The Good Shepherd and the Lamb of God

The amount of detail God puts into His Word never ceases to amaze me.

As a child, I often dismissed the words of elderly Christians who went on and on about how every time they read the Bible, they would discover something new. Now that I’m older and have read through the Bible many more times, I am beginning to see what they meant.

For example, I was listening to a sermon the other day as I drove home from church, and a detail popped out at me from the verse the preacher was reading. It was Revelation 5:11-12.

“And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.”

I was struck by the reference to Christ as “the Lamb that was slain.” This one simple phrase draws our attention, not just to Christ’s sacrifice in payment for our sins, but also to the wonder of the incarnation itself. Don’t see it yet? Read the following passage from John 10:

“I am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.”(v.11)

And again, a few verses later:

“I am the Good Shepherd, and know My Sheep, and am known of Mine.” (v.14)

You see, the Good Shepherd became the Lamb of God.

The keeper of the sheep, charged with their safety and welfare, is seen in heaven, not as the Shepherd, but as a Lamb. As Shepherd, Christ leads His flock, as Isaiah pictures so beautifully:

“He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” (Isaiah 40:11)

It is the Good Shepherd upon whom, as helpless sheep, we depend every hour. It is the loving care of this same Good Shepherd that is described in the comforting words of Psalm 23:

“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul:

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

 I will fear no evil: For Thou art with me;

Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:

Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” 

And yet, this same loving, caring Shepherd is also “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) He is the perfect sacrifice spoken of in 1 Peter 1:18-19, which tells us,

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

And His presence in heaven as the Lamb of God is highly significant, as we see in Hebrews 10:

“And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool.” (vv. 11-13)

The presence of the Lamb that was slain at the right hand of God the Father is eternal proof that death has been conquered. Unlike the many lambs sacrificed before, this Lamb died, rose from the dead, and is alive for ever.  

But think with me for a moment about the difference between a shepherd and a lamb. The shepherd is strong, capable, and in charge, while a lamb totters around on wobbly new legs, weak and vulnerable.

The shepherd is a man, with a human brain capable of reason, logic, language, music, and so much more. A lamb is limited to the mental capacity of the animal kingdom. It can feel pain, surely, but it is not made in the image of God.

Now think of the difference between God and man. To say it is an even greater difference would be an extreme understatement.

The gulf between creature and Creator is immeasurable, but the picture of a human shepherd becoming a helpless lamb helps us to understand just how much Christ endured on our behalf.

The pain and anguish of the crucifixion aside, His very presence on earth in human form was a degradation we cannot even begin to imagine.

And yet, just as the Good Shepherd is seen in heaven as “the Lamb that was slain,” Christ has chosen to keep His human form with the scars of His sacrificial death upon it for all eternity. Having chosen to humble Himself and take on human form, He now chooses to keep that form, as a testament for all eternity that sin’s debt has indeed been paid once and for all.

 As we enter into the celebrations and stresses of the Christmas season, may you carry in your heart the image of your Good Shepherd who chose to become the Lamb of God.

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Philippians 2:5-11