1Last Friday (16 March 2018), we had a very invigorating bible study. Even though the attendance was low (owning to illnesses and poor weather), everyone present was engaged in the discussions.

The discussions surrounded the “Lion of the Tribe of Judah.” In John’s vision he sees God with a scroll in his hand. Presumably the scroll is (and we will find out in the next chapter that it is) what contains God’s plans for the world. Unfortunately, no one is found worthy to execute God’s plans. John starts weeping, but is told to stop because “the Lion of the Tribe of Judah” is worthy.

When John turns to see this figure what would have been going on in his mind? He would most likely have thought of a military conqueror. After all, the image of a lion is hardly one of meekness. And the lion was also the military symbol of the tribe of Judah. The phrase “lion of the tribe of Judah” invokes military expectations. So very likely John would have thought he was going to see Jesus in a new garb, as a military commander.

But when he turned, he saw “a lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered.” If ever there were an occasion in which one’s expectations were completely shaken, it is here. While a lion naturally conjures images of strength and power and the ability to forcefully overwhelm, a lamb is just the opposite – meek, powerless and with only the ability to be overwhelmed. Yet, this is what John sees when he is told to look at the “lion of the tribe of Judah.” The only logical conclusion is that the “lion of the tribe of Judah” is the “lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered.”

But the elder had told John that the “lion of the tribe of Judah” has conquered. The only conclusion is that the “lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered” has conquered. The “lion” is this “lamb” and the “lion’s” victory is this “lamb’s” death.

Still we hear and read that Jesus will return to conquer. Still we hear and read that Jesus will return to do battle with his enemies and finally vanquish them. But the testimony of the entire New Testament in general, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ in particular, is that Jesus has already defeated all his enemies. The war was won on the cross. The lamb has overcome by his death. There are no more battles remaining to be waged. Otherwise, Jesus’ death did not accomplish the victory the New Testament says it has.

The problem is that we believe in The Myth of Redemptive Violence (a phrase coined by Walter Wink). More to the point, we believe that our redemption and the redemption of creation is incomplete without some sort of divine violence. So we project onto Jesus’ second coming all the violence he rejected at his first.

This is the lesson from the vision of the “lion of the tribe of Judah”. The phrase would have carried a lot of expectation, especially in the perilous circumstances John and the rest of the church found themselves. This figure, according to the myth of redemptive violence, would set things right in ways that, though divine, were still violent.

However, the vision given to John corrects this expectation. He turns, expecting to see a conquering warrior, only to realize that God’s way of conquering is not through a lion but through a lamb. The vision gives a critique and corrective to Christian hopes that Jesus will return as a warrior. He will not. This is the first time in the Revelation of Jesus Christ that Jesus is referred to as the lamb. It is as though this were kept a secret even from John for four whole chapters until the mode of conquest of the lamb is revealed in chapter 5. And after this, “lamb” is the predominant term used to refer to Jesus in the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

The title of the last book of the bible is The Revelation of Jesus Christ. And if the most common term used to refer to Jesus is any indication, the primary revelation about Jesus is that he is the “lamb”. In fact, the vision in chapter 5 is an indictment to all Christians who hope for Jesus to return as a lion. In effect, chapter 5 tells us that there is no lion, for John does not see one. Oh, he certainly strains to catch a glimpse of the lion. But he does not catch that glimpse because there is no lion. In the vision there is no lion to execute God’s plans. There is always and always will be only the lamb.