The Lamb who is worthy
Revelation 5:6-10
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, with 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. 8 When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 They sing a new song:
“You are worthy to take the scroll and to break its seals,
for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God
saints from every tribe and language and people and nation;
10 you have made them a kingdom and priests serving our God,
and they will reign on earth.”
Just in case we missed who this is that is worthy of opening the seals – before any of the seals are opened – we are taken back to heaven to make sure we get it. A Lamb who looked like it had been killed but was alive – so death and resurrection. The seven eyes and seven horns – seven is symbolic number for God – so the lamb who was killed and rose again is marked as being one with God. Through symbol and image, we are being told that Jesus is divine, and that in his death (being obedient to God) he became worthy to open the scroll that God holds.
Jesus is worthy as the “new song” says, because in his death Jesus, the Lamb, has ransomed for God a people. The redeemed are redeemed for God’s glory, for God’s honour, to be a people who serve God and bring God praise. We have been redeemed for a purpose, towards a grander meaning, one beyond ourselves. We have been redeemed to fulfill our highest purpose as the Shorter Catechism says – “To glorify God and to enjoy God forever.”
People from all nations and languages have been drawn into the reign of God by Jesus Christ. The ethnic and racial divisions are transcended by Jesus Christ who calls people of every tribe and language into this new citizenship of being a people who serve God. Through his death this new kingdom of priests is inaugurated. The reign of God is coming into being – one shaped by a transformation beyond our imagining when our limited definitions are stretched to recognize the worldwide sweep of Jesus reign. A reign for which the followers of Jesus pray (vs.8) “your kingdom come.”
PRAYER:
O Lord, we pray, “your kingdom come” – your kingdom which is beyond our imagining – your kingdom come as you draw people of every tribe and language and ethnicity into the reign of Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.