SILENCE OF THE LAMB

     It was a silent night when Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  The city was busy with people as they arrived to pay their tax to Caesar, the inn had no vacancies, and suddenly Joseph and Mary arrived, which certainly raised no eyebrows.  No one knew that Joseph was of royal blood, a son of King David no less!  And Joseph's concern was not about himself, but rather for his young wife to deliver a child, who was also a son of King David.
     Even after the birth of Jesus, the only witnesses to this event were Joseph, Mary and a few shepherds; therefore, if they had proclaimed that the Savior had been born, who would have believed their report?  That Messiah would be a baby?
     For the next two years, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus lived a rather silent life, going about their daily affairs as any normal family in all of Israel. 
     Suddenly and unexpectedly, however, an entourage of wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, and they stopped at the headquarters of Herod and posed a question:  "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?"  If you listen to their words carefully, their question sounds more like a statement, rather than a request, as we might say, "Can you give us directions to the house of Jesus?"  Perhaps the wise men believed that everybody knew where Jesus lived.  Everybody did not.  Herod didn't know, the priests didn't know, and neither did any of the king's men, nor any others in all of Jerusalem. 
    After the departure of the wise men, Herod's rage insued:   he issued an order to slaughter all males, two years old and younger, with his desire to kill Jesus.  Joseph, however, being warned of God in a dream of the impending danger, arose from sleeping and took Mary and Jesus out of town, under the cover of darkness, and took refuge in Egypt until the death of Herod; after which the family returned to dwell in Nazareth where Jesus worked as a carpenter and thereby lived in obscurity of his messianic mission.
     When Jesus stood up at age thirty to begin his ministry, one person immediately knew who Jesus was the moment he fixed his eyes upon him.  That was John the Baptist, who declared:  Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.  Later, John would be decapitated for his belief in Jesus.
     For the next three and half years, Jesus taught and preached with a calm voice.  He never ranted or raved, ran or screamed, never needed a microphone, and always at peace as he spoke words that people had never heard before.  Along the way, he also turned water into wine, healed the sick, gave hearing to the deaf, sight to the blind, released 2,000 demons from a man named Legion, fed 5,000 people with a boy's lunch, walked on water, and raised the dead.  When his friend Lazurus died, the Lord did something few people knew about either:  Jesus wept.
     On the cross, however, the silence of the Lamb was broken when he cried with a loud voice:  Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?  Which is:   My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?
      Nailed to a cross, Jesus was suspended between heaven and earth, and, for the next three hours, darkness covered the earth as the Lamb of God took on the sin of the world.
     But after his resurrection, the silence of the Lamb was spoken.  More people have believed in Jesus than any person who has ever lived.  More books, poetry, music and songs have been written about Jesus than any person in human history.  And at this time of the year, more lights are aglow around the world to celebrate the birth of the Lamb of God, even in Bethlehem!