A young undergraduate at Cambridge who had never read the Bible before was given a New Testament to read. When he had done so, he commented, ‘It was a bit repetitious at the beginning, but I did enjoy the science-fiction at the end!’ Well, I think most of us would say it’s rather more than that! It’s one of the vivid, but unexpected, pictures of the book of the Revelation that we’re to focus our attention, where we read of “The Lamb.”
The Lord Jesus is the key person in the history of the world. Hundreds of years before He was born into Planet Earth His coming had been predicted as having a great destiny. In the majestic words of Isaiah, ”For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders. And he will be called ‘Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace’” (9:6). But perhaps the most precious name is that announced by John the Baptist when he caught sight of Jesus coming towards him at the River Jordan. He was inspired to exclaim, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
Names in the Scriptures often have a greater significance than nowadays. When we choose a name for a child quite possibly it’s got a family connection, or more probable, because it’s contemporary or fashionable. But in Bible times, names had a deeper and more personal meaning. They would often give a hint of a person’s character, his or her nature, capability and destiny. This is certainly the case in the names given to Jesus, and no more so in the name, “The Lamb of God.”
To get the full splendour and meaning of the name we have to turn to the book of the Revelation. It’s an amazing, if baffling, record of visions seen by the apostle John. It’s been compared to a magnificent sound film. It’s a series of colourful pictures accompanied by sounds, voices and songs. It’s one of these vivid images that we’re to focus our attention on: “The Lamb.” It’s the title which dominates Revelation. The book is a sequence of scenes moving towards the final triumph of “the Lamb” in spite of the forces of violence unleashed against Him and His followers.
Chapter 5 is central to understanding the triumph of good over evil and what it means to God’s creation. Before going further it’s best to summarize what John saw in his vision. The scene is set in heaven, the centrepiece being the dazzling sight of God on His throne. This is the control room of everything that has ever existed, the ultimate authority over all. Around the throne are 24 elders to whom God has delegated authority and 4 living creatures signifying the life of His creation. It’s a picture of personality and life. The God we love isn’t a remote impersonal force, however great. No, He’s the Living God who has revealed Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ.
John then zooms in on the Person sitting on the throne and then focuses on what He’s holding in His right hand. It’s “a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.” John writes: “I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” That’s the big question. In John’s day people used a seal to keep the contents of a document secret until some authoritative person broke the seal. At first it seems as if the angel was going to be disappointed: no-one in heaven or earth was found. The Old Testament prophets had given insights into what the scroll of God’s purposes were but there was no-one worthy to bring God’s judgements while upholding God’s moral reputation. It would take someone with adequate power not only to reveal the events foretold but to execute them as well.
John admits to weeping because there was no qualified candidate. He’s on the verge of despair and we can understand why. John was living in a world of injustice and cruelty. The misery would go on and on if there was no-one to bring it to an end, to bring hope of release and rescue. It was an awful prospect and it would be still the same in the 21st century because human nature hasn’t changed or improved over the years. But there is hope! John was told, “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.” This is God’s plan, foreshadowed in the Old Testament, by which He promised to provide a means of redemption for a sinful world and so achieve the purpose of His creation.
Then something very strange happens. John was told by an elder that he needn’t fear, since there is One who has the right to open the seals of the scroll, and he looks to see who it is. He looks for a Lion but sees a lamb! And what’s more it’s an extraordinary image of a slain Lamb that begins to emerge. He records the vision of the Lamb in detail, and every detail is full of significance. He gives:
THE DESCRIPTION OF THE LAMB
“The Lion of the tribe of Judah” – this title goes back to the blessing that Jacob gave just before he died to his son Judah (Gen 49:9-10). The second part of the title, “the Root of David” comes from Isaiah (11:1), when an ideal king would come from the blood-line of David and usher in an era of peace and rule the world in righteousness. This new era had arrived in the coming of the Messiah.
John naturally expects to see a commanding military figure, a victorious general, but imagine his shock when what he actually sees is “a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain”. How astonishing! Doesn’t it go to prove the authenticity of the Scriptures: a novelist couldn’t have invented such a paradox! What a pitiful sight! The Son of God pictured as a newly killed lamb!
