Third Sunday of Easter

Third Sunday of Easter
April 18, 2010

Why Is Everybody Singing?
Revelation 5:1-14

John is crying.

In this vision that Jesus reveals to him, John, the last remaining apostle, sees a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals (Revelation 5:1). (These seals made out of wax served to keep out unwanted readers, like a lock on your diary or a password to your email.) John is crying because no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it (Revelation 5:3).

What does scroll represent? It represents the future. And that is why John is crying. He is crying because no human can predict the future.

No one can see the future. But many try. There are harmless meteorologists and Vulcanologists who use science to guess when the volcanic ash over Europe is going to settle down. Their guess: no idea. Then there are palm readers who crop up in every town, making money off of desperate people and people who think it's harmless fun. Then there are daily horoscopes, whose vague guesses can be “correct” most of the time—you will meet someone new on Tuesday.

On the Galilean seashore the disciples tried to predict the future: Peter turned and saw that [John] the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them... When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow Me." Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; He only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?" (John 21:20-23) The disciples were trying to predict the future by saying the John was immortal. While John lived longer than any of them (since almost of them were killed for following Jesus), John eventually died. Yet another failed prediction.

But we try to predict the future, too. We do this by assuming that everything is going to stay the same or get better. So when a business plan that we thought couldn't fail, fails, we cry. When we retirement fund goes in the tank, we cry. When we attend the funeral of someone we cared about, we cry. When our congregation always seems to be shrinking, we cry.

When we predict the future today, we'll only hurt ourselves tomorrow. Why? Well, why was John crying? No one could open the seals and read the scroll. That is to say, no human being can predict the future. This made John sad.

But then what happened? Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." (Revelation 5:5)

Who is this Lion? Aside from the immediate context, we also have other clues from the Scripture. Moses recorded Jacob's words to one of his sons: “You are a lion's cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.” (Genesis 49:9-10) And in Hebrews 7:14 we read, “For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah.” The Lion is Jesus.

Who is the Root of David? Isaiah recorded it first and later Paul quoted Isaiah's prediction: A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit... In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. (Isaiah 11:1,10 qtd. by Paul in Romans 15) This prediction helps us when we note that Jesse is David's dad. Jesse, then David, skipping down to Josiah, then Hezekiah, down to Mary and Joseph. The Root of David is Jesus.

And Jesus is able to open the scroll. He is able to predict the future because the future has been given to Him by His Father: He came and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne (Revelation 5:7).

The future is in Jesus' hands. Remember how Jesus sums up our Easter joy: Don't be afraid! (Matthew 28:10) Though we still will cry when a believer we care about dies, our tears are not hopeless ones. We can predict the future because Christ has predicted the future for that dearly departed believer. He told Nicodemus that whoever believes in Him is not condemned (John 3:18).

When a business plan or retirement fund goes bust, we may cry. But our hope in the future will help us to not be afraid because we know that even if we end up living in a shack down by the river eating a diet of government cheese, Jesus has died for you. His Holy Spirit has washed your sins away.

We trust in Jesus. Jesus is the Lamb in this vision. This is imagery with which we are familiar. Isaiah described Jesus in this prophecy: He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away. And who can speak of His descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people He was stricken. (Isaiah 53:7-8)

God's Lamb was sacrificed to save us. This is the good news that washes our sins away. So instead of crying that never ends, we cry and then we join in the song of praise to our Savior.

This song that sings of what Jesus has done for us gets bigger all the time. Every time a new believer is baptized, we thank Jesus. Whenever we hear a young believer confess their trust in Jesus, we rejoice in Christ. Whenever a believer dies in the Lord, we cry out our praise to the Lamb of God.

The chorus started small. Just the repentant Adam and Eve and the faithful angels. But throughout the course of history, which belongs to Jesus, the chorus is a little louder. With every re-birth, with every birth into eternity, it get louder. And it'll keep getting louder and louder until at the end of history, every creature will bow down before God's Lamb and sing:

"To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!" (Revelation 5:13)

Amen.