Can you hear the tune in your head?
Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb…
Cute little guy, isn’t he?
The next character in the Chronicles of Calvary is not about a person. It is a lamb. A one year old lamb without spot or blemish.
We focused on three people for the first three Chronicles. Click on each to read their respective posts.
There are many aspects to the cross. This post is all about one particular aspect. Sacrifice.
If you have ever tried to read the book of Leviticus in the Old Testament, I am guessing that it was not easy. More so, it could have boring or perhaps really difficult to understand.
The theme of Leviticus is about the sacrificial system that God had set up starting with Moses.
Don’t worry. There will be no Levitical readings here.
Israel, after they escaped Egypt under God’s provisional hand, set about on a journey to the Promised Land.
During that journey, God had given Moses plans and instructions for a tabernacle. This would be a mobile house of worship.
When it was set up, the Levites would be the tribe that would be responsible for the overseeing of all the tabernacle duties; mainly the sacrificing.
Leviticus (named after the tribe of Levi) is the recording of how to do all the tabernacle rituals. Here is one artist’s rendition of the tabernacle.
But a bigger question that might be looming is one of ‘why’.
Why did God require sacrifice?
Simply stated: Sin was separating God from man. But because God is holy, he could not reside where sin existed. A sacrifice was used to remove the sin from a person or even the whole nation.
It was better to kill one lamb or goat rather than a person. It would not take too long to wipe out Israel if animals were not used as a sacrifice.
For the price of sin to be paid, there must be sacrifice.
Forward into the New Testament. Specifically, John’s gospel.
Here is verse 29 from chapter 1 of John:
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” NIV
John knew who Jesus is and what his purpose was.
Jesus was to be the sacrifice for our sin.
Hebrews 9:12 states, “He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.” NIV
Jesus was the lamb that was slaughtered for our sin and he did it at Calvary.
So I guess that little song was right on.
Mary had a little lamb…
Two Minutes With Tim 