One early spring, when my husband and I taught school in rural Alberta, one of the parents invited the students to their sheep farm to pick rocks in the field. Lambing was also in progress. I wandered off to the barn, to see if I could witness lambs being born. My patience was rewarded that day as I quietly watched a sheep giving birth.
Have you ever wondered why there are sheep on Christmas cards, at least on the ones that portray the original meaning of Christmas? The obvious answer is that it was shepherds who first heard the angel’s announcement. Their long-awaited Messiah had been born in Bethlehem! In the fanciful artwork of Christmas cards, sheep are there along with the shepherds who hurried to the manger. There is more significance to these sheep, however, than meets the eye.
According to many Biblical scholars, the sheep in the Christmas story were no ordinary sheep. Regular sheep were kept in the wilderness. On the other hand, these sheep were looked after in the fields surrounding Bethlehem. These special sheep were being raised to meet the demand for sacrificial lambs in nearby Jerusalem. A perfect, unblemished, year-old lamb had to be offered at the Temple at the morning and evening sacrifices every day, for the forgiveness of sin. Then there were the special sacrifices offered during the Jewish Passover celebration. People would bring one lamb for every household. That’s a lot of lambs!
The Passover celebration hearkens back to the time in Exodus when an innocent lamb had to be slaughtered and sacrificed by each family. Its blood was smeared on their doorposts as a sign that the last plague of Egypt, the death of the firstborn, would not touch their families. The sacrifice of the lamb was a sign that looked forward to the death of an innocent man, Jesus Christ. In the New Testament, John the Baptist called Him the Lamb of God. “John looked at him and declared, ‘Look! There is the Lamb of God!’” (John 1:32 NLT) Jesus, the innocent one, would be sacrificed on a cross to take away the sin of the world.
The lambs at the manger and the Lamb of God in the manger. Let’s not just stop with the lambs at the manger, but realize that Jesus was born to be ultimately sacrificed for our sins. Let’s go beyond the Baby in the manger. “Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.” (Ephesians 3:17 NLT)
Alice Burnett, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
