Becoming Unblemished Lambs For God

The covenant between God and Israel that is codified primarily in Leviticus and Deuteronomy consists of both ethical commands and ritual sacrifice.  The most important sacrifice was the sacrifice of a lamb for the purpose of atonement, or restoring relationship between God and Israel.  When the relationship between Israel and God was broken, it was Israel that was the breaching party.  Consequently, restoring relationship was really about God offering Israel redemption. 

God commands Israel in the Hebrew Bible to only sacrifice animals without blemish, and this is true of the lambs that were sacrificed.  In fact, particular lambs were cultivated with particular care in the hope that they would be suitable for sacrifice.  The task of the shepherd was to ensure that lambs were raised so that they could become the instrument of reconciliation between God and Israel.

As the Lamb of God, Jesus acted as the instrument of God's reconciliation of the whole world.  Similarly, we are described as the sheep of Jesus' sheepfold.  Consequently, God pours His grace upon us so that we can become God's instruments of facilitating the reconciliation and redemption of the world.  God's intent for us is not that we would be protected from harm, but that we would be God's agent in the redemption of the world.  Through the Church, we seek God's sanctifying grace so that we might become unblemished lambs suitable to be God's agents in the world.