Sermon Devotional: Behold the Lamb
Sermon Title: Behold the Lamb
Scripture: Revelation 5:1-10 (ESV)
How often we imagine the risen Christ only in the language of brightness – as transfigured, majestic, robed in unapproachable light. And rightly so. He is the Lord of glory, the source and end of all radiance, the one before whom every creature in heaven and on earth falls down in worship. And yet, when the apostle John gives his most searching vision of heaven, he describes Jesus as “the Lamb who was slain” (Rev 5:9).
This is no incidental detail. John has been told to look for the “Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, the conqueror” (v. 5) who is worthy to open the scroll. The one who triumphs! But when he turns to see the Lion, he beholds a Lamb. And not merely a lamb, but a slain Lamb. The victory of God revealed in sacrifice. The triumph of Christ is his wounds. And we know that is not a misremembered detail since only a few chapters later John describes him again as “the Lamb, slain from the foundations of the world” (Rev 13:8).
There is mystery in this: the risen Lord does not leave the cross behind as a discarded instrument, as some dark passage now swallowed up by glory. Rather, the cross is revealed as glory. The wounds are not erased by resurrection; they are transfigured by it. The Lamb is seated at the very center of heaven, enthroned in the worship of angels and elders, and he is recognized by the marks of his self-giving love.
Oh, what comfort this should be to those of us who still live under death’s curse. Jesus’ sacrifice was not a detour, not a divine improvisation, not a tragic interruption in the story. It is the very center of it all, the meaning toward which all things point. The Lamb was not slain because history had gone wrong. He was slain because the love of God had entered history all the way down, even into death itself, in order to fill it with life.
And now the Lamb who was slain is enthroned. He carries his scars into the endlessness of eternity. Not as reminders of defeat, but as the everlasting signs of love. The wounds by which he was broken open for the life of the world are now the wounds from which all creation receives its song: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” (v. 12).
He is worthy not because he escaped suffering, but because he entered it. Not because he cast aside our frailty, but because he bore it. Not because death could not touch him, but because, having been touched by death, he filled death with himself. Indeed, the way of the cross is the way of grace, and so John sees what faith must learn to see: at the center of all things there is not power alone, not glory untouched by sorrow, not majesty aloof from the wounds of the world. At the center of the throne is the Lamb, Jesus, who was slain for us.
Remember, in this resurrection season, the risen Christ does not reign from a distance untouched by sorrow. He reigns as the wounded one, the one who has taken death into himself and overcome it from within. The throne of heaven is occupied by the one who still bears our weakness and our sin, and he has mercy on us. For centuries, the church has turned to Christ by this name: Lamb of God. And so, with the saints before us, we make their prayer our own:
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace. Amen.
Consider –
╬ At the center of the throne is the Lamb, Jesus, who was slain for us. When you imagine heaven, what do you imagine it to be? Do you envision Jesus, the Lamb, as the very center?
╬ Grace: receiving what we don’t deserve. Mercy: not receiving what we do deserve. The way of the cross is the way of grace. To be received into heaven is the way of mercy – God’s mercy extended to his people. Spend time with the Lord giving thanks for the kindness of his mercy and the generosity of his grace.
╬ Oh Lord, our God. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever! Amen.
Scripture: Revelation 5:1-10 (ESV)
“You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” Revelation 5:9
How often we imagine the risen Christ only in the language of brightness – as transfigured, majestic, robed in unapproachable light. And rightly so. He is the Lord of glory, the source and end of all radiance, the one before whom every creature in heaven and on earth falls down in worship. And yet, when the apostle John gives his most searching vision of heaven, he describes Jesus as “the Lamb who was slain” (Rev 5:9).
This is no incidental detail. John has been told to look for the “Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, the conqueror” (v. 5) who is worthy to open the scroll. The one who triumphs! But when he turns to see the Lion, he beholds a Lamb. And not merely a lamb, but a slain Lamb. The victory of God revealed in sacrifice. The triumph of Christ is his wounds. And we know that is not a misremembered detail since only a few chapters later John describes him again as “the Lamb, slain from the foundations of the world” (Rev 13:8).
There is mystery in this: the risen Lord does not leave the cross behind as a discarded instrument, as some dark passage now swallowed up by glory. Rather, the cross is revealed as glory. The wounds are not erased by resurrection; they are transfigured by it. The Lamb is seated at the very center of heaven, enthroned in the worship of angels and elders, and he is recognized by the marks of his self-giving love.
Oh, what comfort this should be to those of us who still live under death’s curse. Jesus’ sacrifice was not a detour, not a divine improvisation, not a tragic interruption in the story. It is the very center of it all, the meaning toward which all things point. The Lamb was not slain because history had gone wrong. He was slain because the love of God had entered history all the way down, even into death itself, in order to fill it with life.
And now the Lamb who was slain is enthroned. He carries his scars into the endlessness of eternity. Not as reminders of defeat, but as the everlasting signs of love. The wounds by which he was broken open for the life of the world are now the wounds from which all creation receives its song: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” (v. 12).
He is worthy not because he escaped suffering, but because he entered it. Not because he cast aside our frailty, but because he bore it. Not because death could not touch him, but because, having been touched by death, he filled death with himself. Indeed, the way of the cross is the way of grace, and so John sees what faith must learn to see: at the center of all things there is not power alone, not glory untouched by sorrow, not majesty aloof from the wounds of the world. At the center of the throne is the Lamb, Jesus, who was slain for us.
Remember, in this resurrection season, the risen Christ does not reign from a distance untouched by sorrow. He reigns as the wounded one, the one who has taken death into himself and overcome it from within. The throne of heaven is occupied by the one who still bears our weakness and our sin, and he has mercy on us. For centuries, the church has turned to Christ by this name: Lamb of God. And so, with the saints before us, we make their prayer our own:
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace. Amen.
Consider –
╬ At the center of the throne is the Lamb, Jesus, who was slain for us. When you imagine heaven, what do you imagine it to be? Do you envision Jesus, the Lamb, as the very center?
╬ Grace: receiving what we don’t deserve. Mercy: not receiving what we do deserve. The way of the cross is the way of grace. To be received into heaven is the way of mercy – God’s mercy extended to his people. Spend time with the Lord giving thanks for the kindness of his mercy and the generosity of his grace.
╬ Oh Lord, our God. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever! Amen.