Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, August 24, 2025
We were just setting out on our post-breakfast walk, getting up to speed (such as it was), when we passed a neighbor we know only slightly. We know his first name, the house he and his wife live in, his preference of electricians (not the one he noticed we’d hired), and the fact that he has a golden retriever “grand-dog” that he dog-sits and dog-walks once in a while.
On this day he was alone, wearing headphones and a smile as we passed each other and exchanged “Good mornings.” But as we continued on, we heard him call out to us, so we swiveled around and I blurted out, “Were you calling to us?”
“Yes,” he said. And then, gesturing to one of the thirty or so small boulders that rim the perimeter of our neighborhood park, he asked, “Did you ever notice that this rock looks like a lamb lying down?”
We walked back to the rock he indicated and stared at it for a moment, then tried another angle and we saw it. “Yes!” we told him, relieved that we could see what he so obviously saw and appreciated. “Thanks for showing us!”
He smiled and headed home, while we took a couple photos of the lamb. On subsequent walks we’ve discovered that it’s easier to see the lamb at some times of day, in different light, so we’ve now taken many photos, trying to capture the most life-like lamb we can.
Can you see him in my photo above, taken as if we’re standing behind him, and his head is slightly down, with dark eye and then small ear above? Even a small gray tail at the end closest to us.
What makes it most poignant to me is that I see him as a lamb lying on a stone altar. So when I see him, I see Jesus, who chose to be our sacrificial Lamb. His cousin John called out, when he saw Jesus coming toward him, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29b, NKJV)
It reminds me of one of my favorite passages in The Chronicles of Narnia series that C.S. Lewis wrote many years ago. Near the end of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Aslan, the lion who is a Christ-figure, is put to death by wicked creatures as he lies, bound and muzzled, on a stone table.
But because he is a Christ-figure, that is not the end of his story! My retelling would never do it justice, so I recommend you read, or reread, the story for yourself. I did it again today, with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.
Our Bibles are so rich in imagery, with so many word pictures to capture our attention and help us see who Jesus is and what He means to us. Bread of Life, Water of Life, Lily of the Valley, the True Vine, Bright and Morning Star, Light of the World, the Good Shepherd, our Rock, the Resurrection and the Life, the Alpha and Omega, the Door, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
And that’s a partial list! Two more that I love to read and think about describe Jesus as the Lamb of God and the Lion of Judah – even in the same scene:
Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:1-10)
See the Lion? See the Lamb?
One Day we will, and each day brings us one day closer to that Day. Until then, we keep our eyes open, reading our Bibles and reading the world around us, so that by His grace we will meet Him, smile to smile, face to face.