LITTLE LAMB

 

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”  Luke 2:7

Some years ago, the artist Jenedy Paige, felt that she needed to do a painting of baby Jesus. In her extensive research she discovered that the manger would have most likely been carved out of white limestone and that it was also unlikely that Jesus was “asleep on the hay” as grass was available on the hills surrounding Judea year round. They really would have had no need to store hay, and the mangers were most likely used for water.

She also learnt that “swaddling cloths” were not scraps of fabric indicating poverty but were actually a big part of the Israelite culture. They were in reality 5-6” wide strips of linen which were embroidered with symbols of the ancestry of the bride and groom symbolising the coming together of two families. These bands were wrapped around the hands of the couple at the wedding ceremony. The swaddling bands Jenedy Paige painted suggest that the bands the Savior was swaddled in may have included the Lion of Judah and the stem of Jesse.

Her feelings about the painting touched me the most:

“As I sketched and worked, my heart was so full as I uncovered this image. For when you take away the Hollywood drama, the traditions of centuries, the wood and the hay, all you’re really left with is a babe in white linen on white stone. And my mind immediately went to the purpose of the Savior’s life:

“He was born to die. He came as the sacrificial lamb for all mankind; so how fitting that He would begin his life on a stone altar of sorts, and be wrapped in white linen, like he would after His death. And of course he would be placed in a trough for water, for He would be Living Water, and would bring life to all. I also found myself weeping for the Father, and how it must have felt to see His Son begin life foreshadowing His death. My heart was so full of gratitude that He would send His Only Begotten to be the Savior for us all. That He would send His Son, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, to die so that we all might live. What good news, what comfort and joy, what a gift was given to us all. O come, let us adore Him!”  (JENEDY PAIGE)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Little Lamb by Jenedy Paige)

 https://jenedypaige.com/products/little-lamb-prints

A GOD IN MORTALITY

 

“He came here to dwell as a mortal, subject to the testing experiences that are common lot of all mankind. He lived and breathed as all men do; he ate and drank as his needs required; he wielded the carpenter’s saw, toiled in the fields of grain, and slept on the barren Palestinian soil. His experiences were like those of his Israelite kinsmen. Upon him the rains fell; around him the snows swirled.

“He was hungry, cold, tired, sick, and afflicted, as all men are; and when he died, his eternal spirit left its tenement of clay, as is the case with all of Adam’s race. He was a man, a mortal man, a son of Adam, and God his Father saw fit to let him live as other men live, experience as they experience, sorrow and suffer as they do, and overcome as they must, if they are ever to return to the Divine Presence where joy and peace and eternal glory abound.”

-          Bruce R. McConkie, “The Mortal Messiah Book 1”  p 6

 

Every Christmas,

the mother in me

Longs to hold

the baby You became.

 

To hold all that You were,

To smell the babyhood on You.

Just one hug, just one embrace,

And to kiss Your sweet little face.

 

Were You a baby like all the rest?

Did You cry out in the night

Longing to hear the beating

Of Your mother’s heart?

 

Were You glad to be here

Were Your angels still near?

Did You long for Your Father

And His mighty arm

And all those You left behind?

 

Did You remember who You were?

And did You know You would

One day make all things new?

Did You rejoice even then

In my salvation too?

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Babe in Bethlehem by Liz Lemon Swindle)

THE LAMB

 

Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, was famous for its’ unblemished lambs which were used for the temple sacrifice. The shepherds in the field ‘who watched their flock by night’ were in actual fact priests and the flock they watched over were atoning lambs.

The new born perfect lambs without blemish were wrapped tightly in cloth and placed in ‘the manger’ which was an animal feeding trough made of stone. They would be kept safe there until they were taken to the temple. They were lambs that were cared for with love and devotion ‘because they were destined for sacrifice on the great altar in the Lord’s House, in similitude of the eternal sacrifice of Him who would atone for the sins of the world. (see Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah Book 1, 347)

When Jesus was born, an angel appeared to these shepherd priests and announced the birth of the Saviour ‘which is Christ the Lord’, he told them the sign, or proof of His birth will be finding ‘the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:9-12). This the shepherds would understand for they had wrapped many lambs in swaddling cloths and placed them in a manger. They knew that the baby they would find in there would be the perfect Lamb of God.

I am amazed how the whole life of Christ is associated with symbolism. One year as I studied the Old Testament I became fascinated with the rituals of animal sacrifice performed by ancient Israel. I looked at it in depth to satisfy my fascination but I did not expect it to take my understanding of the Atonement to the next level.

I learnt that the horns on the ark of the covenant symbolized the power of Jehovah and sprinkling the blood of the animal on them suggested forgiveness can only come through His power. My greatest fascination with animal sacrifice, however, became even more personal to me. It was the practice of applying the sacrificial blood of the animal, by the priest, to the right ear, right thumb and right toe of the person that was to be consecrated to God.

These three parts of the body represented hearing the word of God, acting according to it and walking in His paths according to His commandments, that thereby the consecrated person might be sanctified through the power of the Atonement (see Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary, 1:2:387-88 as quoted by the Old Testament Student Manual).

Learning of the significance of applying the sacrificial blood for the purposes of sanctification and consecration had a great impact on me. I incorporated the practice of consecrating myself to God, through thought, word and deed, in my morning prayers.

As I did so, the image of the priest applying the sacrificial blood to my ear, thumb and toe would come into my mind to accompany my words.  This practice of daily consecration was something that strengthened my resolve to obey the command of ‘practicing virtue and holiness before God continually’ (D&C 46:33) and my obedience became more exact and finely tuned.

I contemplated this week on the principle of ‘the sacrificial lamb’ and wondered why a lamb was chosen to represent the Christ. My research for an answer didn’t yield any startling results so I offer my own understanding here.

The Saviour was and is a dutiful Son. Did He not say: “I do always those things that please him”? (John 8:29). Even His power to lay down His life and take it up again was performed out of perfect obedience to the Father who gave Him the commandment so to do (John 10:18).

Every lamb has a shepherd. So does the Lamb of God who is Christ. His Father is the Shepherd who leads and the Son is the lamb who follows. He does this in perfect obedience because He is the perfect Son.

This Lamb has the greatest shepherd of all, the Eternal Father, the God of Heaven, the fountain of all love and righteousness. He is the Shepherd and the Saviour is the Lamb……the sacrificial Lamb of God given by the sacrificing Father for all His children, a worthy Lamb and a mighty Shepherd to follow.....

I watched from heaven

And heard the angels in the field

Sing praises to Your name;

And I sorrowed knowing, like holy water,

Your love would spill on sacrificial altar.

I will follow….

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Sweet Sleep In the Manger Lowly by Greg Collins)