The Lamb & The Light

Welcome to Free Life Chapel, where we help you discover and live the free life in Christ. My name is Kati, and I'm so glad that you decided to tune in with us today. If you ever find yourself in the central Florida area, come visit us. We want to see you face to face, but until then, feel free to visit our website, freelifechapel.org, to find out more about what's happening at your church. There's an amazing message in store just for you. I hope you're encouraged. I want to talk to you tonight, just for a couple of minutes, quite honestly, on a subject matter, all completely related to Jesus coming to this earth. What I would guess, what I would say, 98% of Christians do not know about this story. This is going to be, for some of y'all, it's going to be a head scratcher. You're going to go, wait a minute, I'm going to have to Google that thing. Well, you can Google that thing all you want to. It's not in mainstream Christianity as far as teaching goes. It doesn't mean that Christianity is wrong. There's just another layer to the understanding, and we're going to take a look at that tonight. In fact, I would put it this way, looking at this story from a Jewish perspective. How many of you know Jesus was not a Christian? Some of y'all are shocked right now. Oh my God, is this a cult? No, it's not a cult. You're in church, it's okay. Jesus was a Jew, and the New Testament, the Bible, is written by Jewish writers, influenced in a Jewish culture, with a Jewish language, Jewish customs, and history. All of that flavors everything they wrote. There's some things you and I read across that doesn't even register with us. We think, oh, just flowery words. No, no, no, no, no. That word, that phrase, meant something specific, and it opens up a whole new meaning. I don't want to show you something.

Luke chapter 2, verses 9 through 12. I know you've got it memorized, but for those who might have snuck in that you don't have this down yet, we're going to throw it on the screens for you and read this together. Listen to this, and you can read the last line with me, but here's what it says. That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep, and suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. Don't be afraid, he said. I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior, yes, the Messiah, the Lord, has been born today in Bethlehem in the city of David. Read this with me, and you will recognize him by this sign. You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying. Five keys to the announcement about the birth of Jesus and his arrival that you may not know. I want you to listen quick, because we've got to go, Santa's coming. Act like you're not excited. Just act like you're not excited. You're acting way too adult right now, but I know when you get out of here, oh my God, it's okay. I kind of get that way as well. I'm with you. Number one, the first thing that people may not know is, are the guys that are being addressed the shepherds? We think about the shepherds going, oh, bless their heart. These guys out there just working, and they're just getting it done. I get it, but I need you to understand something about these shepherds. These were not regular shepherds. These shepherds were actually Levitical shepherds.

They were in the priesthood, and they had been trained on how to care for a certain select group of sheep. In fact, they were there for the birthing of the brand new baby lambs that would be raised for sacrifice that would take place in Jerusalem. Bethlehem is just outside of Jerusalem, very, very close, and this field that they were in was a shepherd's field specifically for the raising of sacrifices that would happen morning and evening, every day, as well as on Passover. So many, many, many, many lambs had to be born, and what would happen is these priestly shepherds who were trained in how to do this very specifically, they would bring the female sheep into a ritually purified cave for birthing. You have to understand because these lambs were going to be used for a holy purpose of worship and sacrifice to God. They couldn't just be anywhere. They had to make sure that everything was pristine and right, even in the birthing of the lambs to give glory to God. They went the extra mile. So these priestly shepherds, they had to. to be present at the birth of each future sacrifice. A lamb was not just erroneously born and they found it. No, that lamb was born under the care of a priestly shepherd so that that shepherd could inspect the newborn lamb. Micah chapter four, verse eight. This is in the Old Testament. Listen to what it says. And you, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, even the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. What does that mean, Scott? Here's what it means.

Micah was addressing something very specific. He says, O tower of the flock. That's a specific tower and that's a specific flock. He is speaking, he speaks a couple of verses earlier of the Migdal Eder, which literally means the tower that is in Bethlehem. What tower? The tower that the priests would be in as they watched over the field to make sure no wolves came in to eat the lambs. As the place was filled with mothers that were giving birth to lambs, they weren't ready to defend themselves. They're heavy carrying little lambs and so they would get in towers and they would overlook this valley. These priestly shepherds were on guard in that area and Micah is speaking prophetically hundreds of years before we ever get to the birth of Jesus and he says this, you, O tower of the flock, right there, watch, in Bethlehem. In Bethlehem, to you it shall come. Your dominion is coming back. The kingdom authority is coming back in that area, but speaking to the fact, Jesus will be born there. At the tower of the flock, that's the place where Jesus will come. It's very interesting, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they all talk about Jesus being inspected, looked over four days before he is crucified

