Lambs for the Temple

Jonathan's father had a contract to deliver eight dozen Passover lambs to the Temple in Jerusalem a few days before Passover. Jonathan, now sixteen, and his older brother Benjamin were given the responsibility of bringing these 96 lambs to Jerusalem.

As Jonathan's flock climbed the Jericho Road up to Jerusalem, he pondered these sheep and their wonderful and awful role in redemption. Two weeks from now, each would have been slaughtered, and its blood poured out. Had this been ancient Egypt, each lamb would have been sacrificed for a family so that the Lord might pass over them -- the lamb's life given in exchange for the lives of the family.

Jonathan looked at the white, woolly backs of these yearling lambs as they bobbed up and down on the road to Jerusalem. What a burden for an innocent sheep, to die for a family. His father's lambs would suffice for ninety-six families, but what about the rest? Jonathan's dark eyes were fixed on the road ahead, but his mind was a thousand miles away. Only ninety-six families. Surely there are enough lambs for the others.