Our Lion is The Lamb

“Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”

John the beloved was invited to peer into heaven’s realm when he heard this question.

There was weeping and almost a sense of hopelessness about no one being qualified to reveal the authority and decree of life written on the sacred scroll sealed by perfection. John was living in the tension of human perspective and heavenly truth, until an elder said to John,

“Weep no more; behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so

that He can open the scroll and its seven seals.” When John turned his weeping eyes upward, he said, “I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain”

Much of the book of Revelation is considered to be a mystery because of its imagery and its

meaning. Most people get lost in the mystical imagery and miss the meaning of the book itself. The book of Revelation is about Jesus and His victorious nature. Nowhere is the imagery more important than in Revelation 5, where the Lion is really the Lamb that was slain.

John had to adjust his perspective as we must do today. As John walked with Jesus for those

three and a half years, they expected Jesus to become king by taking the throne of Israel. They wanted to see their enemies toppled and the oppressors eliminated. Even following the

resurrection, they didn’t quite know what to do because their expectation blinded them from

the truth. The truth was hidden in the suffering on the cross, and the Holy Spirit would open

their eyes to the truth of His life that ends the cycles of their suffering. This wasn’t about an

external suffering, but the suffering of the internal man and its poverty in spirit. They wanted a Lion, but they saw a Lamb.

Today we have the same need to transition our perspective when John wanted a Lion, but saw the Lamb. Does that mean that Jesus wasn’t a Lion? Of course He is! He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. But the strength of the Lion was hidden in the suffering of the Lamb. The world didn’t need another war to prove might; it needed a Lamb to reveal the pure power of beauty on full display.

The beauty of His humility was the strength Paul called upon when the Lord said back to him,

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”Natural perspective alone would see this weakness as a liability and not a grace gift. Remember back to Jesus’ sermon on the mount as he verbalized the soul of the Kingdom in the first beatitude: “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This is a challenge of confidence. It’s not you being destitute or down on yourself. It’s you emptying yourself for the truth of total dependency on Christ alone. This revelation isn’t about confidence; it's about trust.

Jesus was saying in Matthew 5 what John would later see in Revelation 5. This is how

revelation comes. It’s not an all-at-once occasion. It’s first a hidden mystery inviting you on a

journey to discover the truth that’s hidden within. This demands an intentional look at what you behold and let it bypass your expectations until it transforms your being. In this moment, it's important to note that your belief isn’t what you think or even see; it's in what you move

towards. This is essential in your walk with Jesus and the truth of who you are in Him.

Perspective is key!

In my life, I consistently have to use a compass to navigate what doesn’t yet have a map. The

compass is about remembering what has to be first and central in every situation. There are

times when, pridefully and yet unintentionally, I’ve placed “me” at the center of the story instead of making sure Jesus is first and center. One example came in an encounter that I had with Jesus when He adjusted my perspective of what put Him on the cross. For many years I’ve heard it said and taught with sincerity that it was my sin that put Jesus on the cross. I believed that with my whole heart. But what I didn’t realize is that if it was my sin that put him on the cross, it made me the center of the story and not Jesus. It was at this point that the Holy Spirit revealed to me, “it wasn’t your sin that put Jesus on the cross; it was His love that called Him there.” This small adjustment made the biggest impact on my soul. Now I got out of the chair in the center of the room and saw Him sitting there. First and central!

The compass I navigate with must be examined to ensure that my direction is true. Is it pride or is it humility that sets my course? Is it surrender or is it control that I use to rudder my ship? Am I at the center of my decisions or is it Jesus? Do I want Jesus to be the Lion that removes all my suffering or do I see Jesus as the Lamb wounded for my healing? He is both Lion and Lamb. His dominion isn’t from a war waged for a throne, but in His surrender to lay down His life for His friends. His authority is on display in His suffering. He was showing us a different way to wear a crown.

Perspective is always a test. I’m reminded that David had to pass a test that no one would ever see in person, and yet each of us must pass the same test in our lives. It was when a lion came to steal a sheep. The story says that David placed himself between the lion and the sheep to keep that which belonged to his father. If you slow it down, how does this story speak to the perspective you have today? Let’s look at it this way: David (beloved identity) stood between the lion (pride) and the sheep (humility). It’s beloved identity that is necessary to confront the pride of our self-life from devouring the humility of our true life hidden in Jesus. It’s the same negotiation that takes place in us between the first Adam (pride) and the second Adam (humility). Theologically, why do we believe in the fall of the first Adam more than the power of resurrection in the second Adam?

Humility is a subversive grace in an authoritarian system. This is what we honor as we receive the body and the blood of Jesus in communion. We remember that His authority is perfectly seen in His surrender. He instituted this hidden mystery in the deliverance of the children of Israel held captive in Egypt. He delivered them after they had eaten the Passover lamb. The blood of the lamb was on the doorpost of their home, and the whole of the lamb was consumed in its entirety by the family. Nothing of the lamb could be wasted.

Jesus revealed to us that to share in His Kingdom, we must eat His flesh and drink His blood.

This is an invitation to share in the Incarnation of Christ. We are not just beholding a miracle;

we are sharing and becoming a part of the miracle. Through the Lamb we become a Lion. In our weakness, His strength is made perfect. Our confidence is with Him first and center of our story.

This is constantly my prayer that echoes Paul’s prayer: “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection.”

His beautiful surrender ended my suffering. He partnered with me in my suffering so I could

then partner with Him in His glory. In all of my understanding, I must shift my perspective as

John had to. I wanted to see the Lion, and yet He revealed Himself to me as the Lamb. He is

the Victorious King that loves like the Lamb! To partake of the nature of the Kingdom, I must

share the humility of the Lamb.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever shall believe

in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” - John 3:16

To believe is to taste and see! We must consume the entirety of the Lamb, not just the parts

you are comfortable with eating. We must live in the love of His blood that covers our souls

from destruction. This is Jesus, first and central!

As John the Baptist announced;

“Behold the Lamb, that takes away the sin of the world