Text: Revelations 5:1-14
Focus: To focus on Jesus
Function: To remind us of our great hope in the resurrection.
Form: Story Telling
Intro:
Did you ever see something disappointing, or different than what you expected and then discovered something great?
Show “
Historia de un letrero
” video
As believers, we too hope for what we cannot see.
So, in order to comfort us, God shows John.
But, in his vision of heaven also gets an unexpected result when he sees Jesus.
(SHOW) The Lion is the Lamb.
- The Lion of Judah is the victor from the tribe of Judah.
- He is the one who will establish that eternal kingdom.
- This is the long expected Kingdom that the apostles thought they were going to see and be part of.
- John and James’ mother asked that these men sit at the right and left of Jesus.
- Throughout this time, there was some hope by the apostles that they would get to reign with Jesus in an earthly kingdom.
- There has already been one Lion of Judah:
- King David.
- He was raised from being a poor shepherd to one of the greatest kings of Israel.
- And He was fierce.
- And now, we see the reign of Jesus, not only on earth, but in heaven as well.
- And Jesus’ method is completely different.
- It is an upside-down kingdom.
The Emperor wrote a will, and it was opened by the appropriate heir. The will, called a Testament, was sealed with 7 seals. Only the heir apparent can open the seals.
So, here they are in heaven, all of heaven is waiting and no one is found to open the seals.
We don’t get from the text why this is such a tragedy. But John is weeping bitterly.
And the angel who leads him into this revelation comforts him on his shoulder and points to Jesus and says: “Don’t cry, the Lion of Judah is worthy.”
It appeared that all hope was lost, but not.
The Son of the King is referred to as the Lion.
Obviously, the name implies: Christ the Victorious one.
(SHOW) Lion of Judah… …Christ the Victor!
Again, the hope of all the people when Jesus was on earth, the hope displayed on Palm Sunday is actually coming to pass.
Again, God is comforting His people, He is vindicating their suffering.
John hears the angel comfort him and tell him that the actual Lion of Judah, the prophesied victor is on the way.
John turns his head toward the four, four-headed creatures where the Lion of Judah is supposed to be.
And he is shocked at the image.
The Lion who is coming is actually a lamb.
(show) The Lion is a lamb.
We aren’t talking about a wolf in sheep’s clothing. We are talking about an actual lamb.
A lamb is the symbol of weakness, the symbol of sacrifice, and the polar opposite to the lion.
And it isn’t just a lamb, but it is a lamb with seven horns and seven eyes. It is obviously a divine lamb.
And there is one more, much more obvious, peculiarity about the lamb. It is slaughtered. Now, I don’t even want to picture this. I got stopped by a school bus the other day and there was a very fresh road-kill beside me. A poor little kitty and I thought that some child coming home from school is going to be very sad.
But, and I don’t want to get graphic, but that cat was to horribly disfigured to look at. It was sad and grotesque.
Don’t think about this image, but understand that John is looking at what looks like a divine, seven-headed, seven-eyed, dead lamb.
I imagine it was a very curious image to him.
He explains to us the mystery of the seven eyes and seven horns. They represent the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
About this time, I am thinking, I am glad he cleared that up for me in the narrative, but wait a minute, God has seven spirits? I thought it was God the Father, God the Son, Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit, the Trinity.
I have to tell you, his explanation of it still leaves me in quite a mystery. I am not mocking it at all. It illustrates to me that what we see hear on earth, and what we could see in heaven if we were so gifted have similarities, but also significant, spiritual differences.
John gives this explanation not to confuse us more. And the explanation isn’t there to obscure the point.
So, again, I am glad for the command not to add to or take away anything from the book.
Because I don’t have to tell you for sure what it means.
Most generally, people believe that 6 is the number of man and 7 is the number of God and it somehow symbolizes completeness.
At least, that is what I learned in theology class and that was a pretty thorough study of many possible answers with some conclusions.
(SHOW) Seven symbolizes that God is complete in Himself.
But the speculation as to what it means gets pretty profound and if you Google it, you will know less, than more about what it means.
So, why mention it?
Well, the Trinity is expressed in this scene. John was standing in the throne room of God. The Father is one the throne, the Son, Jesus, the Lamb of God and also the Lion of Judah is there, and the Holy Spirit is there as well.
This image is both glorious, and terrible. God is demonstrating Himself to John, the Father in Glory, with an emerald rainbow and 100 billion angels and people around Him, the Holy Spirit, shown His perfection and completeness and a twist: Jesus is shown as a slaughtered Lamb.
