![[lamb]](ncd04605.jpg "??kb jpg New Catholic Dictionary illustration of a lamb; please do not write to ask about the image")
An emblem of Our Lord, the victim offered as a sacrifice for our sins.
In the Jewish sacrifices a lamb prefigured the coming Messias.
Saint John the Baptist pointing out the Saviour to the multitude, said: "Behold the Lamb of God."
One of the few Christian symbols dating from the first century is that of the Good Shepherd carrying a lamb on His shoulders with two others by His side, and on a sarcophagus of the 4th century, Christ in a series of Gospel scenes is represented as a lamb.
The lamb is sometimes portrayed standing bearing a cross or banner, or lying as if slain, on a book closed with seven seals, as described by Saint John in the Apocalypse.
It is also a general symbol of modesty and innocence, and hence an emblem of the virgin-martyr Saint Agnes, whose name according to some means "lamb-like"; of Saint John Baptist, it typifies sacrifice without blemish.
In Christian art the lamb is a symbol of
New Catholic Dictionary
