United Methodist Church Hyde Park, NY

[HOLY THURSDAY]
THE GIFT OF THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB
 
Over twenty years ago, Jeff Smith, later known as the Frugal Gourmet, was a Methodist Chaplain at a small college near Seattle. He tells the story of driving one day in his Volkswagen Beetle across the eastern part of Washington state. He was forced to a stop
when a large flock of sheep was being herded across the road. As he waited, watching the sheep, the phrase “Lamb of God” drifted through his mind. Seized with the notion, he leaped from his car, bounded up to the shepherd and asked him: “What does ‘Lamb of God’ mean to you?” The shepherd, initially startled by the abrupt question from a complete stranger, but sensing at some level the sincerity of the inquiry, looked Jeff Smith in the eye and answered. “I know exactly what ‘Lamb of God’ means,” he said. “Each year at lambing time, there are lambs and ewes who do not make it. Inevitably, on one side of the field is a ewe whose lamb has died. The ewe is filled with milk, but will not nourish any lamb she does not recognize as her own. Inevitably, on the other side of the field is a lamb whose mother has died. That lamb will starve because no ewe will accept and nourish it. So the shepherd takes the dead lamb and slits its throat, and pours its blood over the body of the living lamb. Recognizing the blood, the ewe will now nurse and save the orphaned lamb. Through the gift of the blood of the lamb that has died, the living lamb is recognized and restored to the fold, nourished and saved. That is the lamb of God”
 
“Lamb of God” is a term that holds little significance in modern western society. But it means a great deal to those living in the Middle East. Lambs, being common there, were one of the most usual sacrificial animals in ancient Israel. Symbol of innocence and purity, of gentleness and meekness, the sacrificial lamb served an important function: the atonement for sin, redeeming and restoring the relationship of humanity with God.
 
When Jesus took bread and wine at his last supper with the disciples, he gave to all humankind a gift: the sacrament of sacrifice. He broke some bread and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Then he raised a cup. “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” What the disciples received at the upper room table that night, what we receive every time we gather at the table of our Lord, is the gift of his sacrifice. Through his broken body and shed blood, he atoned for our sins, he redeemed our lives, and he restored our relationship with God. When he lifted the bread and cup Jesus was saying, “Let this gift mean life to you, not death. Let my life become your life through the blood of this covenant.”
 
“Behold the Lamb of God.” That’s what the prophet John the Baptist said one day, while pointing to Jesus: “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Although what came walking into the Jordan River that day was no lamb, but a thirty-year-old carpenter ready to be baptized, Jesus’ baptism was, in fact, his initiation into the office of “Once-and-for-all Lamb” – laying down his life for the sheep and taking away the sins of the world. Needing no baptism of repentance himself, Jesus still chose to be identified with a sinful flock and become the instrument of our atonement. In the upper room he offered bread and wine as symbols to be shared in remembrance of his sacrifice. Then at Calvary he became both Good Shepherd and the spotless Lamb of God, laying down his life for the sheep and taking away the sins of the world. For Jesus, the way to be our Good Shepherd was to be the Lamb of God as well. Through the gift of the blood of the Lamb that has died, we are recognized and restored to the fold, nourished and saved. Behold – with awe and love – the Lamb of God.