Behold the Lamb of God

Have you ever sat down and looked at a photo album? A really old family photo album? Perhaps you’ve found, as you gingerly turn those cracked and brittle pages, that many of the pictures look strange and unfamiliar. But every now and then, you catch a glimpse of a familiar face, or a special place, a certain look, that reminds you that there’s a connection from those people to you.

The OT is like an old family photo album. Much of it is strange and unfamiliar. We don’t readily identify with it. But every now and then, we come across a picture that reminds us that there is a connection between what we see there and our faith as Christians.

Tonight I’d like to show you four pictures in the OT that will help you to understand Good Friday better. They all have something in common, and that something has to do with the ministry of Jesus Christ.

The first picture is found in the book of Genesis. It’s covered with the dust of 4000 years of history. It’s found in chapter 22.

Read Genesis 22:1-13

Can you see the picture? There is Isaac, laying quietly on the altar. There is father Abraham, poised to take the life of his son. The knife is in his upraised hand. There is a troubled expression on his face. But coming down from above is the hand of the Angel of the Lord, reaching down quickly and urgently to stop the hand of Abraham. And there, unnoticed till now, in a thicket nearby, is a young male goat. A substitute. A lamb who would die so the boy could live.

The second picture is found in the book of Exodus. It’s a picture that was taken on a dark and terrible night in the land of Egypt. You can almost see the shadow of the pyramids in the background. It’s found in chapter 12

Read Exodus 12:1-13

Can you see the picture? There are the people of Israel, huddled fearfully in their mud-brick houses. On the doorpost of each house, there is a red stain. Outside, the land of Egypt echoes with the wails and shrieks of the lost. There is death in the air. But inside the houses that are under the blood, the people are safe. They are sitting around the table. They have their coats on. They are ready to leave Egypt. This is their last meal in bondage.

And look at what is on the table. They are having lamb for dinner. The same lamb whose blood is on their doorposts. The passover lamb. The lamb that died so they could live.

The third picture is found in the book of Leviticus. It was taken under the searing sun of the Sinai desert. There are tents in the picture - the tents of the Israelites. See that rugged mountain in the background? That’s Mt. Sinai - the mountain where Moses received God’s Law.

This picture is a multiple exposure, found throughout the book of Leviticus. Let’s just look at one frame in chapter 4

Read Lev. 4:27, 32-35

Can you see the picture? There is the priest, standing before the altar. There is the sinner standing off to the side. And what is on the altar? A lamb, whose shed blood is going to cover the sin that has been committed in the sight of God. The lamb dies so the sinner can live.

There’s one more picture in the OT. It’s found in the book of Isaiah, chapter 53.

Read Isa. 53:1-12

Can you see the picture? it’s the picture of a servant - a servant who suffers and dies for the sins of others. A servant who is bruised, and pierced, and crushed. A servant who takes all this without protest - who is led like a lamb to the slaughter - a lamb who dies so that others can live. This picture was taken 700 years before Jesus Christ came.

And when he came, John the Baptist introduced him by saying “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” That’s the connection! Jesus is the Lamb - he’s the lamb we see throughout the OT.

He’s the lamb who dies as our substitute.

He’s the lamb whose shed blood protects those who shelter under it from the wrath of God.

He’s the lamb who dies as a sacrifice for our sin.

He’s the suffering servant, who meekly dies like a lamb, for our iniquities.

In the book of Revelation, there is another picture. It’s found in chapter 5.

Read Rev. 5:1-12

Can you see the picture? He is introduced to us as the Lion of Judah, but what do you see when you look at the picture? You see a lamb.

There is a church somewhere in Germany where you’ll find a little stone statue of a lamb. There’s a story behind it. While the church was being built, the stone masons were working high up on the roof. One of the men lost his footing and fell off the scaffold. His fellow workmen quickly climbed down, expecting to see him dead. But to their surprise, he was unhurt. He had only had the wind knocked out of him by the fall.

You see, a lamb had happened to be grazing beside the walls of the church, and the workman had fallen right on top of the lamb. The lamb had broken his fall, but had been crushed by the impact.

The stone mason was so grateful to the lamb who had died to save his life that he carved a little statue of a lamb which stands by that church to this day.

Jesus, the Lamb of God, died to save us from our deathly fall into sin. He was crushed that we might live. That’s what he was doing up there on that cross on Good Friday.