The Lion and the Lamb

Homily for Thursday of the Thirty-Third in Ordinary Time

The scene of the fifth chapter of the Book of Revelation is a continuation of the scene from chapter four. We are in the heavenly throne room. After receiving the command to write to the seven churches in Asia Minor, John is “caught up in the spirit” to the throne room in heaven where he is to receive a series of visions that culminate in the ultimate victory of Christ at the end of the age. Revelation 4 shows us the endless praise that God receives from the angels and the twenty-four elders. Chapter 5 begins with John noticing that there is a scroll in the “right hand of him who was seated on the throne.” The scroll has writing on the inside and is sealed with seven seals - the seven seals indicate that this message is very important.

After giving us a description of the scroll, an angel proclaims with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” John begins to despair when no one comes forth to answer the angel’s challenge. One of the twenty-four elders encourages John to “weep no more,” and points out that the Lion of the tribe of Judah has come to take and open the scroll. The Lion of the tribe of Judah obviously is a reference to Christ. The image of the lion is meant to convey kingship. Jesus is worthy to receive and open the scroll because he is the King of God’s people. However, Jesus is also depicted as a lamb who seems to have been slain. Though Jesus is the Lion of Judah by virtue of his kingship, he is also the Lamb of God who has given his life as a sacrifice. These two images are, perhaps, the most contradictory and yet the most powerful images in the Book of Revelation.

Jesus embodies the essence of the virtue of humility by virtue of the fact that he lays down his life for others even though he is the most powerful and Almighty God. As we go through our day, let us hold onto these two images. There is much to learn from the Lamb of God who is our King whom we will celebrate this coming Sunday.