The Lamb Slain Outside the City
With no weapons to hand, they armed themselves from the ground; for want of swords, they made do with stones in their right hands, and they took him outside the city and offered him in sacrifice (Acts 7:58). For the old Jerusalem was not a fitting place for this victim. The lamb had to be slain beside the Shepherd’s Lamb, and the soldier had to receive the pledges of victory there, where the King had set up the trophy over all.
But what provision did he take for the journey of his death? Prayer, and the incense that rises from it; and as he put off the flesh, he put on prayer. And what was the prayer? “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59). That is: “Take what is yours; take back the deposit you gave; welcome the pearl you entrusted; what I bear after your image (Genesis 1:26), this I send to you. ‘Receive my spirit’; for no longer into Hades, the place of weeping, do the…”
Greek
ἐπηκολούθουν δόγμασιν. Ὅπλων ἀποροῦντες, ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ὡπλίζοντο· ξίφων οὐ παρόν των, λίθους ταῖς δεξιαῖς ἐσχεδίαζον, καὶ τῆς πόλεως ἔξω λα βόντες ἔθυον. Οὐ γὰρ ἦν Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἡ παλαιὰ τῷ θύματι πρέ πουσα· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν ἀμνὸν ἐχρῆν παρὰ τὸν ἀμνὸν τὸν τοῦ ποιμένος σφάζεσθαι, ἐκεῖ λαμβάνειν τὸν στρατιώτην τὰ τῆς νίκης ἐνέχυρα, ἔνθα τὸ κατὰ πάντων τρόπαιον ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπήξατο. 26 Ἀλλὰ ποῖον ἐλάμβανεν τῆς τελευτῆς ἐφόδιον; Προσευχὴν καὶ τὸ ἐκ ταύτης θυμίαμα· καὶ τὴν σάρκα ἐκδυόμενος τὴν προσευχὴν ἐνεδύετο. Τί δὲ ἦν ἡ προσευχή; «Κύριε Ἰησοῦ, δέξαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου», τουτέστιν· Σὺ λάβε τὸ σόν· ἣν ἔδωκας παραθήκην ἀνάλαβε· ὃν ἐπίστευσας μαργαρίτην ὑπόδεξαι· ὃ κατ' εἰκόνα σὴν ἔχω, τοῦτο πέμπω πρὸς σέ. «∆έξαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου»· οὐκέτι γὰρ εἰς ᾅδου κλαυθμῶνος αἱ