All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
Isaiah 53:6-7
From the time of the first Passover observed the night Israel fled from Egypt, lambs had been the most symbolic of all the sacrifices. The lamb to be offered had to pass a rigorous inspection, identifying it as being acceptable to be offered to God. For centuries, priests had offered lambs, first in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple. Though the blood of an animal could not take away sin, it showed the faith of the one who made the offering in God’s promises of forgiveness and redemption. This is the metaphor that John the Baptist used when he identified Jesus for who He truly was: “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Yet unlike a lamb taken to be offered, Jesus had a choice. He had the means of not just escaping and running away, but of destroying all those who sought His life. A single word from the Lord could have ended their lives, yet He remained silent. The suffering that Jesus endured on our behalf was completely voluntary on His part. His death on the cross was not an accident, but part of God’s design established even before the creation. “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).
When we feel discouraged or worthless, we should look to the cross. That is the ultimate evidence of God’s great love for us, and it was the refusal of Jesus to leave that purchased our salvation.
