Revelation 5 is all about Jesus. John’s vision sees “a scroll in the right hand of the One seated on the throne”. God is sitting in His rightful place on the throne with a scroll but no one can open it to read it. John weeps because no one can read and explain what is contained on its pages which were full as it “was written on both sides”. But as there was weeping and consternation – someone says “He can open the scroll, can rip through the seven seals” – and that someone was Jesus. Jesus is the mediator between God and man – He sits in heaven with the Father and mediates on our behalf. Scripture tells us that clearly, and here in Revelation He is filling that role again as the One who can open and read the scroll.
Scripture tells us that around the Throne were the leaders and there in the middle of it all “was a Lamb, slaughtered but standing”. Isn’t it interesting that even in heaven, Jesus is still humble and not walking around strutting His position or power. After all, He is the Son of God – if anyone has the right to call focus on their position – it is Jesus. But He stays the sacrificial Lamb because He is the payment for the sin of humanity. There are a couple of great songs that focus on this – Worthy is the Lamb and Revelation Song – which capture the truth about Jesus and His place in heaven. We learn that they “fell down and worshiped the Lamb”. There were “prayers of God’s holy people…..they sang a new song” and they just worshiped the Lamb. There is little question that we will spend a lot of eternity worshiping the Father and Son. But scripture tells us why and gives us a great picture of just how important this will be. It tells us that Jesus “bought them back from all over the earth….brought them back for God”. Do you think about this truth? Jesus paid a price to brign us to the Father. He shed His blood on the cross to free us from sin. This is no little sacrifice – He gave all so we could come to the Father. So their worship, and ours today, is definitely justified and required. “The slain Lamb is worthy! Take the power, the wealth, the wisdom, the strength, take the honor, the glory the blessing”. It is all in Jesus! He is worthy. The slain Lamb is more than worthy. We need to begin now to recognize just how blessed we are as Christ Followers and get on our knees in praise!
