Behold the Lamb
Revelation 5:1-14
You can download the pdf file here
Revelation 4 and 5 are a vision of the throne-room of Almighty God – we are in the heart of things here: the bridge of the Starship Enterprise, the war rooms under Whitehall, the command centre of the universe. This is where the decisions are made and the fate of nations will be decided.
Chapter 4 is a vision of God Almighty [1] enthroned in heaven. John and his fiends have suffered terribly: as the Roman emperors increasingly expected to be revered as Gods more and more Christians had been publicly denounced by zealous local officials, John may have wondered whether God has lost control of the situation. His vision dramatically confirms that he has not! The Almighty is in the building, he is in the situation room, he has the power to bring the Roman monster to heel.
Chapter 5 takes this further. The Almighty holds in his right hand a seven-sealed scroll – God is not only on the throne: he has a plan, the end of history has already been determined beforehand and the plan is ready to go into action.
The Scroll (1-5)
We know that this document is packed with information (writing on both sides) and we know it is ultra-secret (sealed with seven seals). Read on in John’s vision and you see that this is the plan and purpose of God for the future of the human race.
What kind of plan – and where do we fit in?
Muslims regard the plan of God as fixed and inflexible, we are in its iron grip and nothing we can do or say can possibly influence it. We call that Fatalism – you fit in by letting God get on with it – but that is not how this plan works.
Some Christian thinkers see God as making his plans up as he goes along, he is on a steep learning curve and things change so quickly. Dramatists call this Improvisation – and you fit in by improvising; making up your own lines as you go along, just like God - but that is not how this plan works.
In the Apocalypse John shows us that God has a plan, a goal for the world, history is heading in a planned direction to a planned consummation. But in this plan you and I have a part to play – your prayerfulness is part of God’s plan (8); you are given specific responsibilities in his plan (10); your righteous actions prepare the worldwide church for the end of God’s plan (19:8). Part of God’s plan is an invitation to you to join him in fulfilling his purposes. It is not following a rigid script, nor is it improvisation. It is as though the troupe of actors is being invited to contribute to the script and to help shape up the drama. Like a brilliant playwright, God listens to his team and writes their characters around their unique personalities. In some wonderful way – which is beyond comprehension - God factors our actions and faithfulness into his preparation for the end of the universe and gives us a part to play. I don’t know a fancy name to call that, but I do know that the result is what John saw in the right hand of the Almighty.
This is what it means for you: You are not being invited to watch the story (like a couch potato) you are not even being invited to play a part in the story (like an actor in a movie) you are being invited to help write the story. You are going to leave here in an hour or so..... What will you contribute?
All top secret documents have a distribution list – the Head of MI5, his secretary and the man who finds the file on the 17.30 to Brighton. But who is on the distribution list for this scroll (2)? Who in the universe has earned the right to open this plan and put it into execution? God Almighty will not do it, the mighty angel cannot do it, the scroll stays tight shut and John weeps because the plan of God is stymied, the scroll cannot be opened!
Now you and I know Jesus will do it. We have all peeked at the last page and the answer to the angel’s question may be clear to you. But John’s tears are genuine – the answer is not yet clear to him. Look at (2) here is a mighty five star general in God’s army: he is perfect, powerful, has a nice voice – why can’t he do it? Why should Jesus have the sole right to open this scroll and unleash God’s judgements?
The Lamb (6-7)
One of the elders provides a solution.
The Lion of Judah, the Root of David, he has conquered. He is good enough; only he has earned the right to open the scroll and launch God’s judgements. These are mighty titles, what do they mean?
First of all they are powerful images. Christ is a Lion – CS Lewis picked up this image in his Narnia books, at one point there is a revealing dialogue with the Beavers:
'If there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than me or else just silly.'
'Then he isn't safe?' asked Lucy.
'Safe?' said Mr. Beaver. 'Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.'
A Lion is not safe but it will fight to the death for its children. And Christ is the Root of David – a hint at his royal descent and the kingdom promised to ancient the Israelite king: his kingdom will never end.
Secondly, the person who bears these titles must be a descendant of Judah (who sold his own brother into slavery) and of David (who had a loyal servant killed) – in other words, he must be human.
Jesus emphasised this himself in John 5:24-30, saying that the Father had given him the right to judge “… because he is the Son of Man”. When the time comes the judgements of God will be revealed by one who knows what it is to be human.
But when this person appears to John it is not as a lion or as an ancient king, it is most unusual (6). Imagine seeing a lamb like this on your way home! The Apocalypse contains a sequence of power-portraits of Jesus, chapter one is the first, this is the second.
As though slain – this lamb is gouged with fatal wounds, yet it is alive!
Seven horns – in the Old Testament a horns were symbolic of power and honour, the number 7 always symbolised perfection. The Lamb is perfect in power and honour: omnipotent, all powerful, unstoppable, untamed.
Seven eyes – the Old Testament speaks of the seven eyes of the Lord which range throughout the earth [2] . This Lamb is omniscient; there is no action he does not see, nothing he does not know.
