It was a miracle of mother love and sacrifice-the little boy lay sheltered beneath his mother’s lifeless body. Sensing imminent danger, that brave mother had deliberately curved her strong body over and above her child. When the building collapsed, she took the full weight of the crashing stone, and under her protection, her little son was safe. John Masefield, poet laureate of England, wrote:

"Oh, Mother, when I think of thee ‘Tis but a step to Calvary." "Tis but a step"- but a LONG STEP. That dear, little Belgian mother sacrificed her life to save her own flesh and blood--the little one who loved her.

     But friends, God sacrificed His Son not just to save those who loved Him but also to save His enemies-those who hated Him. The Bible says this about the sacrifice He made for sinners:

"He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief...He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for
our iniquities; and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray...He was afflicted... Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter." Isaiah 53:3-8

     Here we find that Jesus was referred to as the Lamb. He has been called the "Lamb" many other times in the Bible: Revelation 13:8 speaks of the

"the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world..."the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb... [saying]‘...Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.’" Revelation 5:12

     Let’s take a look at an inspiring experience of the beloved disciple John: In the fifth chapter of Revelation we have a most intriguing story that happened to him. He tells the story himself! God gave him a vision:

"I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice that I heard was like a trumpet speaking to me, saying, Come up here, and I will
show you things that must take place after this." Revelation 4:1

     Then John saw a throne in heaven with the Father, who sat on the throne, surrounded by angels, twenty-four other thrones on which sat people wearing crowns of gold, and four living creatures with wings.

"Then I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside
and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel
proclaiming, Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?"
Revelation 5:1, 2

     The scroll had a most important message, but no one was able to open it! John was deeply disappointed! In fact, he said,

"No one in heaven or earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or
to look at it. So I wept much, because no one was worthy to open and
read the scroll, or to look at it." (Verses 3, 4.)

     But one of the elders told John not to weep-and that there was someone worthy to open and read the scroll. In fact, this elder told John that

"the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the
scroll and loose its seven seals. And I looked, and behold, in the midst
of the throne and of the four living creatures ... stood a Lamb as
though it had been slain ... Then He came and took the scroll
out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne."
(Verses 5-7)

"Now when He had taken the scroll, ... the twenty-four elders fell down before
the Lamb,...And they sang a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth." (Verses 8-10)

     It was Jesus the Lamb who redeemed all of us, and He has restored us to rulership with the Father. We must travel back to the Garden of Eden to fully appreciate this symbolic way in which the Son of God is presented as the Lamb slain in the Book of Revelation.

     When Adam and Eve sinned, they were separated from God by that sin, and they could no longer eat of the Tree of Life. God had to evict Adam and Eve from their garden home so they wouldn’t continue to eat of the Tree of Life and live on forever. Deprived of the fruit from the Tree of Life, their vitality would gradually diminish until they died.

"So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of Life." Genesis 3:24

     Before God drove them out of the garden, He told them of His plan to save them from their sins. God pronounced judgment on the devil. He said,

"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed, and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." Genesis 3:15

     "Bruise." The Hebrew word is shuph. It means, "to crush." It is evident that to  crush one’s head is far more serious than a bruise to the heel. In fact, to crush one’s head is a fatal blow! The end of the controversy between Christ and Satan is certain--and the victor is Christ! God did something else to remind our first parents of His plan to save them and restore them to the family of God. He instituted the sacrificial system, by which they were to show their faith in the "Lamb" of God (Jesus) who would come and die that they might have eternal life through His sacrifice.

     God has not told us exactly when this sacrificial system was instituted, but we do know that when Adam and Eve found themselves naked, God made clothes of skins to cover them. In the very next chapter of the Bible, we find that Cain and Abel brought sacrifices to the Lord.

"Abel brought a lamb of the first born of his flock and of their fat, and the Lord respected Abel and his offering." Genesis 4:4

     The Bible says that God did not

"respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry." (Verse 5.)

     Abel brought a lamb that was symbolic of the death of the Lamb of God for our sins, but Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground. Cain brought an offering that did not show his faith in the slain Lamb that prefigured the death of the Lamb on his behalf. Hebrews 9:22 says,

"Without the shedding of blood there is no remission."

