THE LAMB

I was teaching a painting class at a church and used this as a sample to show the students.  It was near Christmas time, and I thought it would be a simple painting for them to paint.  I shared the story of Jesus, symbolic of the Lamb of God.

The first to visit the baby Jesus were shepherds from the sheep fields between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Many believe these shepherds were trained by Rabbis to breed the special sheep used in the Temple sacrifices. When it was time for a sheep to give birth, they took the expectant sheep to a birthing center on the lower floor of a watch tower just outside Bethlehem called the Tower of the Flock or Migdal Eder. When the lamb was born, the shepherds inspected it and wrapped it in strips of cloth to protect it from getting hurt or dirty and laid it in a manger. If it was a perfect lamb, it was destined for the temple sacrifices. When the angel announced Christ’s birth to the shepherds, they knew exactly where to go, the Tower of the Flock where the swaddling cloths and manger were. What a fitting place for the Lamb of God to be born.

Matthew 1:11. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.