John could not have a higher view of the status of Jesus. Someone once wrote that it would be a great day when the church realised the actual grandeur of the Christ we dimly worship! And worship is what happens next. The Lamb takes the scroll and the elders join with the living creatures to sing a new song.
The New Song (8-10)
We have only partly answered the question, what makes Jesus so special that only he can open the scroll? He is very exalted, but then so is the Father: why can’t the Father just knock the seals off and get things moving, why does it have to be Jesus? When the living creatures and elders begin to worship they tell us outright (9-10):
He is qualified because he was slain and because he purchased men for God. Jesus death was sacrificial – there was a deep purpose to it – and his death was redemptive – the payment of a price for the release of a slave. As the world stands ready for the judgement of God, each one of us deserving his wrath to fall on us, Jesus’ death bought forgiveness. He made God’s mercy available to the whole world (9c).
Jesus is uniquely qualified to release the wrath of God because he has done everything that can be done to enable us to escape that wrath and experience mercy. That is why, Jesus and he alone, is worthy to open the scroll.
Reflect on this for a moment – with your blood you purchased men from God… - this is a very powerful thing to say. Paul picks this thought up in one of his letters (1 Corinthians 6:20) insisting that our bodies belong to God because he paid a high price for us. When I became a Christian a fundamental shift of power and ownership took place in my life – I now belong to Jesus and his will is decisive in my life.
John of Patmos and his friends were in trouble with the authorities for precisely this reason. If you had gone up to a first century citizen of one of the cities he names in chapters 1-3 and asked them this question, “Who is Dominus et Deus [3] ?” they would have said, “Caesar is Lord!” If you had asked a Jewish citizen of the same cities they would have said “Adonai is Lord!” – but they had special permission to say so. If you had asked one of the Christians you would have gotten a mixed response – some of them were compromised, remember? Some would have shuffled their feet a little and said quietly “Caesar is Lord”, others would have declared simply “Jesus is Lord”.
Where do I stand on that issue? Walk up to a modern citizen of the USA or the UK and ask them, “Who is Lord?” and the chances are that they would not have a clue what you mean, and when they get it, if they are honest, they will say, “Oh, that would be me, I am Lord!” What does your life tell the people around you? Does it say, “Jesus is Lord, I am not Lord?”
This is important because the Lamb was slain to purchase you for a purpose. This song mentions this (10).
He has made us into a kingdom – however great our loyalty to whatever tribe and language and people and nation we came from, nothing can be greater than our loyalty to the King – Jesus himself. If Jesus is Lord I will live my life centred on his commandments.
He has made us into a kingdom and priests – what does a priest do? There is a great Latin word for priest, pontifex. It is a compound word – made of two separate words: ponte – a bridge and fiacre – to build something: a pontifex is a bridge builder. That is what a priest does, he or she builds bridges!
Look at the first power-portrait of Jesus in the Apocalypse and you will see that he is clothed as a priest [4] . Jesus is Pontifex Maximus – our great high priest: in his death on the cross he built a bridge between us and heaven – you cross that bridge to find forgiveness and new life. You do something similar – you are pontifex minimus – you build a bridge between Jesus and the world around you. That is your job.
Reign – how do we reign? A long time ago, somewhere on the surface of the earth a man and a woman were created to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and have dominion over all things. They blew it, and this little phrase is one way of summarising the whole message of the Bible… God is determined to reverse the effects of the fall and human disobedience and one day we will inhabit a new earth and we will pick up where Adam and Eve left off!
Meanwhile, we have something to learn about living our lives in growing confidence and victory over sin and its toxic effects upon us – to learn what it is to begin to reign here and now by mastering ourselves.
The Seven Treasures (11-14)
Is it surprising, that praise now spreads outwards from the throne? John describes the whole universe celebrating the glories of Jesus (11). In John’s vision of glory, every time something significant happens the multitudes erupt into praise – they never seem to get bored with doing this.
As this multitude celebrate this moment they home in on seven things about Jesus – seven treasures:
He has the power to achieve his goals and fulfil his dreams.
He has wealth enough to meet any need.
He has the wisdom to solve every problem.
He has the strength to defend his people and keep them safe
He has the honour “Every knee shall bow and every toungue confess that he is Lord
He is full of glory, full of the the burning presence of God, the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him
He is full of praise… or better, blessing – a gift is for you, a blessing is given so that you can pass it on to others.
All his power, all his wealth, all his wisdom, all his strength, all his honour and glory – everything in his possession - is poured out for you to enjoy!
And that is the heart of worship!
[1] Pantokrator – 9 out of 10 occurrences of this word are found in the apocalypse – it is one of John of Patmos’ favourite ideas
[2] Zechariah 4:10
[3] One of Caesars titles, regarded as ridiculous by some monarchs but with deadly seriousness by people like Nero and Domitian
[4] John’s portrait of Jesus in Revelation 1:12-13 corresponds to descriptions of priests clothing in Josephus