because everything Jesus did when he was born and came to us, he had to match perfectly the sacrificial lamb that was going to come if he was going to match that for you and I and we see him in this capacity. Number two, the male lambs were inspected by the shepherds for perfection. The lamb, in order to be chosen to be used as sacrificed in order to honor God, it couldn't have a lame leg, it couldn't have a patch of dark wool coming out here. The lamb was inspected, it had to be perfect, no discoloration. In fact, if I can put it the way that the rabbis wrote it, the lamb had to be without spot or blemish in order to be qualified for sacrifice. Kind of reminds you and I of 1 Peter 1, verse 19, which says, rather, the payment that freed you was the precious blood of Christ, the lamb with no defects or imperfections. In other words, Jesus was that lamb. When this writes the lamb with no defects or imperfections, it's literally speaking of he was that lamb in that field with all of those other lambs. He was the sacrificial lamb being born and all the writers used this language to connect him straight to the temple sacrifice. Number three, all the male lambs, when they were born, they had to be bathed in a salt water solution. It was just a natural thing. They were bathed in this solution for their skin's effect,

it was for all kinds of hygiene things, but salt was required for every sacrifice in the temple. In order for a lamb to be sacrificed, it had to be connected to salt. Salt was a part of the covenant connection. Leviticus chapter two, that book that nobody reads, Leviticus chapter two, verse 13, it states this. You are to season with salt every sacrifice of your grain offering. You are never to allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. Read this with me. With all your sacrifices, you must offer salt. Why, what does salt do? Salt purifies and it preserves. It purifies whatever it touches and it preserves. It's interesting, in Matthew five, Jesus told us in his teaching, you are the salt of the earth. You and I, as we live our lives filled with him, wherever we go, we are to be people of salt. that are purifying. The place should be better because you walked in. When you go to work, they ought to be standing and clapping and throwing money at you and just celebrating. I mean, they don't want to be that kind, like they're here. Because you make the place better. Would you just look at the person beside you, just smile at them, because you know they got to be blessed to be sitting beside you right now. They are so blessed to be hanging out with you. Look, you must be God's favorite. You must be God's favorite. We are there to purify, but watch this, and preserve, and to help hold things together. There's something about Christ followers that were to bring a strength and a peace to the place that

preserves and holds it when everything seems to be coming apart. Put a believer, put a Christ follower in there full of peace and hope, and somehow we get through those things. That salt, if I could put it this way, is on our life. That's who we are. Jesus went through this process. Number four, and this is where many of you are going to relate especially, he was wrapped in swaddling cloth. You and I think, oh, that's so precious. I went to Walmart and tried to buy some, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Well, they don't sell it at Walmart. What is swaddling cloth? It's not what you think. Swaddling cloth was actually old priestly garments that had been worn and used in the temple, but now they were retiring those clothes. They got soiled. They got stained in order to put new ones on, and because those garments had been utilized in the worship to God, they didn't just want to throw them away. What do we do with them? They would cut them into strips, and they would use these strips, these long strips, and they would wrap after a lamb from this field was born. They would wash this lamb in salt, and then they would wrap the strips of cloth around that lamb in order to, number one, keep it warm. Number two, it would help to dry the lamb. Number three, that strip, it was made of linen. It was a fabric that would breathe, so it didn't constrict the lamb, but then lambs, when they were little, it would keep them bound so they couldn't get up and walk around because early on, if they broke a leg, then they would be no good for sacrifice, so it brought protection. There was many, many reasons that they would wrap these lambs in these cloths. So number one, they would wrap these lambs in cloths, in strips from priestly garments, and number two, they would use these strips of cloth for wicks to go in the menorah, the candelabra that burns in the Holy of Holies, just outside of it. They used it to bring light. They used it to open it up so they could see because there was no other source of light in there other than the candles burning to do worship before God, and those strips were used as wicks in order to bring light. The two reasons for this cloth. This brings understanding to us, then, when in John chapter 8, verse 12, Jesus, speaking of this directly to this, he says this, John 8, 12, when Jesus

