A Jewish boy learns the real meaning of Passover

Abner, the shepherd, smiled as he handed little Joseph the tiny lamb which was only a few hours old. For many days little Joseph had been caring for the lamb’s mommy – a ewe – waiting for this special birthday. It was the first newborn lamb little Joseph had ever seen, & his eyes shone with pride as he took the tiny lamb tenderly in his arms.

Later little Joseph wrapped his warm coat around himself & was ready to fall asleep when suddenly a light blinded him.

Fear gripped him. Then he heard the most beautiful music: “Glory to God in the highest, & on earth peace, good will toward men.” Then the shepherd said, “Let us now go to Bethlehem to see this thing that the Lord has made known to us.” “What are we going to do with the little baby lamb?” little Joseph asked.

Abner just smiled, gently lifted up the little lamb & draped it around his neck like a fur stole. Off they went. As they came to Bethlehem, Abner asked, “Little Joseph, would you like to carry the little lamb for awhile?”

“Oh, yes. Please may I?” Little Joseph gently took the little lamb. But instead of draping it around his neck as Abner had done, he put it in his arms, carrying it as he would a baby brother.

As they came to the place, little Joseph talked to the little lamb. “Look very carefully,” he said. “This is a wonderful night & that is a King – or, at least, He is supposed to be a King. I wonder if I will ever understand what all this means.”

Little Joseph watched the lamb grow & grow. Soon it was too heavy for even a strong boy like little Joseph to lift. Little Joseph’s father, grandfather & three of his uncles came to the field one day & looked over the nearly full-grown lamb. They all agreed “that is the one for the Passover, without a spot or blemish.

“But not my special little lamb!” Joseph cried. “Yes, my son,” answered Joseph’s father. “This lamb is special. For God’s Passover we must have the very best.”

That night Joseph listened to the Seder. But he was very sad. He did not eat. Parts of the Exodus story were retold including that the last plague in Egypt meant death to the first-born male. But God told the children of Israel to place the blood of the lamb on each side of & above the door so that when the death angel saw the blood of the lamb, he would pass over the house.

Little Joseph had always loved this remembrance, & the whole Seder service. But this year he ran out, crying in his confusion, “Oh, God, why my lamb?”

Joseph grew, & one day, took over the family because he was the eldest son. His business was more successful than anyone could imagine. God blessed him in many ways.

Then one day Joseph went with some friends of the Chief Priest & King Herod in the wilderness to hear a wild-man preacher called “John the Baptizer.”

That day there was a stillness at the Jorden River. Then John cried out with a piercing voice, “Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.”

Lamb of God! What did this mean? Joseph’s mind wandered back to that favorite little lamb he had as a boy.

He returned to his work & in the quietness of the next Sabbath’s worship, he still was deeply puzzled over the question: just what did the “Lamb of God” mean?

As the years passed, Joseph became a leader in the synagogue & took his rightful place like his father, as a ruler in the synagogue. His fame spread far & wide as Joseph of Ramah, near Bethlehem. The Greek equvalent of Ramah is Arimathea.

One day, Joseph of Arimathea met Jesus of Nazareth. Joseph asked Him if they could talk alone. He asked several very personal questions of this “preacher” rabbi.

“Were you born in Galilee?”

“No, In Bethlehem.”

“That is strange. Did angels sing when you were born? Were you born in a cave like a barn with animals all around?”

Jesus smiled. “You will have to ask my mother those questions.” It seemed to make sense. So Joseph sought out Mary & after asking her the same questions, Joseph cried, “I was there.”

Then he told the story of his little lamb born that night which became the Passover lamb. As he told it, Mary grimaced as if she felt a stab of pain. Quietly she said, “God was at work again, but what next?”

We know what actually happened next. Jesus was crucified & became “the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.” Following the crucifixion, Joseph spoke to the Roman ruler named Pilate: “I am Joseph of Arimathea. May I care for the body?” “your request is granted.”

Joseph & his men quickly removed the body from the cross because nightful was approaching when the Sabbath would begin. They dressed the body for burial & Joseph insisted on placing it in the tomb himself.

As he carried Jesus’ limp body in his arms, his thought raced back to Bethlehem & to the little lamb he cradled in his arms the night he heard the angels sing. Again he cried out, “Why, God, why?”

Joseph was too overcome with grief to seal the tomb, so his men did it for him by rolling a huge stone in front of the door. They left just as Roman guards arrived to see that no one tried to steal the body.

That night Joseph had trouble sleeping. When he did finally doze off, God spoke to him in a dream & God promised him his question would soon be answered.

Joseph was awakened early on the first day of the week by on of his most trusted men beating on his door. “Come quickly,” the man shouted. “Your tomb is empty, & the Roman soldiers guarding it have run away.”

Joseph ran to the tomb. When he reached it he went inside. A man in shining apparel told him, “Jesus isn’t here. He has risen on the third day as He said He would.”

Risen! Joseph thought a minute. Then, an understanding of what had taken place flooded his understanding in the same way the light flooded that hillside near Bethlehem the night Jesus was born.

Risen! Suddenly he understood why the lamb was sacrificed in Egypt & why Jesus, the Lamb of God, was sacrificed, too.

Then, standing just outside the empty tomb, Joseph thrust both arms in the air & proclaimed (he may have been the first ever to make this proclamation): “Jesus Christ, my Passover Lamb, sacrificed for the sin of the world. My risen Messiah. He lives for ever & ever.”

Source: Donald K. Theobald, pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Harrison, N.Y.