(The Way of the Lamb)

On the Way of the Lamb, one wins a victor’s crown. It was as a lamb that our Saviour conquered, not as the Lord of heaven and earth, “who spoke and it was done, who commanded, and it stood fast.” He sent His disciples out as lambs to overcome a world which knew Him not but was bitterly opposed to Him—and they conquered it! When Jacob was brought down to the dust and was overcome, he conquered and became an Israel. To be weak is not the same as to stumble and to fall, but it is rather to be helpless and without defence, to be nothing in oneself. Then there is room for the power of God. In 1 Corinthians 1:25 Paul says that “the weakness of God is stronger than men.” Here weakness is attributed to God. “When I am overcome, He is my helper,” says David. God always takes the part of the weak. There is a holy way in which to be defeated; one can suffer defeat for God’s sake. Mary submitted to her sister, Martha. She remained patient when the latter rebuked her. Hannah submitted to the taunts of Peninnah; she allowed herself to be tormented. Jesus’ whole life, from His first day to the death on the cross, was nothing else than submission, but He endured it for God’s sake. And step by step it brought victory to His side and helped Him. He went from victory to victory; and where He descended to the deepest depths, He reached the most glorious and most perfect victory. With nail-pinioned hands and feet, but with a heart full of obedience, He conquered sin, and the world, and hell. As the old poem says (“The Lamb’s own nature conquered death’s domain; the Lion’s nature was made weak as a lamb, yet strong to sustain suffering, and abiding on the stem, He remained.”) On Mount Zion where, as the most despised and scorned He suffered defeat, John saw Him stand as the Lord of Victory, and at His side the fruit of His death, a hundred and forty and four thousand in whose foreheads His and the Father’s name are written. If you today will allow yourself to be “overcome” for His sake, you will sooner or later receive the fruits of victory. When Joseph was sent to prison, when Daniel was cast into the lions’ den and his friends condemned to the fiery furnace, they did not appear to be victors, yet such they were. Here God’s weakness was stronger than men, stronger than an empire of a hundred and twenty provinces. And what was revealed in the garden of Gethsemane, before the council of the Jews, before Pilate’s judgment-seat, in the hands of the soldiers, and on the cross? God’s weakness, which is stronger than men, yes, stronger than all the kingdom of death! In Hebrews 11 we are given a vision of the heroes of faith. As is well known the first had to give up his life because his brother hated him, and concerning the last ones we are told: “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword, they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves.” Were these heroes? Yes, in the judgment of God! It is written that they “out of weakness were made strong.” (11:34) What does this mean? Through suffering they became able to bear much suffering; by enduring they were made strong to endure; by being defeated they learned to conquer. Because Jesus for three whole years had endured Judas, He could cry out from the cross, “Father, forgive them.” Because He had experienced being denied by His own, He could bear to be denied by a whole people. Thus did the Lamb become a lion.