It may seem strange to speak about Christmas with a passage from the book of Revelation. But we see here, perhaps more clearly than anywhere else, the great paradox of God — the power of God displayed in weakness. Let’s look at this passage with an attempt to understand its meaning and implications. The fifth chapter of Revelation opens with John, the author of the book, weeping uncontrollably. There is a scroll with a special and important message from God, but no one could be found who was powerful enough to open it. But then John hears a voice saying to him: “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals” (Revelation 5:5). So we expect to see a great lion appear: the biblical symbol of Christ, the Messiah. Our minds conjure up a huge lion with powerful muscles ripping open the seals with his great claws so that the scroll may be read. But a much different figure appears — not a lion, but a lamb. The very opposite of what we expect. One is powerful and aggressive; the other is weak and passive.
The following verse says, “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne” (Revelation 5:6-7). Suddenly, we understand that the Lion is a Lamb. But this is not only a little lamb; he is also wounded. In fact, it looks as if he had been killed. It was a dead lamb walking. But the power in this meek little lamb makes all of heaven drop to its knees. The noise of the worship of heaven is deafening. All of heaven proclaims that he is worthy to open the scroll, because with his blood he purchased the people of the earth for God. He made them into a kingdom of priests and kings in order that they might serve the living God. The worship of heaven continues as the lamb takes the scroll from the right hand of the One who sat upon the throne. The company of heaven sings the words which inspired Handel to write his glorious Messiah: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:12). Then the Lamb does what no one else in heaven or earth has been able to do — he breaks the seals and opens the scroll which not only reveals what is to come, but sets the events of the last days into motion. The message of Revelation is that the Lamb of God is more powerful than all the forces of evil the world can muster. The armies of the world are helpless against him.
The first lesson that we learn from this scripture is that: God’s power is displayed in weakness. When God wanted to release his power into the world, he sent a baby. The world laughed and scorned God’s gift, as it still does today, but through that baby God released the power of life into the world. The world wanted power, and God sent a weak, little baby. They wanted a king and God sent a Savior. They wanted a lion and God sent a Lamb.
George McDonald put it aptly when he wrote:
They all were looking for a King
to slay their foes, and lift them high;
He came a little baby thing
Who made a woman cry.
The Bible says, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength” (1 Corinthians 1:25). Of course, there is no foolishness or weakness with God, but the way he operates seems like foolishness and weakness to the world, whose values lie in the display of strength and the appearance of wisdom.
The Lord said through the prophet Isaiah, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9). And even though Jesus tried to help people see the truth of this, his disciples did not understand. Right up to the very end they were arguing about who was going to sit at Jesus’ right and left hand when he established his kingdom on earth. I truly believe this is what led Judas to betray Jesus. He saw Jesus as operating from weakness rather than from strength. Jesus said that the power of the kingdom of God was going to come like yeast in the dough, or like the effect of rain upon the earth. It would not be through things which could be seen, but through the unseen working of the power of God. It would be like a gentle rain finding its way into a crack in a superhighway, and then as it freezes it begins to lift and separate several tons of concrete, actually moving the superhighway. Judas, and some of the other zealots among Jesus’ followers wanted a display of power: drawn swords, battle plans, powerful political appointees and inflammatory rhetoric. But Jesus did not live up to their expectations, in fact, his words and work were working against that kind of thinking. And in his disappointment and rage, Judas wanted Jesus out of the way so someone who would lead them in that direction would be free to do so.
The hope of the ancient Jewish world was that God was going to come in power. They just knew that when God showed up he would crush their enemies and turn their kingdoms into dust. They were looking for the Lion of Judah, but instead the Lamb of God appeared in Bethlehem. They wanted a lion and God sent a Lamb. Paul wrote: “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are” (1 Corinthians 1:27-28). God’s power is displayed in weakness.
The second lesson we learn from this scripture is: Our strength is found in our weakness as well. We should take this lesson to heart and understand that if it works for God, it works for us as well. Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children” (Matthew 11:25). Why didn’t he search for the wise and wealthy, the movers and shakers to be the people who would bring his kingdom into prominence? But he came to beggars and sinners. He spent his time among the sick and the lame. He never recruited an army. He never developed a political entourage. There were no political strategies or battle plans. He never lived in a palace. He was born in a stable. He taught about being meek, merciful, peacemaking and purity of heart. He taught us to be like him, for he said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). He said, “But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first” (Matthew 19:30). This is an upside down kingdom, and if we are to be a part of it our values have to be upside down from the values of the present world. If we want to be like Jesus we have to live contrary to the contemporary notions of the culture.
Sometimes I become very discouraged about my imperfections, weaknesses and failures. I agonize over them and say to God, “Why can’t I be a better person. If only you had made me different, and I didn’t have the defects and the other limitations that plague me I could be more useful to you. Why do I have to face all these problems? I don’t like me sometimes God, and I wish you would wave your hand over me and make me perfect.” It is then that I hear him say, “That’s okay, because I wasn’t depending on you anyway. My arm will save even as I work through you. I choose to work through you, but it will be my power at work — not yours.” Then I remember the words of the greatest Christian who ever lived, the apostle Paul. He complained about himself saying, “I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing” (Romans 7:18-19). He also had some kind of physical limitation, or perhaps another kind of problem which he called his “thorn in the flesh.” When he prayed, asking God to take it away, he received this answer from God who said to him: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” When it finally dawned upon Paul that what he saw as limitations were actually opportunities for him to lean upon God and trust him, he stopped praying for God to take them away. In fact, he said, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
That is also the way it was with the other disciples. They sure weren’t much to shout about according to the world’s standards. They were country bumpkins from Galilee, far from the sophisticated big city of Jerusalem. They had bad manners and worse grammar. But when they preached the Word of God with boldness, the people were moved to place their faith in Christ. The Bible says, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). We may not be very impressive in the world’s eyes, but one thing people ought to notice is that we have been with Jesus.
