in anger, faithful, forgiving, and just, He was primarily portrayed as a warrior and the animal imagery (iconography) often associated with Him is a lion ( Isa 31:4; Jer 49:19; 50:44; Hos 5:14).

However, there is one exception. . . the Servant Songs (Isa 40-55); specifically, Isa 53:6-7. “More than just an innocent sufferer, the lamb here is a surrogate sufferer; not just a blameless victim, then, but also in some way a vicarious victim.”

John R. Miles, “Lamb,” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 132.

Testimony of Scripture

Genesis 22:7–8 NIV

Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

Exodus 12:1–14 NIV

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover. “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.

Isaiah 53:6–7 NIV

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.

John 1:29 NIV

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Remind them John intentionally ordered his gospel account around the passovers

Acts 8:26–35 NIV

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

Revelation 5 NIV

Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” 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.

29 of the 34 NT occurences of “lamb” occur in this book

Conclusion

What do you say about Jesus?

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary Lamb

fullest expression given to what we might call Christianity’s mystical syllogism:

Jesus is the Lamb.

Jesus is God.

Therefore, the Lamb is God.