Revelation 5:4 & 5 –
Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it.But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
This is so significant to the message of Jesus, He is the one who can open the scroll and save us from destruction. Interesting how winning “victory” required being brutally beaten and hung on a cross to die! We seem to forget what happened to Jesus to earn the title of Lamb of God. But in verse 5 Jesus is referred to as “the Lion” and not the Lamb. Later in this chapter the one worthy is referred to as the Lamb, so John not confused. Think about how Jesus represents both God’s power and His humble sacrifice!
We know Jesus felt every hit, each of the 39 lashes, every hammer strike and each thorn piercing His head. With His power He could have escaped, yet He endured this for you. And yes it’s personal; you were who He died for! You are who He opened the seven seals form and you are who He wants a relationship with! He wouldn’t have died this way without it being personal for each and every one of us.
Having never grown up in the sacrificial system it’s difficult to really understand the significance of His death and what it means. Today we sign happy and joyous songs about His blood. This may seem morbid to someone off the street, but once you dig in to understand this system it all becomes clear. A perfect lamb was chosen to take our sins, one would confess with their hand on this perfect lamb transferring their sin to this animal. Since the penalty of sin is death the lamb would be slaughtered thus cleansing us for an encounter with God. Jesus became the final lamb for everyone’s sins when He died on the cross. So where it’s awful in what happened, it’s also wonderful!
I included verse 4 because of the passion John has for God. Think about having this vision and crying because no one could open the scroll. It doesn’t seem like a big deal initially, but here is an important message no one could read. It was in the “right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne” which means God. He could have opened it, yet He required someone else to do that job. Why do you think that was? I often look at the Bible as that scroll and it took a lot to break the seals and open it. How many have one, yet it rarely is open? I know it’s a stretch but think about having the answers right before you and no one being able to read it! So you have the answer and it does not have 7 unbreakable seals, just open and read!!