But there’s an even more curious thing about the sight of this Lamb. Although it’s been dragged through death, it is “standing”: it’s now alive and upright! This imagery is impossible in natural life but remember this is a vision. It speaks volumes of Jesus as the Risen Lord. The dramatic scene is located in heaven. When a football player scores a goal, the TV director picks him out and zooms in on him. So in John’s vision the Lamb is the central figure on whom all attention is focused. He’s the key player in the course of history. He’s the one who could, and in fact has, put into effect God’s great plan of redemption.
There’s nothing like this scene from heaven to show us humans, although redeemed, in a true perspective. I read a story about John F Kennedy, the former US President, to demonstrate this. Pierre Salinger, his press secretary used to tell a story against himself. He was travelling with Kennedy when their plane hit some turbulence and briefly it seemed that it might crash. When the aircraft had righted itself, Salinger turned to his boss and asked him if he could imagine what sort of news story it would have been if the plane had gone down. “I can, Pierre,” said Kennedy. “You would have been on all the front pages. But in very small type.” Many people aspire to greatness but very few achieve it, but they are all cut down to size when compared to Jesus Christ. He alone could claim to be the Messiah and go on to prove it.
The Lamb is unique in appearance. John writes, “He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the sevenfold Spirit of God sent out into all the earth.” Seven is the symbolic number for completeness, for perfection. The “seven horns” indicate His irresistible strength and the “seven eyes” His perfect knowledge. The energies of the Holy Spirit have now been released by the risen Christ to accomplish His work on earth.
The image of “the Lamb” spoke of the earthly Christ’s vulnerability in His first advent as a helpless baby, hounded by Herod, persecuted by wicked men, and finally meek and submissive to a sacrificial death. But it’s coupled with the image of “the Lion”, symbol of Him at His Second Advent, all-powerful as the judge of the world. He’s portrayed as having obtained victory through sacrifice. This Description of the Lamb is followed by John telling of:
THE IDENTITY OF THE LAMB
How can we be sure “the Lamb” refers to Jesus? We have only to refer to the well known passages of the Old Testament where they speak of the Passover lamb, the lamb of the burnt offering, the ram of the Day of Atonement, or the lamb of Isaiah 53. They are all anticipations, shadows and types of the nature and life’s work of the coming Messiah and how they dovetail completely with Jesus as “the Lamb of God”. They all have this in common: that atonement and deliverance come through offering the life of the sacrifice to God by the shedding of blood. And that’s what Jesus did on the Cross. He who was slain at Calvary fulfils and supersedes all the Old Testament sacrifices. He is the ultimate sacrifice for sin, bringing complete atonement and liberation.
The Jewish nation had fixed ideas as to the coming Messiah. They had misinterpreted the prophetic passages of the Old Testament to mean that the Messiah would be a great conqueror, freeing them from the shackles of the Roman occupation as “the Lion of Judah”. The apostle John is told to see a Lion but actually sees a Lamb. But they are not two different creatures. The Lion doesn’t eventually become a Lamb or vice versa. He’s not a Lion to some and a Lamb to others. “The Lion” is quite simply “the Lamb”.
When Jesus showed himself to His disciples in the upper room after His resurrection, He confirmed His identity to the doubting disciple Thomas by inviting him to inspect His nail-scarred hands and pierced side. It’s been said that the only man-made thing in heaven will be the marks of His passion on His body. That’s The Identity of the Lamb who came to earth to take away the sins of the world. And now we come to:
THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE LAMB
When we come to the Scriptures we have to leave behind our preconceived theories and let them speak to us afresh. In a surprising and dramatic way, John is being told to re-evaluate his understanding of the Messiah, particularly as it affected his nation’s affairs. He had expected the conquest of evil to take place through a Lion, with a show of military power and strength. Perhaps in his exile in Patmos he had wondered if God was really in control of the world. But through the vision he learns that out of weakness comes victory. It’s through a Lamb and that by a Lamb who had passed through death! This is the way that the almighty God chooses to work. The gospel recognises no other way of achieving the overthrow of evil than the way of the Cross.