spoke again to the people, he said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. He's laying there as an infant, just born, and he's already wrapped as if he is a wick to light the world. When the shepherds are walking in, these shepherds are not just guys who keep sheep. These shepherds are guys who hang out, but they've been trained in this priestly understanding of everything. When they walk in and they see Jesus, there was like a thousand and one messages running through their head as soon as they laid eyes on him. And by the way, then they also put Jesus, the fifth one, he was found in a manger. A manger. He was laying in, Jesus was laying in one of the birthing caves where, when a lamb was about to give birth, they would take the lamb into this cave that had been ceremonially cleaned, and the lamb would give birth, the mother would give birth to that lamb. The lamb was taken, was inspected. was washed in that salt water and then was wrapped in these strips of cloth and it was laid there for protection. It was young so that no wolf could come and get it so it didn't hurt or damage itself but it was laid there many times in a manger. A manger was not a wooden crib. Sorry, I know I'm just destroying a lot of imagery. It was actually a piece of stone that had been carved out because these were caves. There was rock everywhere in Jerusalem. When you go with us next November to Israel, you can see it for yourself. I will show you what a manger actually is. In fact, there's so much rock that Jesus didn't even refer to trees. He said, if you don't praise me, the very rocks will cry out. This manger was carved out of a rock and what Jesus would have been laid in that which is where the animals were. So understand this, he was placed and prepped for sacrifice just as the lambs would be. Jesus is fulfilling every piece in part of all the imagery that is required in order to get to the place that he could be the sacrifice, the lamb for you and I. When we come and we sing these stories and we talk about the king is here, yes, he is that king. That's what Micah declared, that a king, that authority, that dominion is coming back to Jerusalem but he's going to come through a manger. He's going to come

through this field. He's going to be born like a sacrificial lamb. He's going to be inspected by the priests who were there. He's going to be washed in salt water. It's a part of the covenant. He can't be a sacrifice if salt is not connected. They're going to wrap him in strips of cloth. Yes, they are because the priesthood is wrapped around him and he will be the light of the world. All of these things are coming together. All of this imagery, every one of the shepherds saw it. When they walked in, they knew exactly what they were looking at and they saw Jesus lying in a manger wrapped in old priestly garments that were cut and used to wrap the sacrificial lamb and to light the temple. All of that. They actually saw the Savior. They got it. Who would be both, watch this, the lamb of God and the light of the world. The lamb and the light. Say that with me. The lamb and the light. John chapter 1 verse 29, it says this, look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. There he is. Jesus was walking down the street and John the Baptist is the one who saw him coming and he's the one that proclaimed, there's that lamb. The one that was born in the shepherd's field where the sheep are going to sacrifice. He was born there. He's been through all that. He fit every type and shadow, everything required of an actual lamb to become a part of the sacrificial system. Jesus fulfilled it. Even the animal parts of it to reach and become the sacrifice for you and I. Nothing was left out. So he is the lamb and then he is the light. John chapter 8 verse 12, Jesus said this, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life. You know the interesting thing about a candle is I could blow out every one of these candles up here and just have one left burning and even with just one burning the one that's burning would be destroying the darkness that is around that one candle. It'd be destroying it and then if I took another candle and I put it beside it, the one candle that's burning, if it gave its flame to another candle, the original candle doesn't lose anything. It's still just as strong but it multiplied. It increased and now more darkness is destroyed. Have you noticed that you cannot have enough dark to destroy light? Light always wins.

Somebody shout always. Light always wins. Darkness cannot overcome light. Light always defeats dark. You can flick a bick in the middle of the night and I'll prove it. Promise you that Bic lighter is gonna be brighter than any darkness around. I Know what it is to be walking through some hunting woods early in the morning at four o'clock in the morning I got my backpack on I got my boots on I've got I got a weapon with me I got all that going on and I got this little pin flashlight and I'm walking through the woods I look like Elmer Fudd going out there I'm gonna go get a wabbit and here I go walking out there and I'm looking for my certain tree and When I one of the times I was out there and I'm going like I'm all got you know, I'm a dude I'm a hunter Alpha Mufasa all this stuff, right? And in my and my light went out Now I'm a seven-year-old little girl in the dark and I'm on the ground And I'm trying to find where my truck like I was not a happy camper Because when the lights go out nobody's having fun Everything you thought you knew is gone when the lights go out Direction is gone. I Don't care how good you know the place you were trying to walk through your house in the middle of night thinking you could get Somewhere you don't need to turn the lights on only to catch that one toe You caught that one toe on that and now here you are like who moved that like yeah, I'm just telling you now You're not as good in the dark as you think you are We all need the light What am I telling you? I'm telling you this you need Jesus like I need Jesus like your neighbor needs Jesus We all need Jesus Because without him it's just dark What is it that allows him to be the light? He's also the lamb He's also the lamb It's the fact that he is God incarnate right here with us Paid the price went through everything to legally pay for our sins

