Friday, May 31, 2019

The Lamb and the Shepherd

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland started his talk "Behold the Lamb of God" by summarizing the story from which that quote was taken. John the Baptist, just before baptizing the Savior, identified him as "the Lamb of God." Elder Holland then went on to explain why that title works so well for Jesus, emphasizing His role as the sacrificial Lamb of God. But there is another reason Christ can be called The Lamb of God, and it's connected to why we can also call Him The Good Shepherd.

Jesus Christ was a perfect follower of His Heavenly Father, which is exactly why we are wisely counseled to follow Him. A good shepherd leads and defends his sheep, and wise sheep follow their shepherd. This analogy gets muddied a bit when we consider the sacrifice of the lamb, but that muddiness is cleared up with an eternal perspective. Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself to pay the price for our sins and to break the bands of death, but that wasn't the end for Him. He was resurrected and now resides in the Celestial Kingdom with His Heavenly Father. Similarly, Christ asks us to sacrifice parts of ourselves (namely, our sins), but we know that doing so will work out well for us in the end. We know that we should follow Christ because we know which path He followed and where it ultimately lead Him. If we want to reach the same destination, our surest path is to follow His.

I've heard it said that good leaders are also good followers. Christ is both. He is the Good Shepherd whom we should follow, and He is the Lamb of God who perfectly followed His Father's commandments. His discipleship provides us with a perfect model for our own. Jesus Christ was a perfect follower of our Heavenly Father, and we, too, can become perfect only by faithfully following Him.

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