The Messiah Simeon Waited For

Day 33, The Silent Lamb

Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.

I could probably write several more posts about Christ as the lamb. I could talk more about what that meant to Simeon and to us, but this will be my last post on this theme.

To end well, I will rely on the verse above from my favorite prophecy about Jesus: Chapters 52 and 53 of Isaiah.

I wouldn’t call it my favorite because of its poetry or its images, but rather because it fits, so obviously, what our Lord did during his last days and moments before the sacrifice.

Why does it call him a sheep before its shearers? Or a lamb to the slaughter?

A sheep is taught to trust his shearers. He needs regular shearing or his coat will grow tangled and eventually cause him health issues. Like a poodle’s fur, sheep wool continues to grow. It does not stay trim or reach a maximum length on its own. So the sheep needs those who tend it and take care of it. He puts his entire situation into the hands that control the shears. Likewise, Christ trusted His Father. He did not turn himself over to Jewish or Roman authorities, but over to the one who had control of the situation. So he quietly and calmly followed the purpose of why he had been born. Yes, he agonized in Gethsemane about the pain and suffering he would face. I can’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t. But once that was settled, he put himself into the Father’s hands.

A lamb in the Hebrew culture was born for slaughter. Some lived longer if they were needed for wool or breeding or milk, but most lambs had one purpose and one purpose only. They would die as a sacrifice for sins. So, too, was this Jesus’ whole reason for coming to Earth. He needed to remove Adam’s curse and make a way for people to be right with God.

Earlier in this chapter, we too are called sheep. But we are not silent and trusting as Jesus followed God. Nor are we the perfect lambs born for slaughter. No, we are a mob of wild sheep. Without a shepherd, we simply follow the closest sheep to us or what our nose smells. We go every which way, trying to solve our hunger without reason or thought.

Thankfully, this Good Shepherd did what we could not. He not only paid the price for us, but called us into his herd and led us into good pasture.

A Sixty-Day Countdown to Christmas


More Days

Introduction to The Messiah Simeon Waited For

Holding Jesus

Day 3, A Sketch of Simeon

Simeon Was a Godly Man

Day 5, Simeon's Testimony

Day 6, Prophecies for the Gentiles

Day 7, Blessing to Nations

Day 8, A Holy People

Day 9, Welcoming God's Firstborn

Day 10, The Name of Simeon

Day 11, Staying Alive

Day 12, Following the Spirit

Day 13, Taking Up Jesus

Day 14, God's Slave

Day 15, True Peace

Day 16, Seeing Reality

Day 17, The Intent of the Law

Day 18, For All Peoples

Day 19, Making Mary and Joseph Marvel

Day 20, A Blessing

Day 21, Hinting at the Rest of the Story

Day 22, Mary Will Grieve

Day 23, Making Simeon into Simeon

Day 24, Prophet to the Prophets

Day 25, A Priest Like Melchizedek

Day 26, Destined for Sacrifice

Day 27, Jesus and the Passover Lamb, part 1

Day 28, Jesus and the Passover Lamb, part 2

Day 29, Jesus and the Passover Lamb, Part 3

Day 30, Jesus as the Lamb (con.)

Day 31, Simeon as a Man of Gratitude

Day 32, Sacrificing Lambs in the Old Testament

Day 33, The Silent Lamb

Day 34, The Messiah as Light

Day 35, Jesus the Stumbling Block

Day 36, Jesus as the Rock

Day 37, The Precious Cornerstone

Day 38, The Stone in Zion

Day 39, The Cornerstone and the Gate

Day 40, The Stone of Judgment

Day 41, Into Zion First

Day 42, Restoring the Booth of David

Day 43, Forgotten Stones

Day 44, Blessed to Receive

Day 45, Crown Him with Many Crowns

Day 46, Identifying the Son of God

Day 47, The Best Storyteller Ever

Day 48, In Bethlehem, the City of David

Day 49, Born a King

Day 50, The Living Jesus

Day 51, The Mountain Tree (Part 1)

Day 52, The Mountain Tree (Part 2)

Day 53, The Root of Jesse

Day 54, David's Branch

Day 55, The Cursed Tree

Day 56, Time Fulfilled

Day 58 through 60

Day 57, Born David's King