The Shepherd is the Lamb

The Lord is my shepherd... the psalmist writes. We know this. Intellectually we know that Jesus is our shepherd. I have knowledge and can answer that he leads me. If asked, I would say "yes, God provides for me."

Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world... the word of the Baptist, preaching about a person of sacrifice. I can answer this too: "Jesus is my Savior." I've heard it while tucked into bed, in Sunday school, from the pulpit. I would say that Jesus has died to take away my sins.

Yet, knowing and experiencing are two different things in the English language. In scripture, it would seem that they are deeply connected. A man knows his wife when they procreate; I'm certain this is more than a recitation of her character. It is one of the most profound experiences of another human being, to be known in this way. Yet now I can "know" what time it is in Munich, I can know how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop, I can know datum or factoid in the blink of an eye by searching for it; and yet, rather than know an experience of the Lord Jesus, I would settle for knowledge of Him.

Jesus is meant to be known in this old fashioned way. The Shepherd, in his great knowledge & wisdom, was made like one of his own sheep, a Lamb to be slain. The Shepherd experienced the human life, in its limited, weak, fragility. If God himself had to experience our life in order to save us, how can we be so certain of the knowledge of salvation without the experience of His Life? He became a lamb for this very reason. Reject any faith that denies the power of the Holy Spirit, reject unexperienced knowledge. Truly seek to know Jesus, and you will find the Shepherd left the 99 others to search for you, in wool much like your very own. The Shepherd is the Lamb. And now you sheep, may you become the Sons of God.