August 20

PART II.—1 Corinthians 5:7.

LET us now glance at the sacrifice of the ancient Passover. The sacrifice was a lamb. Jesus is also thus denominated. "Behold," said the illustrious Baptist, "the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world." Indeed, Isaiah had thus prophecied of him, more than seven hundred years before his advent, when he had said, "He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter." And Peter, too, beautifully remindeth us that we are redeemed with the "precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." In heaven, too, Jesus is represented as a "lamb standing before the Throne, and receiving the homage and adoration of the countless spirits of the redeemed." No animal could so fitly have typified Jesus as the lamb. Jesus had all the innocence, and meekness, and patience, which are supposed to be exhibited by the lamb. But the Paschal Lamb was to be a male, of a year old, thus denoting the excellency and dignity of Jesus. Jesus was offered up as our sacrifice in all the maturity and vigour of manhood. The lamb, moreover, was to be without blemish. Jesus was truly and absolutely spotless: his person was the true tabernacle, filled with all the holiness and glory of the Godhead: he had not one sinful infirmity; he had not one mark of moral weakness; but was pure, and holy, and harmless, and separate from sinners. The lamb was to be separated from the flock, and to be kept alive four days after its separation. Christ was separated and set apart to his mediatorial work four thousand years before his death, and a thousand years with the Lord is as one day. During this period, prophecies were uttered, promises announced, and sacrifices slain, all pointing to the same great propitiation, whom God had appointed, and would send forth for the redemption of the world. Finally, the Paschal Lamb was to be slain. So Jesus came expressly to give his life a ransom for man: he came that, by the shedding of his blood, he might redeem us unto God. And, as the lamb was to be slain in the evening and before the whole assembly, so Jesus was publicly put to death upon the summit of Calvary, in the evening of the day as well as in the evening of the world. Contemplating Christ as the Lamb slain for us, should fill our souls with wonder, love, and praise.

"O, Love divine! what hast thou done?

The Lamb of God hath died for me!

The Father's well-beloved Son

Bore all my sins upon the tree —

The Lamb of God for me hath died:

My Lord, my Love, is crucified."