Joel’s Lamb
An Original, Unpublished
Christmas Story
by Ruth Grant
Joel bent low and sent the smooth, flat, round stone skimming across the pond. He’d been trying all morning to make a stone bounce at least five times across the water.
Now he swung his arm wide and forcefully. He counted as the stone skimmed the pond’s surface “2, 3, 4, 5!” He breathed a happy “Did it!”
Satisfied, he looked to see that his flock of sheep were still in the lower pasture where his father had told him to keep them safely all day.
Today travelers were filling the road bordering the high pasture at the top of the hill. Because of Caesar Augustus’ imperial decree, they were making their way to Bethlehem to be taxed and counted for Caesar’s census. Joel’s father had warned him that among the travelers would be those who would happily steal a lamb for food or to barter for lodging in Bethlehem.
With dismay Joel saw his flock had wandered up the hill and was grazing beside the road. But even as Joel raced up the hill, he saw two men emerge from the flock and rush toward Bethlehem, with the sound of a lamb’s bleating fading in the distance.
“Oh, no!” cried Joel, realizing he was powerless to stop them. Because he had played, he had lost one of the flock! But which one? Not the lamb! No! Not the first-born lamb, that unblemished, spotless one designated as the family’s sacrificial lamb to atone for their sins. Oh! It must not be that lamb!
Feverishly Joel searched through the flock, checking each one and realizing with anguish the lamb was gone. Joel had lost the sacrificial lamb. He had played instead of doing his duty.
The tears were smarting as he waved the flock down the hill to safety in the lower pasture. Then he flung himself down beneath the tree beside the road and cried for shame and guilt. As the guilt welled within him, so did his sorrow, for he had lost the very lamb that could atone for his sin!
Some time passed before the sobs subsided, leaving his face red and tear-stained. With his heart hurting, he knew he would have to report his disgrace and the loss to his father.
Just then a voice behind him requested, “Please, may my wife and I rest awhile on the grass beneath your tree?”
Joel whirled to find a kindly-faced man and his beautiful wife beside him. She looked as if she would have a baby very soon, and Joel momentarily forgot his own troubles to be a host to this couple in need.
As any respectable Jewish boy would have done, he immediately proffered hospitality, such as he had. Seating them on the grassy knoll, with the tree trunk supporting the lady’s back, Joel opened his water bag and found some dates his mother had packed in his lunch.
With gratitude the couple accepted his kindness. Joel introduced himself, and the man replied, “I’m Joseph of Nazareth, and this is my wife, Mary. We go to Bethlehem to be taxed.”
Joel’s eyes widened looking at Mary. “Doesn’t look like it’s the right time for you to be traveling Ma’am.”
“True, Joel. The journey has been long and hard, but the Lord cares for us and He will see that my baby Son and I come to no harm.”
“Your baby son? How d’ya know it will be a boy, Ma’am? My aunt had a baby a while back, and they sure were wanting a son, but they got a girl!”
“Oh, this is a son, Joel. I know that!”
“How can you know a thing like that, Ma’am?”
With a rippling laugh, Mary replied, “Why Joel, an angel told me so!”
And laughing back, Joel said, “That’s a good one! An angel told me! It’s great, Ma’am, that you can laugh and joke when you’re so tired and feeling like, like, you must feel.”
Joel’s comment petered out. Then, laughing, Joel commented, “‘An angel told me.’ That’s a good one!”
“And it’s nice to hear you laughing, Joel. For, if I’m not mistaken, you’ve done quite a bit of crying recently,” was Joseph’s sympathetic comment.
Instantly Joel sobered as the searing memory of his guilt in losing the sacrificial lamb fired his mind. And he poured out the whole story to this couple who seemed so kind and loving.
“Oh, Joel, I’m so sorry!” And then Mary added, “But we have a loving, forgiving God.”
“But it was the sacrificial lamb I lost,” wailed Joel.
“Remember,” said Joseph, “what our great King David wrote in Holy Scripture: ‘The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.’”
And Mary added, “Yes, Joel, God understands, and if you ask His forgiveness, He will not turn you away! Oh, Joel, God is so loving. He might even provide you with another lamb! Why don’t you ask Him for one?”
“Really, Ma’am? Do you think the Lord God really would do that?”
“He is that kind of God, Joel.”
Joseph and Mary rose to leave, thanking Joel again for his hospitality. As they began the journey down the Bethlehem road, Joel called after, “And, Ma’am, I hope the ‘angel’ was right!” Her laughter, and his, filled the breeze.
That night, Joel was back on the hillside. His father, to teach him responsibility, ordered that he must work with the night shepherds, and learn what it meant to be a shepherd that cares for his sheep.
And so it was that Joel was with the shepherds, “keeping watch over their flocks by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
“And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.’
“Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.’
“And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, ‘Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord has made known unto us.’ And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:8-16)
With an intake of surprise upon entering the stable, Joel breathed, “It’s you. Oh, Ma’am, it’s you!”
Mary, whose attention had been completely on her newborn Babe, looked up surprised at seeing Joel. “Joel, why are you here? How did you know to come?”
With his face crinkling with mirth, Joel replied, “Well, you’ll never believe this, Ma’am, but an angel told me!” The music of Mary’s soft laughter filled the stable!
“And, Ma’am, you were right. God has given me a sacrificial lamb! The angel said, ‘Unto you is born this day, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.’ Ma’am, a Savior is one who saves us and that’s what the lamb was for, to save us from our sins! Ma’am, your baby boy, He’s my Savior, Christ the Lord!”
Falling to his knees beside the manger bed, Joel worshipped his Savior. Our loving God had provided THE LAMB!
(Is He Your Savior?)
Ruth Grant, an American, and her British husband, John, have lived in Portland, Oregon, since 1969. Their ministry of evangelism has taken them to four continents. For many years, Ruth was a producer and John a soloist on the British Gospel broadcast “The Hour of Revival.”
Copyright 2001 Ruth Grant
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