The Lion and the Lamb
No, that title does not refer to the name of a pub (although it could do)! I find it interesting that the exhibition of painting and sculpture by Paul Hobbs that we have hosted and enjoyed this past week should come in the middle of a sermon series on the book of Revelation – is there any other Bible book so rich in images and symbols? We have seen that, just because something is shown figuratively or symbolically, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t real.
For example, Jesus is depicted as both “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” and “a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain” (Revelation 5:5,6). Now, we may struggle to hold both those pictures together in our minds, let alone to visualise them as one, yet each tells us something vital about Christ. He is the glorious king who rules in majesty with all power and authority, triumphing even over death. At the same time, he is the one who offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but for the sins of the whole world. In fact, it is precisely as the sacrificial victim that he truly conquers and rules.
It is the Lamb image that persists in Revelation, appearing over and over again. We will forever be singing the praise of him who died: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honour and glory and power, for ever and ever!” (verse 13).