December 2016 - Kristin Saatzer

Lamb of God

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

John 1:29

-A Christian term for Jesus first used in the Gospel of John. It carries out the image of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus as a new Passover : a lamb was killed for the Jewish Passover, and Jesus himself, In the sacrifice of his death and Resurrection, is the lamb for the new Passover.

Dictionary.com

A lamb. The idea seems crazy to us today: Sacrificing an animal in exchange for our wrong doings, our sins.

Yet from the earliest of Jewish culture, the sacrifice of lambs played a significant part in everyday life, including Passover (See Exodus 12) and daily temple sacrifice (see Exodus 29:38-410).

The ancient prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah predicted and called Jesus the Lamb of God:

I was like a lamb being led to the slaughter. Jeremiah 11:19a NLT

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. Isaiah 53:7 NASB

It is hard to get our heads around it: The God of the Universe placed His son, this perfect lamb, on an altar (the cross) to die. The ultimate sacrifice for our wrongs.

This perfect One in place of imperfect us.

DAYSPRING

…pay attention to this as you would to a light shining in a

murky place, until the day

dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

2 Peter 1:19 NET

…Because of our God’s tender mercy

the dawn will break upon us from on high

To give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death…

Luke 1:78-79 NET

DA’YSPRING, noun: The dawn; the beginning of the day, or first appearance of light.

Webster’s 1828

Are you a fan of the morning? It has taken me years to get here but I am a fan now. It did not come naturally, even as a child I was a slow starter. I am a nine to nine person, capable of intelligible conversation only between those hours (and that is debatable). These days, though, I cherish early morning: time spent in prayer, Bible reading and savoring the sunrise showing off beyond the tall trees.

God’s word is full of beautiful light imagery and the picture of Christ as a sunrise. The Pulpit Commentary explains:

“In his temple service at Jerusalem the priest must have seen the ruddy dawn rise grandly over the dark chain of the distant mountains, and lighting up with a blaze of golden glory the everlasting hills as they stood round about Jerusalem. The thought which pictured the advent of Messiah as a sunrise was a favorite one with the prophets.”

The prophet Isaiah uses the metaphor of Christ as a sunrise in chapter 60, verse three. Saying, “For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you…” As does Malachi in chapter 4 verse two (KJV), “But Unto you, that fear my Name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings“

Jerusalem needed a sunrise, a Dayspring to fill their blackness with light, as does our world today. This Dayspring will come again. Until that time, we find Him in the beauty of the sunrise and focus our thoughts on Him and His mission for us.

Reflect:

Who is this Dayspring? Why did He need to come to this dark world?
Set your intention on beginning your advent mornings with Jesus. Invite Him to rise in your heart as you rise from your bed.

Dayspring.

Fill my Advent mornings with your Savior-sunrise. I commit to finding you first as I rise each day this Christmas time.