Play

We’re beginning a new series this morning on the last week of Jesus’ life.  A large part of the gospels is devoted to the passion week of Jesus’ life, as it’s called, and so I thought it would be fitting to spend some time reflecting on the central question of the gospels:  why did Jesus die?  And what does it mean for your life?

This morning I want to begin answering that questions by following the Biblical history of an animal:  the lamb.  Chapter 1 of the lamb’s story is found in Genesis 22.  Abraham was a man called by God to leave his home and go to a land which God would show him.  God promised him many descendants, but Abraham grew older and older without a child, until finally at age 100 his wife Sarah gave birth to Isaac.  But God knows that we if we cling to the gift more than we cling to the giver, we become enslaved by it, fearful of losing it. And so in Genesis 22, we find this scene:

Genesis 22:1-14 - Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.  ² Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."  ³ Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.  ⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.  ⁵ He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."  ⁶ Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,  ⁷ 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?"  ⁸ Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.  ⁹ When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.  ¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.  ¹¹ But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.  ¹² "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."  ¹³ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.  ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide

The firstborn son, Isaac, was redeemed by a Lamb.  God provided a lamb, and you can bet Isaac looked at that animal and said “this lamb died in my place.”

The family becomes a nation, and the nation ends up in slavery in Egypt.  And the people cry out to God in their slavery, and God raises up Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let the people go.  Pharoah refuses for nine plagues, but then comes the tenth plague:

 Exodus 12:3-14 - 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.  ⁴ 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.  ⁵ The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.  ⁶ Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.  ⁷ 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.  ⁸ That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.  ⁹ Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire-- head, legs and inner parts.  ¹⁰ Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it.  ¹¹ 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.  ¹² "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn-- both men and animals-- and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.  ¹³ 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.  ¹⁴ "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.

Once again, it is a lamb that will save the people.  The lamb was slain so that the nation could go free.  The lamb’s blood saved them from slavery.  And to commemorate, they were to eat the Passover meal every year.