Did you know that for centuries Passover lambs were raised in Bethlehem? In those shepherds' fields outside Bethlehem, a very special breed of sacrificial lamb was raised and nurtured to be brought to Jerusalem at Passover to be slaughtered to cover the people's sins. How fitting that Mary's Lamb, God's perfect Lamb, the Lord Jesus, would be born there! And He was born in a stable. How fitting that a sacrificial Lamb would be born in a stable! This Lamb came to be the final Passover lamb, the one sacrificed for sin forever. Your destiny, my destiny, the destiny of the world was wrapped up in Mary's little Lamb.
He did not have His beginning that night in Bethlehem, however. Mary's Lamb is the Lord of heaven, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father. He is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8), prophesied centuries before His birth.
In Exodus God said, "Take the lamb's blood and put it on the doorposts and lentil of the house. My angel of judgment is coming through the land of Egypt, but when I see the blood, I will pass over you." Now, they could have put a perfect living lamb outside that door, but it would have done no good. Salvation does not come from the life of Christ but from the death of Christ. Salvation is not learning lessons from the life of Christ, but receiving life from the death of Christ. "When I see the blood, I will pass over you," for the Bible says, "without shedding of blood, there is no remission." (Hebrews 9:22)
What a wonderful Savior we have in Mary's Lamb, the Son of God born that first Christmas night!
Jesus came as He did, born of a virgin, to be what He was, sinless. He was what He was, sinless, to do what He did, die for our sins. And He died for our sins so that He, being what He was, might make us what we were not: children of God! He was a special Lamb, a slain Lamb, a saving Lamb, "...Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us." (1 Corinthians 5:7)
Taken from "Mary's Little Lamb" by Love Worth Finding Ministries (used by permission).
