Shepherds and Lambs

 

There are arguments for and against the birth of Christ on December 25 (https://www.gotquestions.org/December-25.html).  But there is no argument that a real person named Jesus was born (https://www.bethinking.org/jesus/ancient-evidence-for-jesus-from-non-christian-sources).  You might say, “Shepherds wouldn’t have been out in fields in the dead of winter.”  But with hundreds of sacrificial lambs used at the Temple in Jerusalem every week, the countryside of Bethlehem, a mere five miles away, would be the perfect place to keep those lambs.  And those shepherds watching those lambs would have understood the “Lamb of God” concept.  They were very familiar with their lambs paying for the sins of others with their lives!  Then, some thirty years later, when John the Baptist was preaching near Bethabara beyond the Jordan River, John 1:29, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”  Hey, Jesus was your substitute for your sin!  He exchanged His goodness for your sin.  He took your place on the cross of Calvary so that you might have a home in heaven!  What a wonderful exchange.  Hey, have you made that exchange?  You would be wise to do it today.