March 6th, 2024
How to Be a Lamb
For the Early Church, serving a Christian population that was entirely composed of Jewish and pagan converts, metaphors and images were a crucial part of faith formation. One motif in particular that stands out in both literature and art is that of the Lamb of God—a title used by John the Baptist himself and one of the most well-known images of Christ's sacrifice.
The image of Jesus as a lamb, submitting to the will of the Father without complaint, is a poignant reminder of the purity and obedience of Christ. For Jewish converts especially, the parallels to the sacrificial Passover lamb would have been obvious. However, reference to the Lamb of God is not the only time that sheep or lambs are mentioned in the Gospels. Christ frequently refers to the faithful as his sheep in parables (often sheep who have “gone astray”) and references Old Testament verses that do the same. When calling himself the Shepherd of his flock, Christ was stressing both our need for a community of “sheep” and for a shepherd. Yet the metaphor is hard to complete; after all, Christ’s role as Good Shepherd is clear enough, but what about us? What does it mean for us to be good sheep?
Here is where these two images meet: as in all matters of virtue, it is Christ who teaches us how, and he does so by becoming a lamb himself. Christ was the model of perfect obedience, perfect submission, to the will of the Father—a sheep led to the slaughter who is “silent and utters no cry.” His earthly life exemplified gentle living and communal ministry, and in the agony in the garden, he teaches us how to accept God's will even in pain and fear. Jesus is God himself, and yet while on earth, he humbled himself to become one of the flock; he demonstrated how we should be sheep of meekness, humility, obedience, and love.
Christ was the one and only Lamb of God, the only sacrifice necessary to reunite us with the Father. Yet while living out this sacrifice, he exemplifies how we too are called to be lambs: how to live and bear with one another, how to express joy and anger, how to handle temptation, and, most importantly, how to submit to God’s will in our lives, even when (and especially when) sacrifice is necessary. As the saints have stressed time and time again, it is that submission that most pleases God and unites us with our heavenly Shepherd. How beautiful that God himself became a Lamb to show us how.
Ask him to help you with obedience. You are the lost sheep right now—you have run away, seeking your own will, and now the night is falling and the wolves are near. But he is seeking you, always seeking you—God himself, both Shepherd and Lamb, calling you back to his flock and the great peace that waits to fill your soul.
Rebekah Balick is a published writer and illustrator in Alexandria, Virginia currently discerning a call to make art and writing her full-time job. Her Instagram is @rivka_arts.