John heard in his vision the singing of “a new song” to the praise of Jesus for what He’d accomplished: “With your blood you purchased for God members of every tribe and language and people and nation.” It’s a “new song” because it celebrates the new covenant made by Jesus (Heb 12:24). The life of Jesus on earth was wonderful but it wasn’t His example of living that won victory over evil. It was by the blood that Jesus shed on the Cross at Calvary. It was in His vulnerability as the Lamb that Jesus achieved His victory over Satan. The apostle Paul tells the believers at Corinth that they have been bought at a price and therefore belong to God as their “new owner” (1 Cor 6:19, 20).
If we belong to Christ there’s only one real choice to be made in life and that’s to live and serve Him with unquestioning obedience. The narrow nationalism of Israel is no long valid, for believers are now “all one in Christ Jesus”. The “new song” tells that believers belong to the universal Church of Christ and looks forward to His universal reign. But we aren’t to wait until His Second Coming in glory; His Kingdom is already established in the here and now.
We are called upon “to serve our God” as His faithful servants. We live in a favoured part of the world but increasingly, like many in the first century, we read of Christians being persecuted for their faith, many even unto death. The song looks forward in hope to the day when Christ will reign over all, and the faithful until the end will reign with Him. We look forward to the re-created heaven and earth when the faithful will be delivered from injustice and will reign with the Lord Himself in triumph.
John’s vision is like an impressionistic portrait. It gives us a look behind the scenes at what is going on in heaven to reassure Christians under pressure. Yes, God is in control. Yes, Christ is the Saviour and Lord. Yes, justice will be done and their faith in Him will be vindicated. Jesus did die like “a Lamb”, but He’s also “the Lion” who has been given the scroll of God’s plan for the world. These are The Achievements of the Lamb, leading inevitably to:
THE WORSHIP OF THE LAMB
The worship of God is what heaven is all about. The “new song” by the living creatures and the elders was the cue for the choir of the angelic hosts. John pictures them, rank upon rank, in their millions, surrounding the throne, in a great outpouring of praise, singing “in a loud voice … ‘Worthy is the Lamb … to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise!’” They had looked in wonder as Christ had left heaven’s splendour and dwelt upon earth in humility as a man, even to the death on the Cross. But now that He’s risen and exalted once again, they honour Him as a conquering hero. They pay the highest possible tribute to Him “who was slain.”
But yet there’s more, for the song of praise is taken up “by every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them.” John is looking forward to the day when every part of creation will have to acknowledge in the words of the first creed that “Jesus Christ is Lord.” The words were first written when the Roman emperors claimed that homage but now it’s given to its rightful owner, “the Lamb who was slain.” The emperors tried to gain homage from their subjects by force of arms but Jesus obtained it by His self-sacrifice.
Humanly speaking, the Cross speaks of defeat, but in reality, as the apostle Paul writes to the Colossians, “having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Col 2:15). The poverty of Christ crucified was that we “through his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9). To unbelievers, the Cross is the height of folly, “a stumbling block”, yet in a reversal of the world’s values, the crucified Christ is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:25) for our redemption. The Cross represents shame; it was designed to degrade and humiliate its victims. But in the mercy of God, the Cross was Christ’s throne and the way to His resurrection and exaltation to the highest place in heaven.
The Lamb of God has been given “the name that is above every name” (Phil 2:9). The vision looks forward to the end of the history of Planet Earth when every created being joined in singing this great doxology, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honour and glory and power, for ever and ever.” If we have appropriated the benefits of the atoning work of “the Lamb of God”, then we too will be part of that company in that great celebration in heaven. Pray God it will be so.
John Wesley had a great contemporary in God’s service in the evangelical revival in the 18th century. His name was George Whitfield. They were great friends from their days at Oxford but were divided in their theology. Wesley was Arminian but Whitfield followed Calvin and there was some animosity between their followers. One of Whitfield’s followers said to him, ‘We won’t see Wesley in heaven, will we.’ Whitfield replied, ‘You are right, we won’t see him in heaven. He’ll be so close to the throne of God, that we won’t be able to see him!’ Close to the throne of God, to join in the praise of the Lamb. That’s where we must seek to be by our faithfulness down here.
