The views expressed in this article are of the author only and do not necessarily represent those of the Center for Pastor Theologians.
Over the past few days, as I have watched the scenes of war coming from Ukraine and as I have prayed for and communicated with my friends in Ukraine, I have found myself turning to the Book of Revelation. I don’t turn to Revelation to read it as a code for deciphering the particular events of this evil invasion, or to determine whether or not this war is a sign that the end times are near; to do so would be to abuse the purpose of Revelation. Rather, I turn to Revelation to allow this remarkable text, one of the most astonishing pieces of literature ever written, to do just what it is supposed to do: to anchor my soul in the eternal vision of God, to put the terrible, temporal events in eternal context, and to hear the Word that gives the Church the conviction to persevere in following Jesus, even as evil runs riot on the earth.
In particular, I have found myself reflecting on Revelation 5. In this chapter, John the Revelator is standing in the throne room of heaven. He’s been taken up from the Island of Patmos through a doorway into the realm of God to see the world and history from the vista of eternity. In chapter 4, John sees the four angelic creatures and the twenty-four elders around the throne, crying out “Holy, Holy, Holy,” as they bow down and worship the one who sits on the throne.
Then, in chapter 5, John looks and sees a scroll in the hand of God. The scroll has writing on both sides and is sealed by seven seals. In Revelation, the scroll symbolizes the mysterious plan of God, his hidden purpose in the vast sweep of history. God is the Lord, and his ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not our thoughts. We cannot discern the mind of God through the events of history; His ways are beyond our finding out. So, the scroll is the symbol of hope, of understanding, of insight into the mysterious purposes of the mysterious God. To understand God and His purposes, to live in hope amid evil, the scroll must be opened.
After he sees the scroll in the right hand of God, John hears a mighty angel proclaim in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” In other words, who is worthy to reveal the purposes, plans, and ways of God? Who can show us the mystery of God’s ways? As John looks around the throne room, none step forward because none are found worthy, not in heaven, or on earth, or under the earth. None of the created beings in all the cosmos are worthy to open the scroll and unlock the mystery of God’s eternal purposes.
When none are found worthy, John tells us that he wept and wept. His weeping is the sorrow of chaos, of the unknown, of a world lost in disorder. His tears are the tears of apparent meaninglessness, of the fear that evil will win, of the world in disarray, with no prospect for being made right. If none can open the scroll, there is no hope.
But as he cries, an elder who sits around the throne speaks to John, and tells him not to weep, for behold, there is one who is worthy! The Lion of Judah has triumphed, and he is able to open the scroll. As John looks on, the Lion is there, but he is not a lion. Instead, the Lion is a Lamb, who stands at the center of the throne, surrounded by the four living creatures and by the elders. The Lion who is the Lamb steps forward and takes the scroll out of the right hand of him who sits on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the chorus of heaven sings a new song, saying:
“Worthy are you to take the scroll and 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.”
He is worthy because he was slain, and his blood is the way of freedom for those who are captured by the forces of evil and are slaves of the powers and principalities that dominate this age. Having been freed from these powers, the ransomed become a new people, a new nation, a kingdom and priests to our God. The Lamb gathers to himself a new society, made up of people who transcend national boundaries, who have been redeemed from the earthly powers of human rebellion that they might be citizens of a new and distinct kingdom.
The Lion who is the Lamb can open the scroll because he is the revelation of the mysterious purposes of God, the one through whom God does his work in history, the one who reveals the very nature of God. His opening of the scroll tells us that this one is the center of God’s hidden purposes in history, that he is the one around whom history revolves. And the Lion who is the Lamb confronts all human attempts to be lords who shape history through our own powers and projects, who believe that we are worthy to open the scroll because of our strength.
Throughout history, the nations have believed that they are the drivers of history. Believing this, the nations have claimed that they are worthy to open the scroll as those who are the fulcrum of history. The nations have honored themselves by believing that through them God is working out his plan, that God is accomplishing his purposes through their military strength, that their financial power reveals God’s blessing. The nations have believed that they are God's instrument to achieve his purposes. Russia has long believed this. America has long believed this. The nations have long believed this. The nations equate earthly rule with divine blessing and see their power to direct the course of history as the sign that they are God’s vessel for accomplishing his purposes, and so believe that God will favor their weapons over the weapons of others.
But the nations stumble on the truth of Revelation 5, which reveals that the one who is worthy is the Lion who is the Lamb who was slain. At the heart of our Christian discipleship is the seeming contradiction of the Lion who is the Lamb. However, Revelation declares that The Lion who is the Lamb is not a contradiction; He is the revelation of the mystery of God, who overcomes the powers of the world through the weakness of the cross. In him we find the revelation of the mysterious purpose of God, which is not to dominate through military might or to establish supremacy through weapons of war, but to ransom humanity out of the jaws of predatory violence through the blood of the Lamb, who establishes a kingdom which is not of this age.
Too often, the Church has been confused about the lion and lamb imagery, believing that Jesus was a lamb at the cross but is now a lion who conquerors through violence. Believing this, the Church has endorsed the idea that God works through the leonine powers of conquering nations (at least through our conquering nation). But Revelation does not say that Christ is at times a lion and at times a lamb. It calls us to hold these two seemingly incompatible images as one: The Lion is the Lamb who was slain. Revelation 5 declares that God’s way of triumph is the way of the crucified Lamb. God gains victory through weakness. God triumphs through the foolishness of the cross. The victory of the Lion is through the Lamb who was slain.
As the kingdom and priests, the Church is called to be the presence in history of the Lion who is the Lamb. As I pray for my brothers and sister in Ukraine, as I pray for Christ’s church around the world, I pray that we will be anchored in the throne room vision of Revelation 5, joining the chorus of heaven in proclaiming that the Lamb who was slain is worthy, and so persevering in our witness to the Lion who is the Lamb.
Joel Lawrence is the Executive Director of the Center for Pastor Theologians. He previously served as the Senior Pastor of Central Baptist Church in St. Paul, MN and as a Professor of Theology at Bethel Seminary. He holds a PhD in Systematic Theology from the University of Cambridge. He is a member of the St. Anselm Fellowship of the Center for Pastor Theologians.
