As believers of Jesus Christ, there will come a day when we will look into the eyes of our Lord and Savior. Can you imagine that day, when you will look into His eyes and embrace both the sheer strength of the Lion of Judah and the pure gentleness of the Lamb of God? When I think upon that day – that precious moment in time I humbly collapse in awe!! We will look into the eyes of true unconditional love – the purest of purest – a love beyond words. A love that stepped out of glory and went to the cross, so we would be forgiven and reconciled to the Father. “Christ Jesus,who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:6-8 NASB). “He [John] saw Jesus coming to him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29 NASB). Lion of Judah and Lamb of God “died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3-4 NIV). He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Rom 4:25 NIV). Praise be to God!!!!
Why is Jesus called the Lion of Judah? Let us briefly trace the “Lion of Judah” through the Scripture. “Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you. You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his” (Gen 49:8-10 NIV). “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.” (Isa 11:1-10 NIV). “The Lord declares to you [David] that the Lord himself will establish a house for you…I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom…He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever…Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (2 Sam 7:11-16 NIV). “The angel [Gabriel] said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:30-33 NIV). “This is the genealogyof Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah…Jesse the father of King David…and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah” (Matt 1:1-16 NIV). “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star” (Rev 22:16 NIV). Hallelujah!!!Praise be to God!!!
Why is Jesus called the Lamb of God? Let us briefly trace the “Lamb of God” through the Scripture. “The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt…Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lambfor his family, one for each household…The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats…Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs… Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover…On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance” (Exod 12:1-14 NIV). The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship…Those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world…First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second.And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Heb 10:1-14 NIV). “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect…Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God” (1Pet 1:18-21 NIV). Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed…he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth…he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isa 53:4-12 NIV). Praise be to God!!
Jesus Christ is the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God – and the only One worthy!! “Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?’ But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.’ Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne…He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne…And they sang a new song, saying: ‘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.You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reignon the earth…’Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!…To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’” (Rev 5:1-13 NIV). To God be the glory!! Amen.
