I was listening to a sermon by Pastor Doug Bachelor the other day in which he mentioned something that, for me, underscores the perfect symmetry of the bible and it all started with a sheep.

Pastor Bachelor said that when you shear a sheep and you lay it on its back it won’t resist, it lays there defenseless and uncomplaining while its captor has his way with him - I’m paraphrasing. When he said that, a light went off in my mind and I had to research this point. I’m a city boy, born and raised in Harlem, NYC and I barely know what it means to shear a sheep. I never seen it done, and I certainly didn’t know how a sheep behaved while being sheared. I remember when I first heard the word shear; I thought it was share… lol.

Anyway, I did know of a scripture that reads: “…He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened not his mouth…” Acts 8:32

Now since I am so farm animal illiterate I decided to take a look at this for myself. Fortunately, in the age of youtube, I didn’t have to travel too far. I found this amazing video with a guy explaining the process of sheep shearing, and amazingly, like Pastor Bachelor said, when placed on his back the sheep doesn’t resist.

Clearly this all lends itself to the character of Christ. When He was in the hands of His enemies He didn’t resist either as Acts 8:32 points out. And then I think of all the sheep that had been sacrificed in the sanctuary, and how they didn’t resist. I’ve never seen a sheep sacrificed but I imagine their sad eyes as they lay still and allow themselves to be sacrificed.

I thought of a pig, how a pig resists every step of the way. Pigs squeal so loudly when they are merely touched by their handlers. I know this because as a child I remember visiting my grandparents in Mississippi and there were piglets on their farm. I remember my sister and me chasing the piglets around, and they were so noisy. Some might say for good reason, I mean who would not go out kicking and screaming when they are about to be slaughtered, especially under false accusations.

Only Christ seems to have such a character. It’s like He’s saying I’m dying for you and I don’t regret my decision; the acceptance that a sheep shows when in the hands of his captor is the acceptance that Christ showed when he was crucified.

Granted there’s a difference between shearing and sacrificing. Shearing is equivalent to a haircut while sacrificing is giving up your life for a cause. What’s important however is the attitude of the sheep while in the hands of his captors. It’s a powerful illustration that is very telling about Christ’s character to see a sheep being sheared. I think everyone should see what that looks like.

I’m affected on many levels after seeing this. On one level, the knowledge of what it means to shear a sheep and how a sheep responds to this process is in itself informative. On another level, it’s emotional because it’s sad to watch a sheep lie defenseless and be sheared, so I can only imagine what sacrificing a sheep must feel like. Remember, you were not sacrificing the sheep to eat it, or to harvest its hide. You were sacrificing it so that it might die in your place for the decisions you made, for wrongs, for your misdeeds and for your life's misappropriations. And the poor sheep had nothing to do with it. That’s not fair. And this leads us to the spiritual level.

Christ, the Son of God, innocent, blameless, sinless and good, took my sins from me and died for me so that I may live eternally. That’s not fair. No animal, no human, and certainly not the Son of God should have had to die for me. But God has set this system in place because it is the only way of escape for me. So while Christ goes silently to my doom, I escape. How incredibly unfair... “How can I pay Him back” is a question that resonates with me on a deeper level now that I understand that He took my sins without protest. He never once lifted His voice in His own defense. He never once lifted His hand in His own defense. He never once moved His feet to flee His captors. He died for me and for you with no other intention in mind. Now who do you love that you would do such a thing for?

In His genius, God didn’t choose an animal that would resist like a pig or fight back like a wolf or dog, or overcome his captors like a lion or flee like a Gazelle. To represent the character of the Son of God a sheep was chosen. Even though we know Christ is described as a Lion and certainly could have overcome his captors at any time. A sheep was chosen because they are docile, lovable, and when in the hands of their enemy they are dumb. That to me is symmetry. My goal in my Christian walk now is to become dumb… like a sheep.