Whenever you see a leader or a celebrity in the spotlight many people have prepared for that moment—what the person is wearing, the color of their hair, the setting of their appearance, who is accompanying them and what they will say. That is our world of image and marketing! Everything is packaged for maximum impact.
It bothers me that very few things are just as they seem—as we listen to the debates over the tears of Hilary Clinton, we hear the questions of authenticity and honesty. Was this a carefully planned presentation or a heartfelt plea. How does God do image?
Wouldn’t God want to bring a powerful image, an image that reflects the God who created everything, who saved the nation of Israel from slavery by striking down the Egyptians, the God who conquered armies and created a nation. This is the God who comes as a lamb. “Behold the Lamb of God,” is the announcement of John the Baptist that God is again acting for the sake of the people.
The setting for this “celebrity’s” appearance-a river where John the Baptist has been preparing the way for Him. John has been warning people that he was coming. So I guess you could say that God had has public relations campaign going already. John was told who to watch for with His coming, one that would accompany him – the one on whom the Spirit of God remains.
God is the lamb who does not rule by power but by service, he does not conquer by taking blood but by giving his own, he does not come to scatter the nation but to gather them. The lamb is the image of sacrifice, a creature placed on the altar of the Old Testament people with the prayer that God’s promise of grace and forgiveness, by the shedding of the Lamb’s blood, would be heard by God. This is the lamb, Jesus Christ, who has come into the world for our sake – to die as the perfect sacrifice as God and man, a sacrifice to end all sacrifices.