Every lamb before Jesus could only cover sin When Jesus came he removed it There's no record of your sin I've got great news for everybody in here that scorecard that other people have about you heaven doesn't have it Heaven has no memory. That's why the Bible says we're sin abounds grace does that much more about? Grace has got you covered This is the good news. We live with So heavens not throwing elbows on you. Heaven's not jacked up with you people might be Your in-laws might be Hey, but but Jesus is not but heaven is not you got a reason to smile You got a reason to breathe and as long as you got this light glowing and now that the Bible tells us now we go And we share that light with other Jesus is the light the Bible to Jesus told us I want you to be salt blocks and flashlights that that's what you do You go out you make people thirsty and then you turn on the light and you show them the way It's the light of Christ in us. He lit my lamp and that's why I'm alive and that light destroys darkness My light might not be very bright and my light might not impress anybody but it's enough to show me the next step He will be a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I don't need to know every step I just need to know the next step There's nothing like knowing that Jesus is shining in our lives and that's why he came folks And that's why he had to go through every piece of part the things written in your Bible are not just erroneously there They're not just flowery All of it is essential and critical from the shepherds who the shepherds were which field it is That the angels went to visit what this will be a sign to you You will find him wrapped in the priestly garments those that are brought right from the temple But that go around the lambs that are going to die that are going to be sacrificed in honor to God But also the same ones that light up God's presence He's gonna be wrapped in both of those and when those Levitical shepherds saw him just the way that they said Realizing he's both the lamb and he is the light and the Son of God. That's why they went back celebrating They've seen a lot of lambs. They've been through a lot of these processes, but they'd never They'd never seen a human boy

wrapped like that Fulfilling that when it was prophesied Hundreds of years before that he would be that and today we celebrate that Aren't you glad that you know the lamb and the light? Isn't that good news that we don't have to walk in the dark? But he shines and Shows us the way and this is why I love doing life with all of you You'll never know how your light blesses me Your smile your story what God has done in you. I want my light to bless you I don't want to be when you walk up with your light. I don't want to be the guy going We got plenty of those folks in our life right you've been around people trying to blow your light out You know what you do with them Back, excuse me while I go back to the 90s talk to the hand, you know Like you get you got a step you got a walk You got it. You got a step Today, we're we're in a room where we're celebrating the light the light of heaven. I want you to do me a favor I want you to stand to your feet if you would And I want to ask you to get your phones out And I want you to yes turn your flashlight on And they're gonna kill the lights in this room just bring them right on down guys, I know they're nervous Just bring them right on down. There you go That's not baby Jesus Oh Come let us adore Him Oh Come let us Adore Him Oh Come let us Adore Him Christ The Lord sing that again Oh

Come let us adore Him Oh Come let us adore Him Oh Come let us adore Him Christ The Lord can you sing we'll give him all the glory sing this We'll give him all the Glow that means I'm gonna live my life to serve him. We'll give him. Come on. Oh Him Oh We Christ The Lord Jesus we honor you tonight we celebrate you For being the lamb that came to pay a price that we owed But you paid the price Thank you for taking our place and not covering our sin But removing it as far as the East is from the West. It's gone. There's no memory of it in heaven Thank you But we also thank you not just for being the lamb but also for being our light That as long as you're alive in us, there's never a lonely day of our life because you're there Your word says you come close to us in our time of need that you're a present help in the time of trouble that you Stick closer than a brother Today God, I'm I'm grateful that you walk through every season of life with us But even those that are with us tonight that this may be a difficult season That they're in a challenging time that you understand and you're there and that you comfort and you bring strength and you bring peace and you Do show us the next step in life that we're not doing this alone Without you, it's total darkness But with you we can see what the next step is and as we stand together we can be like a city on a hill

That cannot be denied that we shine bright for you Help us to be a witness and a light to those around us in our culture what it means To know serve and to love Jesus with all of our heart God, thank you for this time of Coming together and being reminded of the price that your son paid Jesus Thank you for doing all that you did for for matching everything needed for doing everything Necessary to be that lamb the lamb that would take away the sin of the world We love you, we honor you we celebrate you tonight Let your light burn in us and let us light up our world so that others will see you in us We worship you in this night in Jesus name Amen. I told you the message would encourage you for more encouraging messages Feel free to visit our website freelifechapel.org until then. I hope You have an amazing day.