%PDF-1.7 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R 17 0 R ] /Count 2 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R /F5 12 0 R /F6 14 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 15 0 R /GS2 16 0 R /GS3 19 0 R /GS4 20 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Producer (dompdf 1.0.2 + CPDF) /CreationDate (D:20250820125650+00'00') /ModDate (D:20250820125650+00'00') >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 2009 >> stream xXێ}Gpx<,UuNU(c:4 wSQV,衦9%(5џF5w[^]?3=WW(80dI˖(}]QGe.x3c˻x\%QqR$QYΩ_WWwVJ++yMe]h[\`D<V2c8 ћ?CF2t׉^S_64IS]J?@E V{z[oOOEV^XGE:wn?^A"H(NOsڈRTKdVfrOdPDټ V*()&`DdvE<`罨gt?ՇVrli`;aGKafJ bG%n0jZmU#8;I֏${|%yhnZt:itEܔnt/QR.1t=PK}Bה_9X8>Er@O endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Helvetica /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Times-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F5 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Oblique /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 13 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 14 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F6 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 15 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.3 >> endobj 16 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 0.3 >> endobj 17 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 18 0 R >> endobj 18 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 973 >> stream xUMs6W챝))=n'frK6PGw *<o߾ɒ_7Ӈ3:&iY^Y%k ˓ ?84'nV]wC ʁ#:TP5K`lkf*u%e^FR?XT[U5? |T( >C^z3`Cy}<jCS.bAFP/Ҍ T-9Ha,'Ԡ:סsLθ>1B P1OfyDP R3|pY(bO}KڽO Y8s\e6i2*]EVIH#EGsX0IE$ X'GZk<;X*Ruy6K|N{5܉_Q,=}PF=P''N5GğW-u nZtBovv{4,aeMxUOZ&2Dx Z P[Nl*?(r#iʲdkxݹ%,0X(&-bYsϢ;!'<:xR|gF_S,vw'4re34MֵBڹb6SQɨ> endobj 20 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 1 >> endobj xref 0 21 0000000000 65535 f 0000000009 00000 n 0000000074 00000 n 0000000120 00000 n 0000000401 00000 n 0000000430 00000 n 0000000579 00000 n 0000000682 00000 n 0000002764 00000 n 0000002871 00000 n 0000002979 00000 n 0000003089 00000 n 0000003202 00000 n 0000003318 00000 n 0000003347 00000 n 0000003457 00000 n 0000003516 00000 n 0000003575 00000 n 0000003680 00000 n 0000004726 00000 n 0000004783 00000 n trailer << /Size 21 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R /ID[<31346ae7cbc758dd29f0cd1cf8133ea1><31346ae7cbc758dd29f0cd1cf8133ea1>] >> startxref 4840 %%EOF Behold the Lamb of God | Caring Magazine
Read Caring Magazine Volume 29

Vol. #29

Hope in Action

Read Issue

Latest Impact StoriesView All

Popular Topics

PopularView All

Behold the Lamb of God

March 31, 2009
3 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Listen to this article

by Lisa Bingham –

Francisco de Zurbaran, Agnus Dei c 1635/40–Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain

Last year, my husband and I had the privilege of visiting Spain. We took a day to explore the famous Prado Museum in Madrid and were in awe of the works by Picasso, Dali, Goya, El Greco and other Spanish masters. But when we entered an elegant room filled with amazing wall-sized paintings of Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection and ascension into heaven, it was a small and modestly positioned painting that caught and held my attention: Agnus Dei by Francisco Zurbarán.

I was riveted by the life-likeness of this small animal, singled out, alone, and helpless. Somehow, this painting of an innocent and defenseless lamb prepared for sacrifice brought me to tears as I stood there without a Kleenex in the Prado. Each and every time I have recalled my reaction to this painting or tried to describe it to others, I have again been reduced to silent tears.

Why is it that this unassuming, unadorned creature reaches my soul in a way that no human likeness of Jesus ever has? I cannot say. Perhaps it is that to represent the physical Christ seems nearly impossible to do, arrogant even; it is so personal to the artist. Maybe it’s because I love a really good metaphor—and surely this is the ultimate metaphor. Or perhaps it is because John the Baptist refers to Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” in John 1:29, and the sacrificial aspect of Christ’s death on the cross is made so real when I view this painting that it takes my breath away.

As John recognized Jesus as the Messiah prophesied in the book of Isaiah, the painter, Zurbarán, created a word picture on canvas: “He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). This is what I see in Agnus Dei.

As a young person, I was a bit troubled by Isaiah’s prophetic description of the Savior of mankind. I found it vaguely embarrassing that God’s own Son would stand there before Pilate and say nothing. It seemed weak and passive and everything that was less than attractive in a hero. For me then, (and am I not still sometimes too quick to speak?) it just didn’t make sense not to mount a brilliant case of self-defense, especially when Jesus was so clearly innocent of all wrongdoing.

I now realize that had the Prince of Peace spoken out at that time, none could have withstood his truth. I now know that Jesus chose to be silent, bound and defenseless in that moment, that he chose to follow the will of his father—all the way to Calvary—for you and for me. It is this intentional sacrifice of love that speaks to me so eloquently as I meditate on the painting of Agnus Dei—Lamb of God.

In the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, the sacrifice of Christ is never far from the minds of those worshiping in their sanctuaries, as the suffering Lord is viewed upon the cross at all times. In The Salvation Army and other Protestant churches, we rejoice that the cross is now empty; that once and for all, Jesus rose on the third day, victorious over sin to set us free. And yet, both of these aspects of Christ are equally significant for the believer. We cannot have Easter without Good Friday. Good Friday without Easter would be just another sad day in history. Instead, the Lamb of God became the Risen Lord, and history—yours and mine—was forever changed.

Download this page as a PDF

You May Also Like