Worthy: A Reflection on Revelation 5.11-14

I remember once hearing that one of the problems with the use of power in society is that the only people who really want power are those who want to abuse it — to “lord it over” others, as Jesus put it (Matthew 20:25). But as Jesus continues in that passage, things are supposed to work very differently among his followers: “It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant.” But if, in the ways of this world, power attracts the worst among us, who is actually worthy to receive it? Today’s second reading, from the Revelation of John, offers an answer in the form of an apocalyptic vision filled with drama and symbolism.

While the reading assigned for today only starts at verse 11 of Revelation 5, it’s important to rewind a bit to the start of the chapter. It begins with a majestic figure seated on a throne; in his right hand there is a scroll that is sealed seven times — seals which no one can open. John’s ‘vision ego’ (the persona the visionary takes on in a vision) starts to weep but is comforted by an elder, who says: “Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals” (5.5). These are Old Testament images that by the first century had become associated with the figure of the Messiah: The prince imagined as a lion — a pretty universal a symbol of strength (Genesis 49.9-10) — and as the sprout from a long-dormant root that would restore Judah’s royal line (Isaiah 11.1). This second one is particularly compelling, since he is anointed by the sevenfold Spirit and therefore the perfect figure to open up a sevenfold seal.

Suddenly a lamb appears, bearing seven horns and seven eyes — symbols of the sevenfold Spirit of God — but it “stands as if it had been slaughtered” (5.6). He takes the scroll and everyone present falls before him, singing:

You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,
For you were slaughtered and by your flood you purchased for God
Those from every tribe and language and people and nation;
You have made them a kingdom,
and priests serving our God
and they will reign on the Earth. (5.9-10)

This is a stunning visionary bait-and-switch: The expected powerful and triumphant lion appears instead as a slaughtered lamb. He is said to be a conqueror, but he conquered through his death; it is his own spilled blood — not that of his enemies — that makes him worthy to open the scroll.

Now we finally get to the verses actually assigned for today:

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice:

‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!’
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and mightv for ever and ever!’

And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ And the elders fell down and worshipped. (5.11-14)

The anticipated Lion appears instead as a slaughtered Lamb, and it is in this guise and for this reason that he is worthy to receive “power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing” — in other words, all of the trappings of royal power and authority. In a sense, this shift from conquering lion to slaughtered lamb was anticipated from the start, when the Lion of Judah was associated with the Root of Jesse. For that oracle from Isaiah does not primarily imagine a military hero but a wise and peaceful ruler. The sevenfold Spirit does not grant him strength in battle (a big shift from older understandings of the Spirit’s role), but such qualities as wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge, and fear of the LORD (Isaiah 11.2-3). As the oracle goes on, we learn that he doesn’t get distracted by first impressions, he judges in favour of the poor, and governs to establish equity. He fights with words, not weapons, and righteousness and faithfulness are the only armour he needs. His utopian reign will upend the ways of this world so that predators and prey live together in harmony: “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as waters cover the sea” and so great will be the wisdom of the Root of Jesse that all the nations will flock to him to learn at his feet. (Isaiah 11.6-10)

All of this fits in beautifully with the set of interpretations of the work of Jesus known as the Nonviolent Atonement. In this understanding, God’s saving work in Christ is not found in God killing Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins, but in vindicating Jesus — and his ways of justice and peace — by raising Jesus from the dead after we killed Jesus as a sacrifice to our sinfulness. He is worthy of power precisely because he did not strike back, but lived his values — the values of the Kingdom of God — until the end.

So what’s the point of all this? Simply that, once again, Christianity upends the ways of the world and ‘normal’ expectations of power and who should have it. We were all given a wonderful object lesson for this over the past twelve years in the late Pope Francis. He forsook all the trappings of the Papacy and lived in a simple apartment, refused his salary and at the time of his death had an estimate net worth of $100. He represented the true face of power and authority as taught by Jesus, vindicated in God’s raising Jesus from the dead, and proclaimed in the New Testament. When looking for true power in the world — and when we are given the chance to bestow power — our faith tells us to look for the humble, not the proud; look for the one committed to justice for all, not the one hungry to enrich the already wealthy; look for the lamb, not the lion.

‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!’