Read: Hebrews 9:11-28
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain! (Rev. 5:12)
Many years before Jesus was born, when God’s people were slaves in Egypt, God sent plagues to prepare Pharaoh to release them. The last plague was the death of the firstborn. Although that death was meant for the Egyptians, the people of God themselves could only be spared when each of their households killed a lamb “without blemish” (Exod. 12:5) and painted its blood on their doorposts (v. 7). Afterwards, God’s people continued to remember the dramatic rescue of Passover by repeating the sacrifice of animals.
“But when Christ appeared,” wrote the author of Hebrews (9:11), our Savior appeased God “not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood” (v. 12). For 1,300 years, God’s people had atoned for sin and cleansed themselves before God through a system of animal sacrifices that had to be repeated over and over and over again. Now, Jesus himself “appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (v. 26). Death was defeated once and for all when Christ himself became the spotless lamb who died for our sin.
The angels in heaven say that because Jesus is the Lamb who was slain, he is worthy “to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing” (Rev. 5:12). Which of these can you offer Jesus today? How can you bring him honor and glory in recognition of the sacrifice he made for you?
As you pray, ask God to help you honor him.
About the Author
Sarah Sanderson is the author of The Place We Make: Breaking the Legacy of Legalized Hate. She lives with her husband and their four teenage children in Oregon.
