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.”
Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth. He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song with these words:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and break its seals and open it.
For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.”
Revelation 5:4-9 NLT
Jesus, You are both the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God. You won the victory over sin by the sacrifice of Your own body on the cross. Powerful enough to crush Satan underfoot, You were meek enough to allow soldiers to beat and humiliate You.
As the Lion of Judah, You have already defeated the devil who prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking to devour and destroy me. (1 Peter 5:8) You ferociously love me and protect me as Your own. You safeguard me against temptation and from wandering away from Your watchful care. Knowing the Lion of Judah is my mighty defender against the evil one comforts and strengthens me.
As the Lamb of God, Your precious blood redeemed me from my futile efforts to save myself. You are the only sinless and spotless lamb whose sacrifice permanently paid the cost for my sins. (1 Peter 1:18-19) You were willing to be oppressed and afflicted, led like a sheep to be slaughtered, so I could be healed. (Isaiah 53:5-7)
Jesus, so many people still do not know You as the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God.
During this Easter season, I specifically pray for __________.
May __________ recognize her own sinfulness. Help her to understand her inability to be saved apart from You, Jesus, the Lamb who was sacrificed as payment for her sins.
Open __________’s eyes to see You as the Lion of Judah, the true victor over sin and death.
Let __________ find salvation in You, Jesus.
In the name of the Lion and the Lamb, at whose feet one day all will bow down and worship,
Amen.
For further prayer and meditation:
“The Lion and the Lamb” by Big Daddy Weave
“Jesus is spoken of as a Lion, but only once in the Scriptures, in the book of Revelation where he is called the ‘Lion of the Tribe of Judah.’ But he is a lion like no other. Two sentences later, he is depicted as a Lamb who has been slain. But why put these disparate images together?
It is because Jesus’ way of winning the victory is so unusual, so counter to our own strategies for winning anything. Stripped of his garments, nailed to a cross, he must have appeared as anything but lionlike. But three days later he roared back to life, triumphing over death itself.
This is the God we worship—a God who is both lamb and lion, who wins every victory, often in surprising ways. He is the one who watches over us with his fierce protecting love.”
From “The Names of God Bible,” Ann Spangler, General Editor
