Revelation 5:1-14
The Scroll and the Lamb
Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 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. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the centre 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. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”
Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honour and glory and praise!”
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honour and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Luke 2:8–15
The Shepherds and the Angels
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying
“Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
Joining in with Heaven
I love that moment in a story when all seems lost. It happens in most adventure stories, most dramatic movies. It even happens in romantic comedies where everything seems hopeless. It's all dark, and then you hear sounds of a rescue. Think of Lord of the Rings, if you remember that fantastic movie. They've been fighting all night. They've fought valiantly, the orcs and these horrible goblins are all attacking them and they fought in the depths of Helm’s Deep and finally the king decides he's going to ride out with Aragorn and others and he's going to do one last attempt to throw off the enemy and just as it seems too much for them dawn breaks the sun comes over the hill and down the hill storms Gandalf at the head of many others the trumpets of the morning appear when all seemed lost, rescue appeared.
Or perhaps you're more of a Disney person. I can see lots of Disney lovers in the congregation today. So I watched Moana the other day. It's a wonderful thing about having daughters. Moana is given the job. She's got to restore the heart of Te Fiti. Te Fiti is this kind of goddess. And she's got to get past the terrible fire giant, Tekar. And she's trying to put this stone back into the heart. And there she is. Takara's battling it and she's losing. And just when all hope seems lost, along comes Maui, flying out of nowhere, finally comes back, he reappears and together they fight. And when all seems lost, the hero appears. Or perhaps you'd like the old Western. The old Western when eventually there is a small number of people in the fortification and all seems lost and then the trumpets sound and over the hill come the US Marines to come and rescue them.
It's that moment when all is lost, when they look around and they realise we cannot do this, and yet a rescuer appears. That's one thing I think we find in our reading from Revelation chapter 5 today. We’re being given here a glimpse into the future it's picture language and yet it's explaining the truth of what is one day going to happen. So God is on the throne at the beginning of chapter 5, that's not in doubt, and the scroll is being opened and that scroll is like a will that's ready to be enacted. But in order to break the seal and carry out God's will we need somebody who can do it. In fact we find that this scroll is sealed with seven seals, and this comes up a number of times in Revelation. Seven is the number of completeness; it could not be more sealed.
God is on the throne; his will is ready to be carried out. And yet who will open the scroll? And they look around them. Who is worthy to do this? Who is worthy to carry out God's plan? They search. And they cannot find anybody. Rather like a political party that's been in office for a while and towards the end of a long period of government need a new leader.
We're a bit used to this, aren't we? They look around and they can't find anybody. That person, well, they were embroiled in that scandal. Or that person made a mess when they were in charge of the what ever it’s called department. That person over there, well, nobody really likes them. They look around. We need a leader. Who can do it? Who is righteous? Who is trustworthy? Who is pure? Who can we turn to?
And as they look around in Revelation chapter 5, there's nobody. In fact, it's so tragic, they cannot find a hero. And John, who has been given this vision, weeps and weeps. There is nobody. Nobody worthy. All of humanity have failed. No one matches up to the demands. Nobody is good enough to carry out God's will. Whether it's our frailty or our selfishness, even the wickedness of humanity, no one can do it. There's no hope. Until there's a voice. There's a sound. The trumpet calls.
There is a voice. A voice of hope. The trumpet over the hill. And John looks up and an elder cries out. Do not weep. See the lion of the tribe of Judah. The root of David has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll with its seven seals. There is one. Do you remember that promise of God?
That out of Judah, out of the house of David, there was going to come a king? Do you remember that God promised that he would send his Messiah? There is one. There is one who is able to open the scroll and its seven seals. He's the Lion of Judah. A mighty saviour. A great hero. And who's it going to be? Well, we're in church. So it should be, no surprise, particularly if your vicar's done his job, that the answer is Jesus.
There is one all of humanity fails even the good things that we do are not good enough we're embroiled in our own selfishness and greed our mixed motivations and there's so much wickedness and so much that is wrong we have all failed and fallen short of the glory of God the Bible is so clear consistently we need help we need rescue we cannot do it ourselves and the great news announced that elder, that sound of hope, is that there is one. The Lion of Judah. The son of David. King Jesus. Yes. That's what we need. Now what fills your mind when you think of Jesus? When you pray to Jesus? When you sing songs to Jesus? What vision of Jesus do you have? Do you think of his creative power? By him, nothing was made that has been made. He was the word that was with God in the beginning.
Do you think of his genius teaching, still discussed and poured over by scholars, respected by people of other religions, inspirational for political movements and freedom? Do you look at his wisdom? Perhaps you think of his wonderful miracles, his ability to heal the sick, how he could come and touch a leper and instead of catching the disease, he would bring healing. He could even raise the dead.
Perhaps you think of his perfect moral life. A man who never put a foot wrong. Who never disobeyed God. Somebody who was utterly trustworthy, whether it was with money or women or power.
