The Lamb and the Scroll (Rev. 5)
The book of Revelation is written originally by Jesus through John to 7 churches located in Asia Minor. In this message, we do a flyover of chapters 2 and 3 and discover what Jesus tells them then and us today about Satan's tactics in opposition to the church.
Transcript
Who is worthy? That’s the question at the center of Revelation chapter 5.
If we’re going to talk about worthiness, we should go to the definitive source on the subject… Mjolnir. For those who don’t know, Mjolnir is the name of this mystical hammer yielded by Thor in the Marvel movies and originally Norse mythology.
Mjolnir has this famous inscription on it… “© Marvel. Made in China.” No, not that one. This one: “Whosoever holds this hammer, if they be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." Because of this inscription, only someone who is worthy can pick up Thor’s hammer.
This has led to some incredible MCU moments:
Vision casually picking up the hammer to the absolute shock of the rest of the Avengers.
Then this incredible scene in Endgame of Captain American yielding Mjolnir and we all lost our collective minds.
And then the trailer for the new Thor: Love & Thunder. Whaaaa?!?
And it’s also created some hilarious moments:
There was the Tony and the other Avengers trying to pick up the hammer
Hulk catching the hammer and getting flung across the room onto the ground
Of my favorite, Loki gets held down simply by Thor placing the hammer on this chest.
But this inscription has also created some challenging brain teasers:
Could Superman pick up Thor’s hammer?
What happens when two worthy people call for Mjolnir?
If Thor picks up the hammer and Hulk picks up Thor, is Hulk picking up the hammer?
Aside from Marvel geekdom, of which I’ve probably shown way too much of, we ask worthiness questions all the time.
Is this salary worthy of my talents?
Is this person worthy of my time and attention?
Is this LEGO set worthy of my money? Yes! The answer is always yes.
In fact, you make worthiness decisions all throughout the day. Every little thing that you do or say or tolerate involves some worthiness calculation.
Sometimes, you pick things that are worthy of your time, talents, or money—that house you love, that job that inspires you, or that mattress that gives you a glorious night’s sleep.
And other times, you pick things that aren’t worthy—that relationship that turned unhealthy, that hobby that turned into an addiction, or that job that drains the life out of you.
Let’s be honest, we don’t always make the best worthiness decisions. Let’s be even more honest, we’re pretty bad at making worthiness decisions. And those bad decisions usually come with pain, loss, and heartache.
So, how can we make better decisions about what is worthy of our time, our money, our relationships, or even our very lives?
Thankfully, we don’t have to answer that question by ourselves. Revelation chapter 5 centers around that very issue—who is worthy?
Chapter 5 is a continuation of chapter 4 from last week. Now we see the full picture. The throne from last week and the lamb from this week. As I said last week, this is the central and centering image of the whole book of Revelation. This vision informs and defines every other vision.
Just to show you how important these ideas are… Here’s a little infographic for you. The word throne appears 43 times in the book. Impressive for a book that only has 21 chapters. The word lamb appears 28 times. Still impressive.
Now, let’s compare that to some other popular ideas from Revelation:
Millennium only appears 6 times.
Tribulation only appears once.
And rapture… zero.
Ya think, maybe Left Behind has their priorities mixed up.
So, let’s dive in. This chapter contains an incredible mini-drama. It begins with a scroll. And an angel proclaims, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” That is the key question in this passage.
What is this scroll? We don’t know; the chapter never says. Some think it’s the Holy Scripture, others the Book of Life, and still others the legal covenant between God and humanity. But the next two chapters seem to indicate that it’s God’s redemptive plan to defeat evil once and for all, to rescue his people, and to transform his creation.
Who is worthy to execute God’s sovereign, redemptive plan?
But they can’t find anyone. And they looked everywhere! Up there, over here, over there, down there. Whatever is in this scroll, it’s really important that it’s opened. So important that John, the author, starts uncontrollably weeping that they can’t find anybody.
This feels like fear, desperation, sorrow, panic.
And then, one of the elders reassures him. Yes, there is someone who has triumphed—the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David. These are both Old Testament titles of the promised Messiah, Jesus.
