The very first Halloween costume my daughter had, when she was just five months-old, was a lamb costume. It was full body, made of faux wool with little patches of tan on the feet to indicate hooves. The headpiece was separate and velcroed under the chin, and it was topped with sweet little lamb’s ears which stood up and were lined with pale pink flannel.

My judgement might be a little biased, but it was probably the single most adorable Halloween costume the world has ever seen. *

It was so cute that all three of the children wore it as their first costume. That might seem like it would be a problem since the boys were only three months-old and two months-old when their first Halloweens rolled around, and the size difference of an infant month can be pretty extreme. Thankfully, both of the boys were little chunks who filled the costume out just fine. Each of them looked just as huggable and squeezable as the last.

In fact, it was one of the boys that I have a very particular memory of in the costume. I’m pretty sure it must have been middle son because when youngest son wore the costume, I would have just gotten three small children dressed for Halloween. I would have been lucky to remember my own name.

Anyway, I was putting him in his car seat, preparing to take him and his big sister somewhere to show them off. As I buckled him in, he wasn’t fussing, but there was a distressed little pucker between his eyebrows. A little uncertainty, a little unease.

And he was grasping his tiny fists together. Infant hands can’t do much, but they can grasp what they come in contact with. So when they come in contact with each other, they hold on tight. That gesture always caused my heart to catch a little.

There he was, dressed as a little lamb, being taken somewhere he hadn’t chosen and didn’t necessarily want to go. Completely harmless, completely helpless.

The scripture just popped into my head.

“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29

I had always known logically how helpless a lamb is. But in my heart, I was also the kid who was scared to go into petting zoos, leery of those tiny hooves and nibbly little mouths. It was seeing my own baby dressed as a lamb that really impressed upon me just how powerless Jesus made himself.

When he was seized by angry men, he didn’t utter a harsh word. When he was accused and spat upon, he didn’t lift a finger. He took the hands that had cleared the temple and held them harmless at his side as he was abused. The power of all creation was grasped and held defenseless as he was crucified. He intentionally made himself as helpless as an infant.

He did all of that for us.

I know it’s probably a little surprising to suddenly find an allegory of Jesus’ sacrifice in the middle of a story about adorable Halloween costumes. Trust me, I was just as surprised as you are.

God just works that way sometimes.

* Full disclosure: I did not make the adorable lamb costume. It was made by a family friend who had actual sewing ability. My costuming skills ran more to hot glue guns. But I adored every costume my children ever let me force them into.