“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” John 10:11
“For,” in Greek, means “in place of.” The wolf enters, and the shepherd becomes the lamb the predator wants to eat. This is why Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is also the Lamb of God. It doesn’t mean Jesus is God’s cuddly pet, but that Jesus stands in our place. When the predator prowls and licks his chops with us in view, Jesus rushes into the destroyer’s line of vision. At the cross, Jesus was ravaged in our place. The wage of sin always is death, and if someone doesn’t collect the wage for us, we must. The atonement is Jesus, the lamb of God, being sacrificed on our behalf.
