Much
of
the book of Revelation is confusing. However, some things are not
only clear,
but critical to our understanding of God’s message.
In
chapter five, John sees a vision of the throne room of heaven in
which a mighty
angel appears and asks, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open
the scroll?”
(verse 2). The scroll
contains the
message of God. It needs
to be
heard. Unfortunately,
though they search
heaven and earth, no one can do the job (verse 3).
Then,
something changes. John is
told that, “The
Lion of the tribe of Judah… has triumphed.
He is able to open the scroll” (verse 5). This lion represents Jesus
and, when you
think about it, that makes perfect sense.
Lions are fierce, strong and powerful!
When John wants to assure the Christians that Jesus is in
charge and can
handle anything, he compares him to the “King of the jungle”. We
need to know that the lion exists.
However,
the next verses bring a surprise.
“Then
I saw a lamb, looking as if it had been slaughtered… he came and
took the
scroll” (verses 6-7). The
picture of
Jesus changes from a fierce lion, to a lamb.
Lambs are soft, cuddly and are about as threatening as a
soap bubble,
but, this, too, is a well-known image. The
first time that John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, “Behold, the
lamb of God
who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). God’s people knew what the
lamb represented. They had
sacrificed millions of them over the
years to deal with their sins.
Here
is
the point: We need to know
that the lion
exists. We need to
understand that Jesus
is strong, powerful and in charge.
He
has all authority in heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18). However, it is great to know
that Jesus
wields that power like a lamb. He
is
non-threatening, kind and gracious.
In
fact, he even sacrificed himself so that we could live.
The
lion has the power. The
lamb gives us
access to that power. When
you put both
of those together, you have the proper picture and a message worth
sharing.
“Let
us
then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we
may receive
mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews
4:16).
Comments