Rev 5
Revelation • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
Revelation 5: Easter Sunday, The Lion is the Lamb
Revelation 5: Easter Sunday, The Lion is the Lamb
Picture this with me: Good Friday-Easter Sunday
On Friday morning, your friend, the one you had invested the last three year of his life went on trial… somewhere in the back of your mind there is all this stuff that he had been saying over the last 3 years…That the son of man had to give his life as a ransom for many…That he had to go and die…
And then the crowds at the trial are shouting “crucify him” Crucify him…
And you watched as he is beaten mocked and made to carry a cross outside the city to a hill where he is crucified.
And you think, if that happened to my Rabbi, what is going to happen to me?
And so, you hide and scatter for fear that you might be next…
And your friend is carried off to a tomb and laid in it
When the Sabbath is done…early in the morning on the third day, your friend Mary goes to the graveyard of her friend Jesus…
He had done so much for her and changed her life so radically that she just wanted to do something beautiful for him and anoint his body with burial spices…
This was very common ... maybe she was wondering how she would, get past the guards and roll away the stone…
But when she gets there…Everything turns to disaster; the stone is rolled away and her friend is gone…
She went to the others…
And they all came back to the tomb
Let’s pick the story up John 20:11-16
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).
So, we Find Mary there at the tomb weeping in agony…lost…not knowing what to do next…But everything changes, When Jesus calls her by name!
when Marry realizes that Jesus is actually alive…that he is not dead…Everything changes…
If you’re taking notes this morning
The chief response to the resurrected Jesus, is that mourning turns mourning to Joy
The chief response to the resurrected Jesus, is that mourning turns mourning to Joy
And this will be a theme that caries on through the bible
This is the only proper response for God moving is that our mourning turns to Joy…
Because when God moves:
Death turns to life
Brokenness to wholeness
Hurt to healing
One of the chief convictions of Easter is that Jesus is alive and active…that a whole new world is possible….
I love what the brilliant author GK Chesterton says about the first Resurrection Day
GK Chesterton says it like this:
“On the third day the friends of Christ coming at daybreak to the place found the grave empty and the stone rolled away. In varying ways, they realized the new wonder; but even they hardly realized that the world had died in the night. What they were looking at was the first day of a new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth; and in a semblance of the gardener God walked again in the garden, in the cool not of the evening but the dawn."
-Gk Chesterton
There is an even deeper reality to Easter that I want us to focus on today.
On good Friday, the old world was crucified with Jesus, it died
And with the resurrection a new world emerged
Pivot to John the author
Now John wrote down the story of the first Easter…John was one of Jesus’ disciples, he was there, he saw this happen
And a few years later life when he was an old man….Life was going really badly for him
John was a pastor and somewhat of a local legend…He was arrested on charges of being a Christian and sent to rot and die on the sun-bleached island of Patmos…
Many of his old friends had been burned at the stake, Fed to lions or killed and tortured because of their belief in Jesus…
But John was on Patmos…Sent there to die in obscurity….
And it was there where he saw his old friend again…In an amazing series of visions and wrote the book of Revelation…a book that we have been studying for the past few months and will continue to study moving forward…
A book that people have looked at for years and been confused, but I think that the people he was writing to would have gotten it…
A book that many people treat as a crystal ball to the future but in reality, it sheds light on what is really going on…
The book of Revelation is the deeper reality to life…And the mistake we’ve made is to say…you have to be a theologian…a pastor or really smart to get it…And you don’t…This book was originally written to illiterate uneducated people…Who got it!
So, John, the one who wrote the account of the resurrection, because he was there…was living in this pit of despair…Like his old confidant, Mary who was weeping outside the tomb, john was rotting on an island… wondering if this was it for him…
And one day, just as Jesus stood before Mary at the tomb, Jesus comes and stands before John and he shows him what is to come…
My friends, there is a deeper reality to Easter that I want you to see…What we are about to get is a glimpse of what happened in heaven when Jesus defeated death
But today…I wanted you to see the heavenly reality to it all…
So, if you have a Bible. Turn with me to Revelation 5…And I wanted you to know I am not going to go over this In a super detailed way…If you want detail…Check our podcast this week and we will have a detailed discussion up there of Revelation 5
But even though we are reading the whole thing, and it sounds intimidating we are going to keep it simple
Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, “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.”
And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.”
Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
The chapter opens with this amazing picture of a scroll, the almighty God is sitting on the throne and he has in his right hand a scroll, with seven seals
A scroll, containing royal edicts…
See this scroll is the key…
Many scholars say that this scroll is the will of God…You know, on earth as it is in heaven.
That this scroll symbolizes the plan of God, the purposes of God!
This scroll symbolizes the rest of human history
And it is sealed up! With 7 seals. (SHOW PICTURE OF SEAL)
In this type of literature, the number 7 symbolizes completeness…So this is completely sealed…
And with any royal documents…The one who opens the document, is tasked with carrying out the edict of the king…
You could only open the document if you had that authority
So, the one who opens the completely sealed document has to have complete authority!
So, then the question becomes who is worthy? Who has that kind of power and authority? Who can reveal God’s purpose for all of humanity?
And this is what the scripture records… The angel asks everyone is there anyone worthy? Who is worthy?
And John weeps because he is in the throne room of God and he knows the importance of the scroll…
John just stands there and weeps because he sees no one is found worthy
And that is so key to this and I want to pause for a second and flush this out
That means for us there is no political system that will operate in a way that will bring about God’s purpose on earth…
So, I think democracy and freedom are vital, and I think that the whole world should have it but even if it did, you and I know we’d still be a mess, right?
There is no candidate, there is no political theory, there is no system that will make the world right…
There is no leader, no group of leaders that will make everyone function the way that God desires for us!
There is no one under heave or on earth who is worthy to make history operate the way that God intends for it!
So, John weeps…because God’s purposes won’t be fulfilled!
There are a few scholars that point out that John is all of our spokesperson here…He is the embodiment of all of humankind that cry’s out to make things right!
And I think we all get this on a personal level.
We intrinsically know that there is
-No political leader
-No community leader
-No tech mogul
-No Nobel Prize winner
-No celebrity
-No romantic relationship
-No pastor
Who will ever be able to answer the chaos of life? Who is worthy?
I almost wonder if John recalled that moment watching Mary weep…because for just a moment it seems like things are out of control…for just a moment, there is no one who is worthy! Things need to be made right
But then everything shifts!
But then one of the elders announces a grand entrance
And one of the elders said to me, “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.”
Who is that, the Lion of the tribe of Judah? The root of David? What does that mean? It is a reference to Jesus’ lineage…That Jesus is the true king
He has triumphed. Jesus didn’t die and stay dead! He triumphed over the grave, over death itself, this is Easter! This is what we celebrate, the triumph over the grave…
But more importantly…Because he triumphed over the grave
He is worthy to preside over history!
He is worthy to carry out God’s purpose for creation!
He is worthy!
He is worthy to preside over your live!
He is worthy of praise and honor
He is worthy of your attention!
He is worthy of your love and adoration!
Only Jesus is worthy to preside over God’s purposes for all of humanity and human history.
Only Jesus is worthy to preside over God’s purposes for all of humanity and human history.
And he’s pictured as a lion right?
And we intrinsically get what a lion is right.
Go ask any kid what a lion does and they will say ROARRRRRRR!
It is a symbol of power…Lions roar and devour…Lions are feared…We love lions
Think about some of your favorite action heroes…They are all lions
Bruce Willis defeats german terrorist with no shoes and a gun duct-taped to his back on! Come on LION!
Arnold Schwarzenegger, “GET TO THE CHOPPER DO IT NOW!” AHHHHH I’LL BE BACK!”
Lions! We love watching it
John Wick getting revenge on the people who hurt him…He’s a lion
…and people will flock to the theaters to see that…Why? We like watching lions!
Why do we like these movies? We like watching lions…We love the brute force…
We like taking out the bad guys…
There is a thrill to being the lion.
James bond gets the girl…why? He’s a lion
I mean think about the last time that someone wronged you and you pictured yourself as a lion telling them off !!!!You have that speech ready and its so good!
Now, I want you to get this, the lion is announced, John doesn’t see it, Jesus is announced as a lion,
Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed
but in one of the great paradoxes of all of scripture…One of the great truths is how the lion conquered…
The lion is announced but when John turned, probably expecting to see a lion he sees a lamb! As if it had been slain!
And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.
So, the lion wins but not using lion methods…
No one wants to be the lamb! There are 2 words used for lamb in the Greek
One that is an adult sheep and Arnion (AR-A-NEON)= a little lamb
So, a powerful lion is announced…And he turns to see a little lamb!
