IN LIKE A LION/OUT LIKE A LAMB
There is a saying people often quote when talking about the
month of March, it's: “In like a lion
and out like a lamb”.
That strikes me as funny because in the Bible Jesus is often
referred to as both a lion and a lamb, and today I wanted to explore that
thought a little.
In Revelation 5:5 we read, “Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of
the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the
scroll and its seven seals.”
The lion this passage refers to is a conquering, victorious king
who descended from Judah’s (one of Jacob’s twelve sons) lineage. We know this verse at the end of the Bible is
referring to Jesus, and it is the fulfillment of a prophecy issued way back at
the beginning of the Bible in the words found in Genesis 49:8-12.
I suspect that a LION is exactly what the Jews had hoped for when they
were looking to Jesus as the Messiah.
They wanted Him to be their conquering, victorious king who would rescue
them from Roman bondage. Instead, He became the lamb.
Throughout Judean history, a lamb is of incredible
significance. In the book of Exodus, the
Israelites were instructed to take the blood of an unblemished lamb and smear
it on the doorposts and lintels of their houses. That night, as the angel of the Lord passed
through Egypt to strike down the first born of each household, those who had
been marked with the blood of the lamb were passed over. Hence, the celebration of Passover.
Then, in Old Testament law – priests would sacrifice an
unblemished lamb as a cover for human sin; the innocent lamb taking the place
of the sinner, “for the wages of sin is death”.
An image from C.S. Lewis’ book (and subsequent movie) called “The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardobe” comes to mind.
In it, the boy Edmund (who has betrayed his siblings) is about to be
killed by the witch. She tells Aslan the
lion (the ruler of the realm who is kind, benevolent, powerful and good), “You know that every traitor belongs to me as my lawful
prey and that for every treachery I have a right to kill.... And so that human
creature is mine. His life is forfeit to me. His blood is my property... unless
I have blood as the Law says all Narnia will be overturned and perish in fire
and water."
Aslan, does not deny the witch’s claim – however, in a surprising
turn he offers to take Edmund’s place.
The witch happily agrees.
Then, they bind Aslan, they shave him, and they kill him. In scenes that are hard to watch - the lion
is the lamb.
Today, as we end March, I am grateful to the Lion of Judah, God of
the Universe, King of all creation, who meekly and humbly went like a lamb to
His own slaughter so that I might have life.
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