The Lamb … corn of wheat …an uplifted serpent … a hen … the vine … merchantman …

Metaphors are a literary device for affording insights into people or circumstances that might be difficult to appreciate without them. We speak of someone being a “breath of fresh air” and of a person having a “guardian angel.” These and many others are common metaphors that have made their way into our everyday language.

The normal tendency of men is to use metaphors to embellish their image or enhance their reputation. Celebrities and sports stars hype their image by the use of exaggerated metaphors.

Nations take as their emblems animals marked by speed, ferocity, or strength in battle. This reminder highlights the first metaphor concerning the Lord Jesus. No nation has ever taken a lamb as its national symbol. Only the Kingdom of God is represented by a Lamb. Here is an animal that bespeaks meekness, helplessness, and vulnerability. Yet the Lord Jesus has chosen to be referred to as “the Lamb of God.” Of all the sacrificial animals that Israel was instructed to use, only the Lamb will remain eternally as a symbol of the Lord Jesus. True, He is also the Lion, but He was the Lamb first before He was the Lion.

In John 12, when the Greeks sought to see the Lord, He took up the imagery of a corn of wheat. Just a small insignificant seed. He did not employ a towering cedar tree or a mighty oak. Just a small seed that would fall into the ground. The insignificant seed would bear the most significant harvest the world has ever seen.

In speaking to Nicodemus, He likened His own uplifting on the cross to the serpent in the wilderness (John 3). Here was the only creature ever directly cursed by God, yet the Lord likens Himself to a serpent lifted on a pole.

Viewing the city of Jerusalem (Luke 13:34), He mourned over their failure to realize the blessing they had missed. He would long to have gathered them to safety as a hen gathers her brood under her wings (I know you English majors are thinking that this is a simile and not a metaphor), but they resisted His overtures of grace. A hen is not a very awesome animal to behold. Yet the Lord employed it of Himself to connote something of His longing for the city and people.

In addition, the Lord likened Himself to a vine (John 15), a merchantman (Matt 13), a door (John 10), and other common everyday objects. He never vaunted Himself (1 Cor 13:4). He is not described in the Gospels as a great warrior-chief victorious in battle nor as a skillful diplomat brokering peace between foes. He is the meek and lowly One Who came to serve and not to be served. The grace of His meekness is seen in all of His metaphors and similes.

Consider

Think of the contrast in the metaphors and similes that are used of the Lord Jesus in the book of the Revelation.