FREEDOM AND SALVATION
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
John 1:29 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
Since most of us are Gentiles and didn’t grow up with the Jewish traditions we often miss this powerful statement made by John the Baptist about Jesus. In a Jewish family a lamb was part of the annual celebration of Passover.
Passover began thousands of years before Jesus came to earth. The first Passover meal was eaten by Jewish slaves in the land of Egypt. It is recorded in Exodus 12 where God gave Moses specific instructions for the children of Israel. They were to take one year old lamb without blemish and on the 14th of the month each house was to sacrifice the lamb at twilight and roast it. Just a side note, I have thought about what it looked like across the land as some two million people were all roasting lamb at the same time—the Egyptians had to wonder what was up.
God had told Moses that each house was to take some of the blood of the lamb and sprinkler it on the doorpost of their homes. The blood would be sign of their obedience to God’s command. The death angel of judgment was coming that night into the land but whenever he saw the blood on the doorpost, he would pass over that house. The blood of the lamb served as the covering for that home.
Every year Jews would celebrate this ceremony to remember God’s deliverance from their slavery in Egypt. Every year they would take the lamb as their sacrifice. At Passover time there would be a special Passover lamb in the Temple whose blood would be sprinkled by the High Priest on the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies. This act would be a covering for the sins of the nation.
The lamb was always a symbol of freedom and salvation. When John declared Jesus to be the Lamb of God everyone understood John was saying Jesus was God’s path for our freedom and salvation.
Jesus came to bring us freedom and salvation. Freedom from the control and consequences of sin. Freedom to live the life God intended for us to live.
This Christmas be sure to celebrate the freedom we have in Jesus.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Holy Spirit help me to realize the freedom I have today in Jesus. Help me let others know of His freedom.
“Scroll down to share what you feel God is saying based on today’s reading.”