Can God use our weaknesses and failures as much as he uses our strength and success? Of course he can, because he works exactly the opposite of the way of this world. The weaker we are the more we depend on him. And the more we depend on him the stronger we are. If we admit our weakness and come to God for strength, we overcome our weakness. If we hide our weakness and pretend we do not have them, we never experience the power of God in our lives.
If we are to follow the example of Paul and the other spiritual giants of the Bible, we have to be grateful for our weaknesses which keep us at the feet of Jesus, totally dependent on him. This is where the real power is found. Because God’s power is displayed in weakness, our strength is found in weakness. The things that we see as limitations are the things which God is using to purify us and conform us into his likeness. An old monk named Theophan once wrote: “The Lord sometimes leaves in us some defects of character in order that we should learn humility. For without them we would immediately soar above the clouds in our own estimation and would place our throne there. And herein lies perdition.” The reason that we can accept ourselves, and also accept God’s love for us, is because we know that our strength is found in our weakness.
The third thing that we learn from this scripture is: God’s weakness overcomes the world. Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). God overcame the world with a baby. It sure didn’t seem like anything at the time, especially considering the baby’s family and surroundings. If God had gathered us around the manger to show us that baby and said to us, “This is how I am going to change the world,” we might have covered our mouths as a laugh tried to escape. We could never have understood how the world would be saved through him. The odds were too great; the Roman army too strong; the legalistic religious leaders too much in control. There was too much poverty and almost no education. There was so much sin and evil in the world. Most people were lucky just to keep alive. Into this maelstrom Jesus came — not as a lion, but a lamb.
There is an amazing scene in the sixth chapter of the book of Revelation. The sixth seal is opened and there is a great earthquake. The sun turns black and the moon turns blood red. The stars begin to fall and mountains quake and split apart. But all of this is nothing compared to a fear that has gripped them more than any of the disasters occurring on earth. They want to die in order to hide from what they are seeing. They cry out to the mountains and rocks: “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:16-17). Of all the terrors they are experiencing, the wrath of the Lamb exceeds them all. The Lamb has not only opened the seals, he has conquered all the kings of the earth and their armies. No one can stand against him.
Into the turbulence and imbroglio of our current world the Lamb of God comes and says, “Take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). But we look around us and the forces of evil seem so strong. We say to God, “What is going on? Don’t you see that the evil get by with everything they do, and the decent people of the world are the ones who are looked on as the enemies of society? The Bible is treated like pornography. We can’t even have your name in our state motto. We can’t put up a nativity scene on public property without being afraid of a lawsuit. People laugh at the Ten Commandments. We are losing the battle. Why don’t you do something about the evil in this world? ”
And God says, “I have done something about it. I sent a baby.” Then he says, “And by the way, I am also sending you.” Our protest is that we can’t do anything. We don’t have the talent or the resources. We don’t have any prestige or standing in the community. We have more weaknesses than strengths. We say, “What could I do?” And God says, “Let your weaknesses become your strength. Let them keep you on your knees and coming to me for strength. Through your weakness I will show the world the miracle of my strength, because I will use you to accomplish my purposes. Through weakness I will overcome the world.” Just as he used the weaknesses of the early disciples, he can use us, imperfect though we may be. He forgives us and fills us as we place our trust in him. As the Bible says, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4). The secret is depending on God’s strength and not our own. When we do, we will overcome the world.
It was the spring of 1991, and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was finding his authority and leadership challenged on every side. Everything from the Baltic states declaring their independence, to conservatives clamoring for a return to old-line communism, to progressives pushing for more economic reforms, the Soviet Union was on the brink national disaster. As tensions grew, demonstrators planned a massive march on Thursday, March 28, in Moscow. The plan was for 500,000 people to gather and march to show their opposition to Gorbachev’s policies. But the Kremlin banned demonstrations, issued dire warnings against protesters, and promised a massive show of military force if the ban was defied. It was not hard to imagine, since everyone could still remember the peaceful January demonstration in Lithuania that was crushed by Soviet tanks and troops — killing several people. When the day of the march came, 50,000 troops and police crowded Moscow. Yet, 100,000 people ignored the ban and marched anyway. In spite of the military presence and the threats against anyone who participated in the demonstrations, there were no clashes. The courage of these vulnerable people seemed to overpower the military. A British correspondent, broadcasting on shortwave to the BBC, described Gorbachev’s show of force as “a display of strength that showed considerable weakness.”
The very next day Christians in Russia and around the world celebrated Good Friday. Good Friday is the day when Christ voluntarily went to the cross and allowed his own creation to torture and kill him in order to save the world. In contrast to the display of power in Russia which showed weakness, this was a display of weakness that showed great power. It was that act of weakness that overcame the world and redeemed it — changing it forever.
The Bible says, “Everyone born of God overcomes the world” (1 John 5:4-5). If you are one who recognizes your weakness apart from God, then this scripture is talking about you.
“What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).
Rodney J. Buchanan
December 17, 2000
