Worthy is the Lamb

John plays with us a bit.

I have not study enough C.S. Lewis to really know the answer to this thought. Aslan the Lion who is the Christ figure in THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE why is he not a lamb. I know that within the scripture that a Lion is representative of kingship and authority. John will even use a triumphant image of Christ in chapter 19 of Revelation, but here in the beginning of Revelation...the one that conquers the depths of hell is a lamb. Not even a bighorn sheep type of ram, a slaughtered lamb. I like Aslan, he is cool. Liam Neeson, my Irish brother, is a pretty cool dude himself. However, I come back to this image.
There is a scroll with seven seals that cannot be opened, John weeps, and there is a voice of an elder who says, "Do not weep. See the Lion of Judah." Then John looks up and he sees a lamb, a slaughtered lamb.

I used to raise sheep and came to the conclusion that they were absolutely stupid. I began to despise them a bit, because they were a pain. But I know a bit of sacrifice. I raised the sheep to show in the local stock show. So, I spent August to March raising this lamb. If I did not finish in the top three in my division...then I got 70 dollars for my lamb. The lamb cost 60 dollars and bags of feed were 12 dollars a piece. That made the whole enterprise a net loss. So, one late winter's evening the sheep go off into the packing trucks to head to the slaughter house. When we sent the animals on the truck, there was a sense of seriousness that the men forced upon us boys. A lot of work had gone into these animals and now it was over. You did not goof off that night.

John in this image says that the only one worthy to open the scroll is a lamb, a slaughtered lamb. Those lambs heading off into the trucks that is the image of power for John. I know http://kewp.blogspot.com brought up great issues on the role of violence in L, W, and Wardrobe on December 7. I think this text reminds us that John's vision of heaven begins with a slaughtered lamb as the strongest part of creation.

That changes how I order the world. Might does not make right. What now has value is not power, but those without power. You know in this season of advent and Christmas that reminds me that is why Christ came into the world.

joy,
RevGuid