4th Sunday of Easter – C
May 11, 2025 8:30am
Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton
The Beloved Lamb
There is an old story about two men who were living in the same small town.
The one man was very rich and powerful; the other was very poor and powerless. The rich man owned so many sheep that he lost count of them, but the poor man had only one, tiny lamb.
The poor man’s children loved this little lamb so much that they treated it like a member of the family. They played with it and even brought it to the dinner table to share the little food they had.
Then one day an important visitor came to the rich man’s house for dinner. The rich man wanted to serve a special meal, but he didn’t want to kill any of his own lambs to feed the guest.
So, he had his servants go over to the poor man’s house, take that family’s only lamb, and prepare it for dinner. Now, the prophet Nathan tells this story in the Old Testament.
This story of the beloved lamb could have been one of the images that John had in mind in today’s second reading. Jesus is like the one beloved lamb of that poor family.
Jesus is God’s beloved Son, and he is unjustly put to death. He is the beloved Lamb.
The Sacrificial Lamb
Now besides this, there is a second image that John could have had in mind in the passage from Revelation.
This is the image of the lambs that were sacrificed every day in the Temple. These lambs were seen as sacrifices to atone for sin.
John sees Jesus as something like those sacrificial lambs because he sacrifices himself for our sins. But he is also unlike those lambs because he is the sacrifice that once and for all time brings us reconciliation with God.
The Victorious Lamb
Finally, John clearly has a third image in mind in today’s passage.
This is the victorious Lamb. John describes his vision of a Lamb on a heavenly throne with people from all over the earth giving him honor.
The idea is that Jesus is the Lamb of God who suffered, died, and then rose from the dead. This is why he now receives honor and praise as the victorious Lamb.
The Lamb of God for Us
So, John, in this passage from the Book of Revelation, uses the word Lamb three times.
I suggest that he has these three images in mind about Jesus. Before we receive communion here at Mass, we sing three times: “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”
Let’s remember these three images as we sing these acclamations.
First, the image of the one beloved lamb. Here we praise Jesus as the beloved Son and Lamb of God.
And we can also recall that we ourselves are beloved. Each of us is a beloved daughter or son of God.
Then second, the image of the sacrificial lamb. Here we praise Jesus for the sacrifice of himself for us.
And we can also recall that we are to be sacrificial. Our sacrifice is probably in our everyday life as we let go of some preferences or comforts for the well-being of family or others.
And finally, the image of the victorious Lamb in heaven. Here we praise Jesus who has risen and returned to the Father.
And we can also recall that we too have the promise and hope of heaven. That victory over death will be ours through the beloved, the sacrificial, and the victorious Lamb – who is Jesus.
