Abel dedicated his work as a shepherd to God and offered a blood sacrifice on his altar. God respected Abel and his offering. This early glimpse of our Lord is clear and significant. Like dawn's first light hinting at the forthcoming sun, Abel shows us the greater reality of the coming Christ. Abel, both shepherd and priest, foreshadows Jesus, who offers a sacrifice to which God always responds.

Abel was hated by his brother without cause, just as the Savior was. The worldly man despised the one accepted by God and did not rest until his blood was shed. Abel's death, his blood on the altar, points to Jesus, killed by human hatred while serving as a priest. "The good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." Let us mourn as we see him killed by mankind's hatred, his altar marked with his own blood.

Abel's blood speaks. The Lord told Cain, "Your brother's blood cries to me from the ground." Jesus' blood has a powerful voice, and its message is not vengeance but mercy. It is infinitely precious to stand by the altar of our good Shepherd, to see him bleeding there as the sacrificed priest, and to hear his blood speak peace to all: peace in our hearts, peace between Jew and Gentile, peace between man and God, peace forever for those washed clean. While Abel was the first shepherd in time, we place Jesus first in greatness. Great Shepherd, we bless you with all our hearts for being slain for us.