And no one wants this right…we want to be a lion
But it is the best story…The lion cannot win by being a lion…the lion must become a lamb; the lion must lay down his life!
When you think about this, we know it to be true…
I’m a dad to girls…so track with me for a second…And they are teenagers now so my Disney references are a bit dated mid 2010’s movie references and earlier
The little Mermaid
All powerful, Lion of a character, King Triton has to go to battle against the sea witch Ursula but however strong he is, he can only win by exchanging his life for her life!
The lion only wins as the lamb!
I love the movie inside out…
One of my favorite parts is when the imaginary friend Bing Bong is going to take the world and get back into Ryley’s memory…but he knows the only way to restore Rylie’s joy is to lay down his life, so that she can get joy back!
He couldn’t win as a lion with bruit force…he had to become a lamb…
Where do you think the Disney people borrowed this plot line from?
Jesus doesn’t win the tactics of a lion, he wins by being a lamb
Jesus doesn’t win the tactics of a lion, he wins by being a lamb
Jesus, the Lion of Judah knew that the only way to lead people to freedom was not as a fierce lion but as a lamb that purchases us with his blood
We are told that the lamb has 7 horns and 7 eyes
This is a very Jewish way of saying that the lamb has all power and all wisdom
The lamb is pictured as standing in the center of the throne with the 7 spirits of God…
This is a way of saying that the trinity sits on the throne together!
No matter how much we want the action star who conquers all…we are reminded that the way of the lamb is the only way to really win…
The way of the lamb is self-sacrificing love
The way of the lamb is self-sacrificing love
I think this is why Jesus calls his followers to take up their cross and follow him…Join in the way of the lamb!…It is a daily reminder that we lay down our lives so that we can live with Jesus in his kingdom…so that we can be made new, into new creations!
The meek, graceful lamb…The one who was slain and the one who overcomes death is the only one that can preside over human history…
Recap:
So, Jesus is pictured as the lamb that was slain, but alive…the only one who can take the scroll from the hand of God and usher in his purpose, his will, his plan for all of humanity!
When all the saints realize this what else can they do? They sing!
And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.”
Why is he worthy? Because he laid down his life!
Implications of this song
Jesus is the only one worthy
Jesus purchased us with his own life
Jesus’s self sacrificing love is for every tribe, language, people and nation.
Jesus has a priestly calling for us to represent him to the world.
See on this easter where we are looking at Easter through the eyes of the throne room of God what we see is a God who is telling the whole world
I love you so much I purchaed your life!
I have a plan for your life and for this world!
I have a purpose for you!
What I find striking about this is that God says…Ok I purchased you, you are mine, now I have a purpose for you! You join me in my work! To bring about the new creation
You are a priest in my kingdom! I didn’t just save you; I gave you purpose
God invites you in, to work with him and for him…To be his priest, his spokesperson wherever you find yourself!
Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
If you can imagine this deafening chorus…A choir that is all the saints who have gone before us…one who is composed of all the angels…all of creation singing…Because even in heaven, we realize the importance of our salvation
Easter brings to light that Jesus is worthy! Jesus is worthy to hold this scroll and open its seven seals…Jesus Brings about God’s plan…That is the heavenly reality…
But today…I want to end where we started
When Mary was standing out side of the tomb of Jesus
And through her tears she sees the resurrected Jesus, but she still didn’t know it was him
This is what Jesus said to her:
John 20:15 (ESV) (Shortened version)
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
Who are you seeking?
Who is it you are looking for?
Response:
The Scriptures declare that God has wired us to search for him
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
He has placed eternity intro our hearts and we continue to search for it
And I think the questions this morning that the Bible has brought up are so relevant in all of our lives!
Who is worthy?
Who are you seeking?
who is worthy to be the king of your life?
The only one I can think of is not a lion…But it is a lamb
The one who was slain but is alive
the one who purchased you with his blood
Who is worthy to forgive your sin and make you new?
I want to invite you to give yourself to the lamb, for he is the only one who is worthy to be the king of your life!
YELLOW CARD
If your here today I want to encourage you to put your trust in Jesus
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, Thank you for your death on the cross for my sins
Thank you for saving me
Please take my life and redeem it
Help me to put my trust and my hope completely in you
Lord make me new!