The Lamb is the Hero 31/01/2024

Photo courtesy of Pinterest.

Today's generation, like the previous generation and all the way back to the first century and even further, has been looking for a hero - a champion. In chapter 4 of Revelation, John, the writer, is in great distress. He was looking for someone to make sense of history. He wanted a champion to intervene and sort out the mess of the world in his day. Throughout history, there has been a tendency to look for strong 'men' to deliver us from the mess that humanity is making. In 1789, a revolution broke out in France which caused great excitement but also great consternation. It resulted in violence and bloodshed. It degenerated into the guillotine and the execution of the French aristocracy and even the French king and queen. From the chaos and confusion emerged Napoleon Bonaparte - the Saviour. He would restore order. He would make sense of the chaos and confusion. Throughout history, there has been a tendency to look for strong men to save us from the crisis we are facing.

But to return to the first century and the Roman Empire with its brutality and oppression. John is in exile on a barren island in a Roman penal colony. He is shown a series of visions and in this chapter he is shown a scroll. He understands that this scroll contains God's future plans and God's purposes in history. But the scroll is sealed and there is no one worthy to open this scroll.

And a hero emerges - there is someone who is able to open this scroll. One of the 24 elders in this vision points to a new figure who has emerged on the scene - this symbol is powerful. The Lion of Judah. John, the writer of this last book of the Bible, is excited. We have someone to make sense of history. The symbolism would be understood by John who had a great knowledge of the Old Testament. Judah was one of the sons of Jacob and the Messiah was to be a descendant of Judah. Jesus Christ was from the tribe of Judah. [See the screenshot from my PowerPoint below].

But in this chapter, there is a juxtaposition. This is a powerful literary and media technique. Film directors use it all the time. We, the audience are expecting one thing and, we are shown something else which we did not expect. In this chapter John is expecting a Lion - the Lion of Judah. The Lion is powerful - the king of the jungle. But John is shown a Lamb - so the Lion and the Lamb are the same person. John knew all about the Lamb. He had directed people to this Lamb.

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

[John 1:29 ESV]

And in Revelation we again see the Lamb of God.

The answer to the world's problems is not the emergence of another Napoleon Bonaparte. You can see the tendency in recent history to look for powerful figures who will stand up and fight. Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump etc. We want supermen according to Nietzsche.

God's answer for the world's problems is the slain lamb - the picture of weakness and gentleness. This picture was offensive to the Romans in the first century. They despised weakness. They admired power and influence and might. The Roman Empire had been built vi et armis - by power and weapons. Can I say that weapons are not the answer to the world's problems. The world needs God's Lamb who was brutally crucified on a Roman cross - the symbol of suffering and shame. We are called to declare our allegiance to this symbol of suffering and shame. We are called to place our faith in the shed blood of God's Lamb. He is the Saviour of the world. He is the One who takes away the sin of the world.

This is our first look at a thread which runs through the Book of Revelation. It is the theme of Allegiance to the Lamb. I have become more and more convinced that the last book in the Bible is not a series of riddles for us to try to work out God's timetable for future events. It is first and foremost a call to follow the Son of Man or the Lamb (of course, we are speaking about the same person, the Lord Jesus Christ. The book opens with a vision of the Son of Man and it is striking and memorable (Revelation 1: 12 - 18). In chapter 4, there is a vision of the throne in heaven and the 'throne sitter' or the 'One who sits on the throne' - a circumlocution (long-winded expression) for God the Father. In chapter 5, we have another throne room vision and this time it is the person of Jesus Christ who is the object of heavenly worship. He is portrayed as equal to the Father and fully deserving of worship.

But there are some things about this lamb which are worth noting. The word which is usually used for 'lamb' is amnos which means an adult sheep. This is the word John used in chapter 1 of his gospel when he described Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. In this passage in Revelation, John choses another word, the Greek word arnion which means 'little lamb.' This seems to be a picture of weakness but remember that this lamb has seven horns and seven eyes. So this Lamb is omniscient - all-knowing and all-seeing. It is powerful. Jesus is also the Lion of Judah. It is also a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain. The word translated as 'slain' is associated with sacrificial slaughter. It is not a pretty sight. It speaks of the cross of Calvary. It reminds us of the brutal death which Jesus suffered at the hands of the same Roman army which was still maintaining order in the province of Asia Minor to which the apostle John was penning this prophetic letter.

As the hymn writer says, the cross is the emblem of suffering and shame. There was nothing romantic or aesthetically pleasing about the cross. Crucifixion was a brutal, sadistic form of execution, But we are called to loyalty to a slain Lamb - to the One who died on this shameful cross. It may be despised by the world and associated with shame and reproach, but this the One we are called to follow. The cross may be dismissed as irrelevant and old-fashioned in our postmodern world but the symbol of the Son of God, God's Lamb is the powerful symbol of the One who calls for our loyalty and allegiance.

As we progress in our study of Revelation, we discover that we have a choice of loyalty. Are we going to be loyal to Jesus, who is portrayed as one of the trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Or are we going to be like the mob and follow the dragon or Satan who is also part of the opposing trinity - the dragon, the beast and the false prophet? We also are confronted with a choice of cities - the Holy City where the Lamb is supreme or the world's city which is called Babylon. It is going to be costly to follow Jesus - we will face trouble and tribulation. We will face thlypsis - the Greek word for the pressure we Christians will face living in a postmodern world where its values are increasingly opposed to Christ's values and principles.

Photo by Arleen Wiese on Unsplash