In the season leading up to Christmas, I spent several weeks meditating on different aspects of who God is: the different names He is called by in the Bible, and the different aspects of His nature and character. One of those passages came up again this month, as I was reading daily in the very last book of the Bible.
In Revelation chapter five, a disciple called John finds himself in heaven before the throne of God. God is holding a scroll, full of special things that He wants to reveal to us, but no one can be found who is worthy to open the scroll, and John begins to weep.
Then an angel appears and tells him not to cry, because “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” is coming and is able to open the seals on the scroll. I wonder if John was feeling slightly terrified as he turned around and looked behind him to see this Lion. I lived in Africa long enough to know that the lion represents authority, power and strength. Everyone knows how majestic and fierce a lion can be; his sheer size and speed make him the king of the jungle, and no other animal dares to challenge him because they all know that no one can defeat him. John’s knees may have been trembling as he turned around to catch a glimpse of this fearsome beast.
Instead, what he sees is a lamb. And not just any lamb; this tiny little creature looks as if it has been slaughtered. I wonder what thoughts went through John’s mind in those moments. Did he feel confused when he didn’t see the mighty lion he was expecting? Did he think that this vulnerable lamb had been killed by the lion that the angel had spoken of?
But no! Although this lamb has obviously been slain, it isn’t lying helpless on the ground, like a casualty devoured by a predator. It is standing up, it is alive, and it walks across to take the scroll from the One who is sitting on the throne. Everyone that’s nearby falls down on their faces and begins to worship the lamb. And in a fearsome moment of lucidity, it probably dawned on John that the Lion and the Lamb were the same person: that they both represent the person of Jesus.
Could there be any more powerful image of authority and humility wrapped up in the same individual? Kingship and power, servanthood and sacrifice all reside in this same God. This is what makes the angels cry, “Worthy!” - the understanding that Jesus could have defeated His opponents at any time, but instead, he held back His power and allowed people to subject Him to slaughter, to a horrifying and painful death.
Calling Jesus the Lion of Judah is synonymous with saying that He has won the victory: “Behold the Lion… has conquered.” And calling Him the sacrificial lamb speaks to us of the enormous price that He paid to atone for our sins and make that victory ours.
Jesus can be both Lamb and Lion to you today: He can forgive your sins when you need Him to, and He can give you strength, power and victory to live for Him in the sometimes confusing world of the 21st Century.