If you remember Easter’s sermon and the scripture that Jesus will be the one Honored in the Trinity until the end of this age, then this is what is happening. Jesus is the center of attention in this room with 100 billion creatures.
(SHOW) God creates this picture of Himself in heaven for us to see: Glory, Completeness and a Slaughtered Lamb.
Isn’t this strange?
A lamb, a symbol of humility, slaughtered none-the-less.
And John, when He sees Jesus in this fashion, rejoices.
The lamb walks up to the angel holding the scroll, the testament, the will for the heir apparent and begins opening the seven seals.
In Revelation, we refer to the seven seal judgments, the seven trumpet blast judgments and the seven bowl judgments.
As these seals get opened, we get the four horseman of the apocalypse. But most of these seal judgments are on behalf of God’s people. Some aren’t terrible at all.
(SHOW) Seal 1, horse 1: White, Jesus conquering EVIL empires… …Horse 2: Red, evil empires destroying each other.
The first one, God, as the Angel of God, Jesus on the white horse, conquers the evil empires. The second one, a red horse, God allows those evil nations that are left after the conqueror has come, those who live by the sword to destroy each other.
(SHOW) Seal 3, horse 3: Black, with scales for measuring. God gives just prices for the poor.
Then the third seal, and the black horse appears, and this is a great thing. The horseman has a pair of scales and as he travels the earth, he establishes fair prices for food. He defends the poor from the rich who are exploiting them.
So, in these first 3 seals, God reigns, just as the Jewish people hoped for. Bad guys choke on their own evil. Justice is given to the poor. Again, this is what the Jewish people hoped for on Palm Sunday.
(SHOW) Seal 4, horse 4: Pale. Death and Hades released.
In the 4th seal, death and Hades are released. Okay, this is a real live judgment from God. There will be suffering during this time.
(SHOW) 5th Seal: Martyrs rewarded.
The fifth seal is wonderful. It is one of two references to all the Martyrs in the faith. They are elevated before God, again, they cry out for justice and God gives white robes to them.
And then God tells them to rest until the rest of the people who have the eternal honor of being martyred arrive.
Remember, God gives us this book to remind us that He isn’t weak, He isn’t powerless, He isn’t defeated, He hasn’t forgot about His children, and He does indeed know what He is doing. The martyrs are rewarded in a special way, and later on he tells them they will get the best places in heaven.
God does indeed know how to care for His own.
He demonstrates His power and all the while He is doing it, He does it while taking on the form of a lamb, which has been slain.
God demonstrates the strength we have as Christians. He demonstrates the strength of turning the other cheek. He demonstrates the strength we have in faith instead of human power.
(SHOW) Seal 6: Silence.
The 6th seal is opened, and there is silence in heaven for half an hour.
God has rewarded His people, it is a solemn occasion. He gives them, the entire universe, all 100 billion creatures time to reflect on His salvation.
All the while they are doing this, the focus on attention is right there, on Jesus and Jesus is in this body that has the fierceness of a lion, but He has chosen this humble image.
Remember the victory song that the Israelites sang when they crossed the Red Sea and the Egyptian army was destroyed without a single blow from a sword, poke of a spear or shot from an arrow?
They sang: “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”
Do you see what is happening here?
The book of Revelation is about worship.
It contains these tremendous, maybe even terrible, images of God’s glory, power and mystery.
God’s people, all over the earth are suffering an almost global persecution from Caesar. And John gets this vision, this picture of heaven, this image of just rewards for both the good and the wicked and it all points God’s people to remember to look at Jesus.
This is another refocus for God’s people, it is all about Jesus.
It still applies to today.
The book of Revelations was not just written to the persecuted Christians of the 1st Century. It is written to all of us.
It is here to remind us of what it will be like when we get there. It is strange, mysterious, glorious, wonderful and awesome. But more than anything, God will be wiping away the tears from eyes, so hold on to your faith!
I need to remember that as a Christian. We need to remember that as we think about how God wants us to live our lives.
(SHOW) In light of eternity, how will you spend your life?
We are not currently being put to death for our faith in the United States, but there are millions of Christians, even today who are being persecuted by either their governments, or their neighbors.
I think of this image of Jesus, this slaughtered lamb and just as I had to turn my head away from that poor dead kitty, I wonder how I can keep looking at Jesus, the crucified Lamb of God who took away our sins.
And the story ends with this worship. The elders lead it, they fall down, the crowd, the angels and the beasts fall down and worship.
All they can do in response is praise God for saving them.
No comments:
Post a Comment