Finale Revelation and Imagination Daily Devotional- 31
by David Joynt on July 06, 2021
Stress Test Devotional May 4
May 04, 2024
REVELATION 5:5-7 | 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” 6 Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne.
JOHN 1:29 | 29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
John was crushed. The mysteries of life must remain inscrutable and the scroll sealed. But then an angel speaks—there is one worthy to know and to unveil God’s great plan. That one is next to the throne and is named as the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the rock of David. These phrases reference Genesis 49:9 and Isaiah 11:1,10 where a lion and a root are Messianic images. Again this theme is explicit in the intertestamental Jewish books of 2 Esdras 12:31 and Sirach 47:22. But when John turns to see the great and kingly lion he is shocked to see a “little lamb.”
There are two words for lamb. Amnus is an adult lamb and arnion, used here, is the diminutive. He sees a little lamb bearing the marks of the slaughter. This is history’s greatest surprise. It is not unqualified might or coercive power that guides history and gives it purpose—it is the sacrificial love of the lamb. Here, John is taken to the heart of the gospel’s mystery, the center riddle of Jesus’ life. The lion rules by the threat of hurting others, the lamb takes others’ hurts onto himself, bringing healing and wholeness.
In what ways are love and sacrifice more powerful than force?
