. This Strange Double Picture of
Jesus by J. R. Miller. Look, the Lion of
the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed. Then
I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the
center of the throne. Revelation 5, 5-6. John was looking for a lion,
and he saw a lamb. This strange double picture of
Jesus as he appears in heaven is very suggestive. He was a
lion in his conflicts and victories, and as such overcame all his
enemies and ours also. But he was a lamb in the gentleness
of his character and disposition. The lamb is an emblem of meekness
and of unresisting obedience and submission. As we think about
Christ, we soon see how true both of these pictures are. Like
a lion, he has power and majesty and is dreadful to his enemies.
As a lion, he met and overcame Satan and triumphed over death
and the grave. As a lion, he is able to defend
us from all our enemies and the feeblest believer is safe under
his protection. He is the omnipotent God and
has all power in heaven and on earth. At the same time, the
other picture is just as true. He is like a little lamb in his
gentleness. The whole spirit of his life
on earth shows this. Never was a mother so gentle
to her children as was Jesus to the weary, troubled, and penitent
ones who came to him. He was lamb-like, too, in the
way he endured wrongs and sufferings. Other animals fight in their
own defense, but the lamb does not resist. When Christ was reviled,
He did not revile in return when He suffered, He did not threaten
in return. Like a lamb led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep silent before her shearers, He did not open
His mouth. He is the same Jesus now in the
midst of the throne, and it is this astonishing combination
of strength and gentleness which makes Him such a wondrous Saviour.
In Him we have the union of all the truest qualities of love
that our hearts so hunger for—tenderness, affection, patience, sympathy. Then, when we have laid ourselves
down to rest in all this blessed warmth of love, we look up and
see that we are in the bosom of omnipotence. Mere gentleness
may be very weak, but while he is a lamb, he is also a lion. Then I saw a lamb, looking as
if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne.
He had seven horns and seven eyes. Revelation 5.6 Here we
have three other thoughts about Christ. Not only did he appear
as a lamb, but as a lamb that had been slain. There were wound
marks on him, telling that once he had been dead. One suggestion
of the emblem of the Lamb is sacrifice. Jesus was the Lamb
of God who took away sin by bearing it Himself. Thus even in glory,
the fact of salvation by His sacrificial death is set forth
to the eyes of all. Thus we are always to be reminded
of the cost of our redemption. A second suggestion about Christ
is in the representation of the seven horns. The horn in the
Bible is the symbol of strength and seven is the symbol of completeness. Jesus appears there as the omnipotent
one having all power. The third symbol in the picture
is the seven eyes. An eye sees, and seven eyes represent
the perfection of vision, seeing everywhere. The eyes of Christ
are in all parts of the earth and on all events. This thought
of the omniscience of Christ is dreadful to the unrepentant
sinner. But to the Christian, at peace
with God, it has great comfort. Christ is watching over us and
is ready to fly to our help and rescue at any moment. His eye
is fearsome only to the wicked. To those who are his friends
and are saved by him, it gives no terror to think of the unsleeping
divine eye ever looking down upon them with love.