Who Else Is Worthy?
Today’s passage: Revelation 5
Focus verse: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain.” (Revelation 5:9)
Our scene in heaven continues to unfold: the four living creatures have declared God holy, and the twenty-four elders have laid their crowns at the feet of Father God and proclaimed him worthy.
God, sitting on the throne, holds in his hand a scroll with seven seals that keep its contents secret. The scroll holds a message, but the seals prevent anyone from reading it.
We anticipate hearing the message, but until someone opens it, we’ll never know. We wait in expectation.
“Who,” bellows an angel, “is qualified to open the scroll and show us what’s inside?”
No one is. No one in heaven is worthy and no one on earth is worthy either. There is no one qualified to open the scroll and look inside.
This so distresses John that he weeps in disappointment. Until someone who is worthy comes forward, John can only wonder what the scroll says.
But an elder goes to comfort John, telling him not to cry. Someone is worthy and the elder knows who. It’s the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David.
These metaphorical labels allude to Jesus, a powerful Lion (ruler), a descendent of David from the tribe of Judah.
When John looks where the elder points, rather than a mighty lion he sees a weak lamb. It’s the Lamb of God, sacrificed for us. Because of who he is and what he did, he is indeed worthy to open the scroll.
Jesus goes to God’s throne and takes the document from his Father, preparing to break each of the seven seals so that he may open the scroll.
Then the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fall before Jesus, the Lamb. Each one has a harp and golden bowls of incense, symbolizing the prayers of God’s people.
Then they sing a new song.
“Jesus, you are worthy. You alone can open God’s scroll because you died to save everyone, from everywhere. In doing so, you made them a kingdom of priests to serve God.”
Jesus is worthy because he died for us. His sacrificial death qualifies him to open the scroll.
Questions:
- How can we comfort those who weep or are in distress?
- Should we view Jesus as a lion or a lamb?
- Do we like to sing new songs to God?
- Do we believe that Jesus’s death qualifies him to save us?
- Do we praise him as worthy?
[Discover more about being worthy in 2 Samuel 22:4, Matthew 10:37–38, Luke 7:6–8, and Hebrews 3:3.]
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Read more in Peter’s devotional Bible study, A New Heaven and a New Earth: 40 Practical Insights from John’s Book of Revelation.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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