“These sheep are so cute!” Pepe said out loud while looking at the flock in the nearby field. Pepe and his parents were visiting relatives who live in a farm, and as soon as they arrived, he had jumped out and immediately run to see all the animals.

He ran and ran but couldn’t get close to anything—they always ran away. After a while, he decided to sit under a tree and just watch at the sheep. The afternoon was sunny and warm, and the breeze felt pleasantly cool. Suddenly, his eyes felt heavy with fatigue and he was about to fall asleep when he heard a baa-baa next to him.

Pepe turned to the side and saw the most beautiful little lamb he had ever seen! The lamb came closer and sat next to him. Pepe caressed the lamb and said, “What a gentle little animal!” He was so cozy sitting next to the little lamb! Exhaustion finally caught up with him and he fell asleep with the lamb in his arms.

Suddenly, Pepe saw the little lamb tied up to a tree. The lamb’s face showed pain and it was very sad. Pepe also noticed that the rope around his neck was hurting the little one. Then, Pepe saw a big man with a machete in his hand approaching the lamb. As the man stood in front of the lamb, he held the machete up and was ready to bring it down with a blow when Pepe yelled, “Nooooo!!!”

Pepe rolled over and bumped his head on a tree root waking himself up. It all had been a dream. He had falling asleep holding the lamb but it was gone now, he looked all around for the little one but it was nowhere to be seen.

“Here you are Pepe,” his mother showed up with a sigh of relief. “Let’s go to the house, it’s getting late and we’ll be having dinner soon.”

Pepe couldn’t get up. Big tears rolled down his cheeks. He turned to face his mom and told her all about the little lamb that had been next to him and about his awful dream.

“Well,” the mother said, “that’s a sad dream indeed.” Then, she sat beside Pepe on the ground and hugged him.

“You know, for some reason that dream reminds me of the Lamb of God,” Pepe’s mother said thoughtfully.

“The Lamb of God?” Pepe was puzzled.

“Yeah,” she said as she looked into his eyes. “You know that the Lamb of God refers to Jesus, right? Jesus, innocent as a lamb…He was the perfect sacrificial lamb for all of our sins. He is our eternal Savior, He died for us–in our place–bearing all our terrible sins. The Son of God had to die so that we can live. His death was the price for our redemption.”

“Oh, I remember from Old Testament stories how Israelites had to sacrifice a spotless lamb with not defects to clean their sins,” Pepe chimed in.

“That’s right,” his mother said, “they used that lamb’s blood to purify themselves and other things because blood symbolizes life.”

“Hmm,” Pepe looked towards the sky, “Papa God takes sin seriously. But I don’t blame Him, sin is so ugly with its awful smell, texture and color!” Pepe made a disgusted face. “I can’t bear knowing I have it. Poor God, He’s so holy and has to see it, smell it, and feel it in us every day!”

“Well, that’s where Jesus—or the Lamb of God—comes along!” Pepe’s mom’s voice was cheerful. “God the Father sees the purity of Jesus in us if we abide in Jesus, if we follow and obey and love Him. We just have to believe in Jesus as the Son of God, repent of our sins, and make Him our Lord and Savior. Then, Jesus’ blood shed on the cross will completely purify us. Because of that sacrifice, you can say that God the Father sees us as clean as the cleanest sheet you’ve ever seen or smelled.”

“Wow!” Pepe exclaimed with a big smile. After a moment of silence he added, “I bet it was very hard for Papa God to see His son die that way. I remember reading in the Bible how hard it was for Jesus too. Mom, that’s a lot of love! I don’t know if I will ever understand that kind of love!”

“I know son, I don’t know if I will ever understand it either, but I’m grateful for that kind of love and that amazing gift!” Pepe’s mother tenderly caressed his hair. “One thing I want you to always understand, God the Father and Son are completely satisfied with that sacrifice, there’s not another sacrifice to be made…because of it we live under His amazing grace and He adopts us into His family. Also, it’s thanks to the Holy Spirit that we can receive that gift of love, life and family—only the Spirit can make that gift real to us.”

“I agree,” Pepe sigh. “It’s so hard for me to make it real in my heart all by myself!”

The light of the colorful afternoon was fading, and a tiny star showed up in the sky above with its sparkling brilliance. After a long silence, Pepe’s mother added with a wink, “Come on, let’s get to the house…they are all probably looking for us. Besides I’m getting hungry, aren’t you?”

“Yes, very much!” Pepe laughed. As he was getting up from the ground, he saw in the distance on a hill the little lamb that he had held, he was alive and well! Then to Pepe’s surprise, he saw that the lamb was wearing a red-feathered Musketeer’s hat in his head.

“Jesus!” Pepe happily exclaimed.

Related Bible reading:

Isaiah 53:4-12
John 1:29
Revelation 7:17