He was never sucked in or manipulated. Never twisted by power or success. Or maybe you think of his risen glory. It's a time of darkness. Who can help us? The risen Christ. That's who we need. The great hero who defeated death. And is now on the throne forever. What vision do you have when you think of Jesus?
Do you think of him as the Lion of Judah?
Well, this dark moment. All hope is lost. They look around. Who can help us? There's tears on the face, and yet there's a sound. The trumpet call. The sound of hope. And the elder says, it's the Lion of Judah. And you can go imagine, John turns around to look. Who's coming to help?
And this is where the shock comes. Who comes to help? The Lion of Judah, the victorious warrior?
Then I saw a lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the centre of the throne.
Who comes to save? well a helpless animal a foolish creature a lamb that was slain
He looks around looking for a hero and instead of seeing a mighty warrior he sees a sacrifice and encircling this sacrifice this lamb on the throne are the four living creatures that represent all of creation and the elders representing all of humanity and right at the centre of the throne of all creation, of all salvation, of the church is a sacrifice.
And this lamb is astonishing.
The picture language should blow our minds. It's kind of supposed to, by the way. You're not supposed to exactly imagine it all literally. You're supposed to let the words kind of flow over you. Well, one thing, he's got seven horns. Horns are a symbol of power. Remember, seven is the number of completeness. So this is the lamb that was slain who has all power. He has seven eyes.
Eyes are a symbol of wisdom, of knowledge. He knows everything. Seven eyes. He has all insight, all knowledge, all wisdom, all power. And this crucified sacrifice takes the scroll from the right hand of him who sits on the throne. And all heaven falls down in worship.
Do they worship the lion? Do they worship the victorious warrior? No, right at the centre of worship in heaven is worship of the Lamb that was slain.
All the living creatures representing creation, all the 24 elders representing the 12 tribes and the 12 apostles, all the New Testament, everybody comes and bows down to this one, the sacrifice. And they sing a new song. You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, because you were slain. And with your blood you've purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.
It's a beautiful imagery of completion. You are the one. You're the one that we've been looking for. You are the hero because you gave yourself.
See, the most glorious thing that Jesus did wasn't to create the world, wasn't to rise from the dead, but was to die on the cross. The cross wasn't defeat, it was victory. That is what Jesus remembered for. That is the one on the throne, the lamb that was slain.
So come back to our need for heroes. We're in this darkness. It all seems lost and we hear words of hope. We look for a great and mighty saviour. We want somebody who's going to come in and get rid of all the baddies. But the problem is, the wickedness isn't just out there. It's not just in other people. It's not a different political movement or religion or social forces. No, the truth is that the dividing line between good and evil runs through every human heart. There's wickedness out there, terrible, evil people.
But the truth is, as we come before God, when we're shown in his scriptures like a mirror what we are like, we realise it's not just out there, it's in here. And what do we need? We need someone to save us from ourselves. Save us, yes, from the wickedness in the world, but save us even from the darkness of our own souls.
And what we're told is that this Lamb, by his death, has purchased people from every tribe and language and people and nation. The glory of Jesus Christ is his sacrifice for you and for me.
It's wonderful that as we acknowledge our need, as we lay down all of our respectability, all of our religious pride, He meets us with forgiveness and grace.
And as you might expect from all those stories, what happens when Gandalf comes over the hill to rescue, well it's Theoden and Aragorn and all the other people's names you can't remember, they have new life, new energy for the fight. They go off and they continue to defeat all that's bad. It's not that Gandalf comes over and they're just going to collapse, Notice Ghanath comes over, they see the victory, they see the saviour, and they fight with renewed passion.
They're caught up in the victory, and so are each one of us. The one who is worthy has come. He's on the throne, he's died for our sins, and he's called us to be part of a kingdom of priests to serve our God forever. We have an astonishing dignity, as those who are saved, who are caught up in his vision. Caught up in this worship. And caught up in this mission. And what happens as everyone turns and sings? Well, all of heaven acknowledges him. You know, this is true truth. You know, when you open your newspaper, or you turn on the TV or the radio, you are hearing some things that I hope are accurate.
But most of the books, if you've got a history of the world on your shelf, I've got a couple,
they don't include everything. But even those written by people in the West that are part of Christian history, they just blip past the life and death of Jesus Christ.
But when it's all peeled back and we see true truth, we realise that right at the centre of history, right at the centre of reality, is the Lamb who was slain. It is this one, he's the hinge on whom all history turns.
And so thousands upon ten thousands, ten thousands upon ten thousands, John runs out of numbers as he tries to describe how many people are acknowledging this king. All of them around the throne, the living creatures, the elders, the angels, and they cry out, worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise.
This is the salvation that we need. This is the salvation that our world needs. And it reorientates the whole of our lives around the worship that is in heaven. Of course our worship comes from the fact that we're created. Yes. It comes from God's glory and majesty and power. Yes it does. But at the centre of heaven, the vision of the one who is on the throne being worshipped is the sacrifice, the lamb that was slain.
Now to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise and honour and glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.