In the joyful iconography of Easter, three small animals are included: the rabbit, the chick and the lamb. But while the rabbit and the chick remain on the bright side, symbolizing the perpetual renewal of life, the lamb carries a different meaning. Its symbolism, rooted in deep tradition, embraces both light and darkness, life and its end. Even the most innocent image of a lamb, like the one on this Easter stamp by Croatian Post, reminds us of the unfairness of its short life and its innocence that makes up for the wrongs of others. As if, since the dawn of history, the lamb has always been the “sacrificial lamb”.
When the stern Old Testament Yahweh saved the chosen people from Egyptian slavery, He demanded that the doorframes of their houses be marked with the blood of the lamb they had just eaten for Passover, so that “we” could be distinguished from “them” and spared from His terrible vengeance. What was required was the blood of an animal vital to human survival – the finest food, worthy of a feast. Not a sheep, which had already lived part of its life, nor a ram, which at least bore horns as a sign of possible resistance. But precisely the blood of a lamb: by asking for a lamb, Yahweh knew exactly what He was asking for – to have his chosen people pledge their future.
That Old Testament lamb is a prefiguration of what will happen in the New Testament, when Christ, without guilt, willingly submits to the unjust human court, suffering and death. When John the Baptist sees Christ, he calls him the Lamb of God, who will take away the sins of the world. Christ, sent from another dimension into the human realm, came to distinguish light from darkness, to connect causes and effects, and to show the possible path to the Father’s house from which He came. And to testify that life has no end. In every Eucharistic celebration, Christ is invoked as the Lamb of God, and the elements of His sacrifice are renewed. Each of these renewals is a promise of Easter.
The little lamb on the green grass has no idea of the symbolism it carries. It wears a crown on its head, which once, on another head, was a crown of thorns. Remembering a folk tale, one could say that it is located downstream from the wolf. That wouldn’t save it, if behind it there wasn’t everything that the lamb’s fate had destined for it. This is the image of the lamb already in the Promised Land, among the promised flowers. It has already risen.
Academician Željka Čorak