     When God brought the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, He taught them many lessons by the ceremonies that He instituted in connection with the sanctuary that God had directed Moses to build in the wilderness. The tabernacle was a replica of the true tabernacle pitched in Heaven. One of the ceremonies given to the Jews in connection with these ceremonies was the Passover, which clearly taught the people the truth of the slain Lamb.

     On the 14th day of the first month, the people had been instructed to slay a lamb and put the blood of that lamb on the doorposts of their homes, for it was to be a sign to the Lord they were covered by the blood of the Lamb as that night, the destroying angels visited the homes in Egypt. At every dwelling where there was blood on the doorpost, the destroying angel passed over that home. That is why the ceremony given to the Jewish people to commemorate this event was called the "Passover."

     This ceremony was to be a perpetual reminder that only the blood of the Lamb can deliver us from the destruction that awaits us on this earth. These ceremonies and offerings of animals could not cleanse the person from sin. But their faith in the Lamb who was to come and die, as evidenced by these offerings, could save them from their sins. Paul wrote:

"He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself... For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins."
Hebrews 9:26, and 10:4

     When Jesus came to this earth and went to hear John the Baptist, who was heralding the Messiah, John pointed toward Jesus and said,

"Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." John 1:29

     For all those years the ceremonial system had been pointing forward to the coming of the Messiah-the Lamb of God. Over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament were fulfilled in Jesus’ lifetime! Yet the priests, scholars, Pharisees, and scribes didn’t recognize Jesus! The Bible says:

"He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him." John 1:11

     All these people were supposed to be authorities on the Old Testament. They read the scrolls of the prophets every Sabbath in the synagogues! How could it be they all missed these prophecies? Let’s take a look at just a few prophecies that were overlooked concerning Jesus the Messiah!

     One prophecy in the Book of Daniel pinpoints the time that the Messiah would come and told what would happen when He did come. This prophecy was fulfilled in exact detail! Daniel was studying the Book of Jeremiah one day, and He discovered that Jeremiah had foretold in his book that after years in captivity at Babylon, the Jews were to be set free to return home. Daniel was excited and began to pray that God would do what He had promised--let the Jews go back to Jerusalem. Daniel confessed his sins and the sins of his people and asked God to move on their behalf and set them free. As Daniel was speaking to God in prayer, the angel Gabriel came,

"and he informed me, and talked with me, and said, ‘O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand ... for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision." Daniel 9:22, 23

     Gabriel told Daniel that 70 weeks were determined upon his people. Why?

"For your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression; to make an end of sins; to make reconciliation for iniquity; to bring in everlasting righteousness; seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." Daniel 9:24

     As we look at this 70 weeks, we must ask, "Were they 70 weeks of days or 70 weeks of years?" In Bible prophecy, a prophetic day stands for a literal year! We find in Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6 KJV?

"I have appointed thee each day for a year."

     Gabriel went on with the prophecy:

"Know and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore
and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks \
and sixtytwo weeks." Daniel 9:25, 26

     This prophecy, foretelling the exact time of Christ’s coming and baptism,  provides one of the most decisive evidences that Christ was sent of God, that He was the real Messiah. Now, follow carefully as we do a little math. Seventy weeks in prophetic time would be 490 years. The decree of King Artaxerxes to rebuild Jerusalem was issued in the year 457 B.C. Adding 483 years (69 weeks) from Artaxerxes’ decree brings us to A.D. 27, when Christ came to John the Baptist to be baptized in the Jordan River.

     Now, follow closely: Messiah in Hebrew and Christ in Greek both mean "the Anointed One." When was Jesus anointed? Luke pinpoints the very year!

"Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, ... when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased." Luke 3:1, 21, 22

     Jesus was anointed by the Holy Ghost at His baptism in the Jordan River. Paul states:

"...God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost." Acts 10:38

     Now we’ll do a little more math. Tiberius Caesar began to reign in A.D. 12. Luke said Jesus was baptized in the fifteenth year of Tiberius’ rule, which brings us to A.D. 27, fulfilling the 483-year prophecy to the letter and proving that Jesus was indeed who He claimed to be! The last part of the prophecy stated that the Messiah would die in the middle of the 70th week of this prophecy:

"And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease." Daniel 9:27

     That prophecy was also fulfilled exactly. Jesus died on the cross on the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month in the year A.D. 31. Mark records what took place in the temple at the moment of His death:

