The Lamb of God

Wednesday night I had the opportunity to preach. Since it was close enough to Christmas and I probably wasn't going to get another opportunity I preached a mostly Christmas message. I started out by talking about Migdal Eder. If you are not familiar with that term it means "Tower of the Flock".

Last Christmas I was at my mother's church and a guest speaker preached about Migdal Eder. He talked about this for a whole hour. I must admit I enjoy stuff like this while keeping a grain of skepticism. I guess you could say they are a 'guilty pleasure.' Anyway as it was told (and I later looked up) Midgal Eder is the place where the temple sheep were kept. It was about a mile north of Bethlehem and about three miles south of Jerusalem. This preacher said that these shepherds were actually priests.

He maintained that Christ was actually born in the 'Tower of the Flock'. It being the place where all the ewe lambs gave birth. So when the angel mentioned that He would be found 'laying in a manger' they knew exactly where it was. The Lamb of God who was to be the sacrifice to end all sacrifices was born in the same place the temple lambs were born. It is a neat picture and I love neat pictures.

After the service Brother Troyer shared something with me that was so much a blessing that I thought I would share it here. He said he had always wondered about something in the Christmas story. God tells us that the shepherds were out watching their flock when the angel appeared. Then after the great revelation 'came with haste' and found the Lord as a baby.

They left the sheep behind.

Obviously these sheep were important and if the story of them being temple sheep is true then their importance is even magnified. But this new thing was far more important. This was not a mere symbol of sacrificial redemption. This was THE Lamb of God!

We are reminded of the "better than's" in Hebrews. This baby was the answer. The sheep were no longer needed. God would provide himself a sacrifice. As he lay helpless in that manger the world was a totally different place. Everything had changed with this one single event. God was no longer just a distant judge. We now had a God that had 'come near', a god who loved beyond anything we had ever even imagined.

We can do the same. We can leave behind whatever it is that we value and we can, just as the shepherds, come near and worship the Lord.