The Lion of the tribe of Judah
This name came from a scene where the Israelite patriarch Jacob is blessing his sons, who will become the 12 tribes or clans for Israel. Judah is one of his sons.
Genesis 29:9-10 – “9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah… 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah…until he to whom it belongs shall come…”
Jacob identified Judah as a royal clan (“scepter”)
This name represents Jesus’ power and strength as a mighty king.
The Root of David
This name comes from David, Israel’s greatest king.
God promised David that Israel’s perfect king would come from his family line.
2 Samuel 7:12 – “When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom.”
Both of these, the Lion of Judah and the Root of David, are powerful, kingly names.
And then this mighty, powerful, conquering king is revealed… and it’s a little sheep that looks like it’s been killed.
This is shocking. How is this possible? Forget for a second the question about being worthy. How can a slaughtered lamb be conquering or victorious? Isn’t that the very definition of defeat—getting killed? This makes no sense.
It kinda reminds me of when I tell people I pastor a Hmong church. They’re always a little confused. Sometimes it’s in the eyes. Or they look me up and down. Or they stumble through their next question. When I know what they really want to say is, “Huh? Are you sure? [Ya, pretty sure.] But you’re not Hmong. [Wait! What? How did I miss that?]
Now, take that level of confusion and multiply it by a gazillion.
So many questions…
First off, why a lamb?
This image likely draws on two significant Old Testament passages:
The Passover Lamb from Exodus 12, whose blood saved the Israelites from God’s judgment.
The suffering servant from Isaiah 53, one of the great Messiah passages. This servant was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
These were such significant messiah passages that when John the Baptist saw Jesus for the first time, he declares, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
But this was no ordinary lamb. He stood at the throne. Only God is supposed to be there. He was surrounded by the elders and the living creature, just like God.
And then he did the thing nobody in all creation could do… He took the scroll. And then an all-out worship session breaks out. Which leads to the next question…What makes this lamb worthy? The elders and living creatures answer that question in their song.
“9 You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
Why is the Lamb (Jesus) worthy?
He was slaughtered
He ransomed people for God (That word “purchase” is the same word for buying a slave’s freedom.)
How? By his blood
Who? People from all nations
They are priests
They are kings
They will reign on earth
Then the worship session continues with ten thousand times ten thousand angels. That means a minimum of 100 million angels singing, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” The slain Lamb is the only one worthy.
Then it gets bigger. Every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea…“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!”
Think about that for a second… every creature is praising God.
Dogs? Yes.
Giraffes? Yes, they sing the high notes.
Fluffy bunnies? Yes.
Monkeys? Yes.
Mosquitoes? No. They’re from Satan. But everything else.
How many is that? I don’t know back then, but today scientists estimate there are 20 quintillion or 20 billion billion animals on earth. All praising Jesus. Why? Because only he is worthy. That’s what John saw.
Jesus, the crucified and resurrected Lion-Lamb, is the only one worthy to carry out God’s plan of redemption and judgment for the world. And Jesus is the only one worthy of our worship because he saved us and paid for our freedom.
Jesus is the only one worthy. Does your life reflect that?
What have you determined is worthy of your…
Worship
Power
Wealth
Strength
Wisdom
Honor
Glory
Praise
These are all things that this passage says belong to Jesus first. It doesn’t mean we can’t give our wealth to a worthy cause or our strength to someone who’s tired or our wisdom to a friend. But it does mean that Jesus deserves these first.
Remember that we don’t always make the best worthiness decisions. I can almost guarantee that there’s an item on that list that you’re giving to something that isn’t worthy of it.
There’s one more thing that’s not on this list, but it’s more important than any of these. This is something that only Jesus is worthy of getting. Everything else you give it to overpromises and underdelivers. It will let you down. Nothing else is worthy of this.
What is it? You.
Only give what is worthy (you) to the one who is worthy (Jesus).
Jesus has made you a kingdom and priests.
Jesus has made you royalty to reign on earth.
You are worthy.
Jesus is the only one worthy to give salvation and judgment.
He is the only one worthy to hold your future in his hand.
He is the only one who rescue and redeem you.
What are you giving yourself to?
Only give what is worthy (you) to the one who is worthy (Jesus).
