The Stone Fountain

It caught my eye as I drove down the narrow road.
It looked out of place in this rural setting.
In fact, I don’t even know how I saw it because the road was so curvy.

It was a stone fountain with a lion’s head perfectly intact.
The fountain had a stone basin to collect the water.
I wondered if the fountain even worked anymore.
The weeds were overgrown around it.

I imagined that at one time, the water came out of the lion’s mouth.
I must have been a lovely addition to the garden.
Yet, it seemed out of place here.
It seemed like it should have been mounted on a wall.

The road winds all the way downhill and ends with a one lane bridge.
One house, in particular, has the road practically at their front door.
That house was the one with the lion head fountain.

How I wish I knew the story of what was once on this property.
Was the water continuously flowing?
The lion appeared to look at any driver that happened to catch a glimpse as they went by.

I never expected to see a lion.

Then I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” Then I saw a Lamb looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne…(Revelation 5:1-6)

John, the apostle, the gospel writer, expected to see a Lion.
Instead, he saw a Lamb.
A Lamb that was slain.

If someone asks him, “What are these wounds on your body?” he will answer, “The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.” (Zechariah 13:6)

Wounds are horrible, in and of themselves.
But wounds given by your friends are devastating!

The Lamb…the slain Lamb.
Jesus.

Jesus received His scars on the cross.
They were still on His body after the resurrection.
He showed His scars to the disciples as they were in the upper room.
The scars were recognizable to them.

Wounds of love.

John expected to see a Lion…but saw a Lamb.
I never expected to see a lion in an overgrown garden.
I am so glad I did.
A reminder of Him.

Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world! (John 1:29)

There was a Lion in a garden.
The Lion whose beads of sweat were drops of blood.
The Lion who told His Father, “…if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)

At that moment, the Lion became a Lamb.
A Lamb that was mounted on a cross.
The Lamb from whom Living Water would continuously flow.

The Lamb in the garden.