"And the veil in the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom."
Mark 15:38

     This indicated that the Israelites no longer needed sacrifices to show their faith in a coming Saviour, for the Messiah, the true sacrificial Lamb, had been slain that day on Calvary! The sacrificial offerings and oblations were to cease. The apostle Paul studied these Old Testament prophecies, and as he gathered evidence from eyewitnesses of the events surrounding the life and death of Christ, he wrote to his young protégé, Timothy, that Christ was more than a mere man. He declared,

"God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into Glory."
1 Timothy 3:16

     This prophecy, united with the time of the Passover feast, predicted the exact hour, day, and year that Christ the Passover Lamb would die. No other person could have fulfilled this time prophecy that pinpointed when the Messiah would come and what He would do to fulfill all of these things. Jesus was crucified at the time when the Passover lamb was slain--three o’clock in the afternoon of the 14th day of the first month in A.D. 31.

     But not just the Time Prophecies of Daniel cause us to know that Christ was the true Lamb of God-the promised Messiah. When Jesus met two disciples on the road to Emmaus on that fateful Sunday night after His resurrection, the Bible says that He took the Bible and gave them a study on the prophecies that had been fulfilled in the last few days connected to His life. He said:

"O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!...And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded
to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." Luke 24:25,27

     Many false christs appeared during the first century claiming to be the Messiah. Let’s look at the evidence that proves He is the Messiah:

His Miraculous Birth  --  Seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah wrote,

"Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall
call his name Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14

     Matthew wrote:

"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit." Matthew 1:18

His Birthplace  --  Centuries before the birth of Christ, the prophet Micah wrote:

"Bethlehem, ... out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel." Micah 5:2

     Matthew wrote:

"...Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea." Matthew 2:1

His Betrayal  --

"Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me." Psalm 41:9

     When Peter asked who was going to betray Him, Jesus answered:

"It is he whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it." John 13:6

The Price Paid to the Traitor  -- 

"So they paid me Thirty Pieces of Silver." Zechariah 11:12

"The one of the twelve — the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you? So they counted out for him thirty silver coins." Matthew 26:14-15

His Beating and Abuse  --

"I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting." Isaiah 50:6

"Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands." Matthew 26:67

They Pierced His Hands and Feet  --

"They pierced my hands and my feet." Psalm 22:16

     The disciple Thomas said of Jesus’ resurrection,

"Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where
the nails were, ... I will not believe it." John 20:25, NIV

He Was Numbered With the Transgressors  --  The prophet Isaiah predicted that in death, the Messiah would be

"numbered with the transgressors." Isaiah 53:12

     Mark, in the New Testament, says,

"And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors." Mark 15:27, 28

They Cast Lots for His Clothing  --  King David told what would happen to the clothing of the Messiah a thousand years before the death of Jesus:

"They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing do they cast lots." Psalm 22:18, Berkley Version

     John, an eyewitness, told what happened:

"Then the soldiers therefore ... took His outer garments and made four parts ... now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. They said ...let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, [to decide] whose it shall be..." John 19:23, 24

His Words on the Cross  -- The Old Testament even foretold some of the words the Messiah would utter in His suffering on the cross:

"My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Psalm 22:1

     Matthew 27:46 says,

"My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?"

     Jesus uttered these words just before His death the ninth hour. Many of the prophecies concerning the Messiah were totally beyond the human control of Jesus. For example, He could not have arranged the place of His birth, the manner of His birth, His betrayal, or the events surrounding His death.

     Yes, Jesus was truly all that He claimed to be-the Messiah! And friend, as our Lord hung upon that cruel cross—His back lacerated from the cruel beatings, His hands and feet driven through with spikes, His head pierced by the thorns, enduring the mockery and jeers of the crowd --

"He could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set Him free."

     But you see, He couldn’t save Himself and us too!

Do you sometimes wonder if anyone really cares about you?

Jesus does!

Long ago, He proved just how much He cares as He poured out His life for you on a lonely hill just outside of Jerusalem! What love! It breaks our proud hearts! He could have called ten-thousand angels-but thank God He did not!

Instead, He died for you and me!

Would you like to lift your right hand right now and say,

"Yes, Jesus, I accept you tonight as my Lord and Savior.

Yes Lord, I believe you died for me.

Yes, Lord, I give my life to you."

Just raise your hand as I pray for you