Revelation 5:1–14

Explore the Bible
Assistant Professor of Christian Ministries, University of Mobile

The Worthy Lamb

Revelation 5:1–14

The Search (1–4)

John sees an awesome sight in heaven. Before him stands a mighty angel proclaiming, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” The scroll to which the angel refers evokes the image of Ezekiel’s words: “And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe” (Ezek. 2:9–10). The opening of the scroll and the breaking of its seal spells affliction for unbelievers (Rev. 6).

But again the question: Who is worthy to open the seal and its scrolls? Who is qualified to unleash the cataclysmic chain of events to follow?

John sees no one in heaven or on earth who is worthy for such a task. In fact no one is qualified even to look into the scroll. Upon this realization, John begins weeping — not just any weeping, but loud weeping, the kind that characterizes severe lament.

The Discovery (5–7)

But John’s sorrow comes to a quick end. One of the elders in heaven tells him to look at the Worthy One, the “Lion from the tribe of Judah” and the “Root of David.” The former title alludes to Genesis 49:9 and the latter to Isaiah 11:1–2, underscoring that the one worthy to open the scroll is none other than Jesus, the conquering King from the line of David.

John then looks and sees “a lamb standing as though it had been slain.” The notion of a “slain lamb” echoes the Passover lamb in the Exodus story, whose blood spared Israel from the plague of death. It also resonates with Isaiah 53:7, which speaks of the lamb being led to the slaughter, depicting the sacrificial death of the suffering Servant.

In light of this, the identity of the “lamb” is Jesus Christ, the one who suffered and shed His blood for our sins. He is one and the same with the “Lion of Judah” and “Root of David.” Fittingly He is the one worthy to open the scroll and its seals.

The Honoring (8–14)

When the Lamb takes the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fall before Him. They exclaim that He is worthy to open it because His blood not only redeems Israel but people “from every tribe, language, people and nation” (Rev. 5:9). He has made such people a Kingdom and priests who will reign with Him on the new earth (Ex. 19:6).

Notice that Jesus’ blood was not slain to redeem one particular ethnic group, whether Anglo, African-American, Asian, Hispanic, etc. His blood redeems people from every nation.

Do the nations worship God separately in their own specified spaces? No. They worship Jesus together in the new earth. We see a clear picture of this in Revelation 15:4: “All nations will come and worship You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.”

If eternity will be composed of a diverse company of believers honoring Jesus, should not our churches reflect this reality? Should not people from different nationalities be able to worship under the same roof? Would this not be an amazing testimony to an unbelieving world, that the blood of Jesus, the Lamb who was slain, the one worthy to open the scroll, washes away the sins of bigotry and hate that once divided us and unites people who were once at enmity with one another? Would this not give unbelievers a foretaste of the Kingdom, beckoning them to join us in worshipping Jesus? I think so. Better yet, I know so.