The Lamb is a sacrifice in the name of humanity

This expression has long been popular in the modern world. Most often it is used with a certain shade of skepticism, ridicule of a man. First of all, this indicates a certain loss of the original meaning of the phrase "lamb of God". True meaning of it today is known to the number of native speakers.

Who is the lamb?

The very sound, the writing of the word speaks of its antiquity, some kind of obsolescence. The very form of this expression evokes associations with the distant past and, of course, sacred texts. So who is this lamb?

Surprisingly, but initially this word did not conceal in itself anything supernatural. The Lamb is simply an obsolete name for a lamb. However, any person more or less familiar with Christian doctrine should ask why the lamb is usually called the son of God.

Appeal to the Old Testament

If you dig a little deeper than the standard interpretation, you can see that the first mention of the lamb within the biblical worldview is found even in the Old Testament and, accordingly, in the Torah. It was the lamb that was brought as a sacred sacrifice to the Lord.

Hence the question arises: "Why exactly is the lamb for the slaughter?" Why not a calf or, for example, a deer? It's all about the nature of this animal. The peculiarity of this herbivore lies in the fact that the lamb completely voluntarily goes to its own death. Unlike other representatives of the fauna, he does not resist his fate at all. Moreover, he even in some ways contributes to it, stretching his neck, as if for the greater convenience of his killer.

The incredible resignation of this animal, such a strange biological feature, and caused associations with absolute obedience, sacrifice of the lamb, strengthening it in the memory of mankind.

The Lamb of the New Testament

Despite this, most often the lamb is not associated with an animal sacrificed. For most, the lamb is the son of God. A person who is far from the biblical picture of the world will find it difficult to understand why the object of worship, the main figure in religion is called lamb.

People more sophisticated will easily draw an analogy between the sacrificial act of Jesus and the Old Testament slaughter. In fact, in the history of Christ, the original plot is almost exactly repeated. Only in this case the victim was much more ambitious, for the much greater sins of mankind.

Like a submissive lamb, Jesus voluntarily ascended to Golgotha, taking upon himself the cross of human imperfections.

The analogy of internal purity is clearly evident. Like a lamb, the Son of God did not have time to know sin, he was completely clean before execution. It is also death in the name of life.

More depth

If one looks more closely at the biblical triad of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one can pay attention to its inner unity. Despite the different names and hypostasis, in fact, all three phenomena are one whole. Thus, ascending to Calvary, Jesus sacrificed not only himself. Simultaneously with him, the other two incarnations of the Lord were sacrificed.

It turns out that the lamb is a much more capacious concept than one could imagine at first glance.

Sacred sacrifice in Jewish culture

Despite the fact that Christianity has drawn a lot from the Torah, there are also significant differences. An example of this phenomenon can serve as an understanding of the lamb. Initially, the values completely coincided, but with the development of religions, they dispersed. Christianity has suffered such a successful image on Jesus, and then on God Himself. In the second case, the properties were transferred to the entire Jewish people, who are destined to atone for the past centuries.

Image in different cultures

Due to the fact that the lamb is a symbol mostly Christian, it is quite obvious that certain cultures have also apprehended it. It should be noted that in various countries this symbol of sacrifice and obedience was adapted in its own version.

Italians and Bulgarians, for example, usually bake a lamb on a spit entirely in honor of the holidays. In Russia, there is another tradition: on Orthodox holidays it is customary to cook pies and gingerbread in the form of lambs. The victim in this case is brought symbolically, and slaughtering the animal for this is absolutely not required.

Lamb in art

It is quite obvious that such a multifaceted, powerful symbol could not but be reflected in art. In addition to numerous references in the literature, this image is often found in painting. It is noteworthy that almost every picture depicting the birth of Christ, there is also a lamb.

If to take special cases, the canvas "Adoration of a lamb" written by Jan van Eyck in 1432 is rather famous. He portrayed a sacred animal and the famous Roerich. In the Prado Museum is stored as an exhibit the picture of Francisco de Zurbaran "The Lamb of God."

So, we have reviewed the state of affairs for today. But we can safely say that in the future the word "lamb" will continue to transform, acquire new meanings, additional shades. At the same time, the lamb is one of the basic, fundamental religious symbols.