I used to attend Wake Forest Baptist Church, where the above image was on the front of every Sunday bulletin, as well as on the front of the pulpit.
Notice the halo on the sheep/ lamb.
Notice the book with seven seals under his feet.
Notice how he is skillfully managing that flagpole!
—flying the banner of the cross.
Of course, the lamb stands for Jesus, who John the Baptizer pointed out to his followers as the “lamb of God” (John 1:29)( in Latin, “Agnus Dei”)
O Lamb of God,
that takes away the sins of the world,
have mercy upon us.
O Lamb of God,
that takes away the sins of the world,
have mercy upon us.
O Lamb of God,
that takes away the sins of the world,
grant us thy peace.
This has been a part of the prayer for the Eucharist (Holy Communion) since the earliest times of the church.
How can we pray this from our hearts? Especially since we are so far removed from those ancient times when people used to literally sacrifice lambs to God on the Temple altar— ?
Bible scholar and theologian Walter Brueggemann refers to both John 1:29 and to 1:41 (where Andrew tells his brother Simon, “We have found the Messiah”) to say this:
“The twinning of ‘Lamb’ and ‘Messiah’ evidences the way in which Jesus, from the outset, is seen as power-in-weakness, as authority-in-vulnerability, the newness that will confound the authorities of the world and make newness possible.
“The church's task is to let the world have access to this power-in-weakness that will transform reality.”
If the powerless, innocent Lamb is also God- become- flesh, then the world’s usual notion of what power is, is turned on its head. Given this flipped-on-its- head understanding of Who God is, we now need not pray as if God is huge and heartless Being or Force “out there.” God is every bit as much a lamb, Who lives in the same pastures as we, and Who calls us sisters and brothers. Jesus Christ, God-become-flesh, even went to be baptized, as we should, as a sign that he also submits to the Father’s will.
Notice the halo on the sheep/ lamb.
Notice the book with seven seals under his feet.
Notice how he is skillfully managing that flagpole!
—flying the banner of the cross.
Of course, the lamb stands for Jesus, who John the Baptizer pointed out to his followers as the “lamb of God” (John 1:29)( in Latin, “Agnus Dei”)
O Lamb of God,
that takes away the sins of the world,
have mercy upon us.
O Lamb of God,
that takes away the sins of the world,
have mercy upon us.
O Lamb of God,
that takes away the sins of the world,
grant us thy peace.
This has been a part of the prayer for the Eucharist (Holy Communion) since the earliest times of the church.
How can we pray this from our hearts? Especially since we are so far removed from those ancient times when people used to literally sacrifice lambs to God on the Temple altar— ?
Bible scholar and theologian Walter Brueggemann refers to both John 1:29 and to 1:41 (where Andrew tells his brother Simon, “We have found the Messiah”) to say this:
“The twinning of ‘Lamb’ and ‘Messiah’ evidences the way in which Jesus, from the outset, is seen as power-in-weakness, as authority-in-vulnerability, the newness that will confound the authorities of the world and make newness possible.
“The church's task is to let the world have access to this power-in-weakness that will transform reality.”
If the powerless, innocent Lamb is also God- become- flesh, then the world’s usual notion of what power is, is turned on its head. Given this flipped-on-its- head understanding of Who God is, we now need not pray as if God is huge and heartless Being or Force “out there.” God is every bit as much a lamb, Who lives in the same pastures as we, and Who calls us sisters and brothers. Jesus Christ, God-become-flesh, even went to be baptized, as we should, as a sign that he also submits to the Father’s will.
“The Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan”
Albrecht Dürer, woodcut made in A.D. 1489
(when Dürer was about 18 years of age)
Albrecht Dürer, woodcut made in A.D. 1489
(when Dürer was about 18 years of age)
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