53 ******

One morning as I was driving down the highway near my home, I spied a large semi-truck going by me with a big "53" painted on the side of the big trailer. I sighed, and a flood of memories filled my mind.

The sight brought me back to the time when I was a teenager. My father, like those of many of my friends, was a blue-collar worker. He worked at Swifts, a packing House on the edge of a little river town. Dad was a hard working and a good father.

The particular night I remembered so vividly was the night my father arrived home from work looking greviously tired and very, very sad. I didn't know how to comfort him. What can I do? I thought. It scared me to see my father, who was usually happy, filled with such deep sadness. What happened? I wondered.

My father sat down at the supper table, and we all gathered around. His eyes were solemn but clear. Yet, his face shone. He began to speak, "Today, one of my jobs at Swifts was to do the 'Sheep Kill.' Working in a packing house is always a hard job, but today was the worst day I've ever had to work. Today we slaughtered lambs. As the lambs came down the line, "he paused for a moment trying to contain himself; his eyes filled with tears. "Today the lambs were alive as they hung by their legs on the conveyor belt. It was my job to take the ear of the lamb and hold it steady. Then I gently stuck a sharp, narrow butcher knife into the juggler vein to bleed the lamb. It was tough. Those little lambs never make a cry or sound as they die. Some of the little lambs with pitiful eyes even licked my hand trying to feed as they die."

Our family just sat in silence, tears streaming down their cheeks. "Harry, get our Bible, his father commanded. "Turn to ISAIAH 53 and read it slowly and clearly."

Harry began to read. His mother began to cry, and his sisters, Doris and Oneitha, and his brother, Norm, bowed their heads.

"He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His miouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth...Yet it was the Lord's will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the Lord makes His life a guilt offering, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in His hand. After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life, and be satisfied, by His knowledge of my righteous servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities...for He bore the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors" (Isa 53:7, 10-11, 12).

By now everyone in our family was crying. Later, they prayed with a new understanding of Christ's sacrifice filling their minds. "I'll never forget this supper time," Brotzman writes. "My Dad closed with the words, 'And Jesus is that Lamb,'"

"The significance of the number 53 and what it means to me is much more than the length of that truck. It stands for ISAIAH 53 and my Salvation!"

For God so loved us that He sent His only Son to save us, to pay the price for our sins. Such love, such a sacrifice--for you and for me. Like Harry, the number 53 has new meaning for all of us today....in the whole world.

"For God so loved the world He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (Jihn 3:16).

What a sacrifice! "He was led like a lamb to the slaughter." What a salvation! What a gift from Our Father who loves us!

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Labels: 53 LAMB

  ¶ 7:31 PM