Watch the Lamb

By: Wendy Duckworth Vance

As a believer in Yeshua (Jesus), especially one who is not on board the train currently running through the institutional church, these times can be discouraging.  I am not talking about pastors seeming to tickle ears, not stepping on toes, or wholesale ignoring sin within their congregations, creating a choking atmosphere of hypocrisy, of which the institutional church is often accused and guilty. I am not talking about wars or rumors of wars, plagues, famines, and the world outside the body of believers, which is descending deeper into sin, although these are also discouraging.

No, what I am talking about is the seeming turn of the institutional church away from seeking to be Christ-like.  It appears that the institutional church is more concerned with power and control than with serving others and sharing the Gospel—a turn that does not bring glory to God but rather tarnishes His character.   

"Wait. what and how?", you might ask.  Perhaps your feathers are a little ruffled that I would dare to say such a thing. Even so, don't leave just yet; give me a chance to illustrate my point.

Recently, while selecting music for our worship service, I listened to and ultimately selected a song I had not heard in ages. It is called "Watch the Lamb," performed by Ray Boltz.  I had heard it the first back in the 1990s. When I heard it back then, I cried thinking of what my Savior had done and what He had suffered on my behalf. When I heard it this time, I was struck anew by the song's words.  Listening to it now, amidst all the chaos of our current time, has given it new meaning for me.

The song depicts a view of Yeshua's crucifixion from the viewpoint of the man the Romans forced to carry the cross for Yeshua.  In the song, he is bringing his two sons with him to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.  The boys are told to watch the lamb to ensure it does not run away, as this was to be the Passover sacrifice.  As the song progresses and they arrive in Jerusalem, the singer informs us that the atmosphere of the city is markedly different on this Passover.  Rather than joy, there is anger.  In place of worship songs are the cries for the spilling of Yeshua's blood - "Crucify Him!" When Yeshua falls, our singer is selected to help carry the cross.  He tells us that he feels Yeshua's blood on his cheek. Then he looks into His eyes and tells us that he has never seen so much love in any other eyes.  Later, as Yeshua is on the cross and asks God to forgive those who have harmed Him rather than seeking revenge, we see His love for humanity in action.  He was not seeking to bring harm, misery, or destruction upon those who had hurt Him, His enemies. Instead, He asked for mercy and forgiveness.  As the song comes to a close, the singer tells the listener that his sons apologize to him because the lamb ran away in the chaos. They are upset not only because the lamb has run away but also because they do not understand what they have witnessed.  The man turns his sons toward the cross and tells them, "Dear children, watch the Lamb."

Obliviously, the song ending is about Yeshua becoming the ultimate, superior, atoning sacrifice, our Redeemer.  Without a doubt, His death and subsequent resurrection are of paramount importance. As Paul points out in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19, if Christ was not raised, then those of us who are believers hope and believe in vain.  Hearing it now, however, I see another layer of understanding of the phrase "watch the Lamb."  Going deeper than the oblivious message of His atoning sacrifice is seeing Yeshua as our example, not only in His obedience unto death, even a cruel death on the cross, but in the life He led before the event of His death.

Do not misunderstand me; I am by no means diminishing the importance of His death and resurrection, Heaven Forbid.  Rather, I am saying that we should look to His earthly ministry to guide us in how we should live and relate to others.  After all, are we not His representatives on Earth - His hands and feet but what are we promoting in His name?

Well, if we look at those who are in power, claiming that what they are doing is promoting Christ and creating a "Christian" nation, it would seem then that cruelty, debauchery, greed, self-aggrandizement, revenge, power, and control at any cost are the order of the day.  But is this the example that Christ set forth?  Did He tell us to take from the poor to increase the coffers of the rich? Did He say that we should seek wealth and position to demonstrate our blessings?  Did He tell us to use brutal cruelty and intimidation against the sojourner (foreigner) within our borders?  Did He counsel that sick children should be sent away to die because their parents are from another place?  Did He say that we should esteem one race over another, claiming superiority based on skin color?  Did He say to cast those who are sick or have disabilities into outer darkness to die because they "cost too much"? Did He instruct that we seek petty revenge for imagined or even real harm from another? Did He say that we should spread His Word through force at the end of the sword or gun?  Did He tell us to burn books?  Did He ask us to speak hateful words or degrade others with whom we disagree or who are not living following Biblical principles and are not a part of the body of believers?

No, He most certainly did not.  If we examine the accounts of His life in Matthew, Luke, and John, we see that His life and words reflect the complete opposite.  He healed the sick, ate among sinners, and taught that we seek meekness and humility, inviting, not forcing people to take His yoke upon themselves.  In fact, in the garden of Gethsemane, he rebuked the disciple who used his sword to cut off the ear of the solder (see Luke 22:49-51, John 18:10 -15,  and Matthew 26:51-55. He did not promote the mistreatment of those who are foreign-born;, in His parable of the Good Samaritan, He instructed that such individuals are our neighbors, to whom we indeed have a responsibility to show care.  The same applies to people experiencing poverty, those experiencing homelessness, or those who are in prison. In fact, in Matthew 25:31-46, He flatly tells those gathered that whatever we do to those seen as least, we do unto Him whether good or ill. He goes on to say that if we treat individuals who are in need with cruelty and lack of Godly love, such treatment will not go ignored or unpunished.  And yet, it would seem that the institutional church is standing behind and promoting these types of behaviors, encouraging it as the behavior and attitude that should be followed by a believer in Christ.

But lest those of us among the detractors of the faction in power become puffed up in self-righteousness, we too must find ourselves guilty of unChristlike words and behavior.  I find myself guilty of harboring ill feelings and speaking unlovingly towards people within the power structure and their adherents. Though mine is spoken from fear of what is to become of me and people like me as our support systems and civil rights are cruelly torn from us, I stand guilty.  I pray that God will silence the anger and sadness that rage within me.  I pray that He will give me the courage to face what comes, just as my Savior, Yeshua, faced the cross.  And I pray for forgiveness, a spirit of love and peace to overtake me even as the cruelty around me swirls and the foundation of freedom on which I thought I stood crumbles.  I ask that He wipe the tears that are shed from my eyes as I look into the faces of those who once declared love for me and claimed that I was an equal, who now cling to those who look on me and people like me as "life unworthy of life."  

For all of us, whether those within the institutional church or the body of believers in Christ who have pulled away from the institution but not from Christ, we must all  "Watch the Lamb."  For it is not only His death that is of importance for our instruction, but it is in His life and ministry from which we must learn how to live and behave while ensnared in this mortal coil.  We are not to believe only but to do as He would do regardless of all else. Remembering that He did not come as a conqueror but as a servant, being assured that He does not need our assistance to judge or remove those from the coming world who have chosen not to partake.  It is a choice; after all, our task is to share His love, to plant seeds, and to water those seeds; God will handle the rest.