How many times in your life have you read or heard sermons on Jesus’ birth and Jesus’ death? Most of us many times over, but a lot of people miss something very important about both of these. Oh, they read it, but they most likely didn’t tie the things together to get the most out of the truth of the story.
Let’s go to the temple lambs first. The lambs there were used for sacrifice in the temple. But in the days of the 2nd temple, the only place where one could shepherd a flock was in the wilderness…except for this one exception: The flocks or lambs that were specifically appointed and destined for the temple sacrifice had to be in close proximity to the holy city. There was only one region that these lambs came from. The place where these lambs were bred, raised, and would be taken to slaughter was in the place of Bethlehem. It was close to Jerusalem. That is greatly important in the birth and death of our Lord Jesus.
The lambs were raised in Bethlehem not by accident but by design. Now the best part of this story was the fact that Jesus had to be born in the city of Bethlehem. Had to be by design. He had to be born where the sacrificial lambs were born.
While shepherds watched their flocks by night and not just in the place of lambs, but these were the “sacrificial lambs”
Get and understand this next part: The first ones to get to go and see the Lord (yes, after his parents of course) were the shepherds. They were shown the way and went straight way to see the baby in the manager.
Why? Because when a lamb was born to the shepherds of Bethlehem…they were there for the birth of the sacrificial lambs. The very shepherds of Bethlehem those ones attended the birth of the lambs…and ultimately the very lamb of God.
Jesus, the Lamb of God had to be born in Bethlehem, and the shepherds had to be there as well. Jesus was born to be the ultimate sacrifice one day. The entire purpose of God was to give Himself for us…to remove our sins, and to give us a way to get to heaven. He did this out of love for us. He was the sign and His entire life a sign and example for us to follow.
I find things I missed so many times prior. When I see/read/ or are given something to share I can’t keep it to myself. I love this story in the Bible and read it numerous times and heard the stories multiple times yet didn’t put it together until God wanted me to understand it. My God amazes me every day. He is worth praising and glorifying Him. Nothing in the Bible is there to take up space, and as I said before just because we read something…why is it there? How does it apply to us? What can we really learn from what we read? Every moment of Jesus’ life is amazing and telling. I have found that I don’t just want to read the word…I want to know it and why it is there. These two stores mean something important and were put in the word of God for us. So I share this with you. As I have said numerous times no one ever has to take my word on anything…research it for yourself and ask God to show you the truth every time you open His word. Give Him quality time not just your overtime. I found so much more in His word when I turned the TV off in the morning and just spent real quality time with Him. It was then that He began to show me so much more than I could have ever even dreamed I would find out and understand. He will do that for all of us. Quality time with God…means you get quality understanding.