"The Victorious Lamb Has Begun His Reign"

Things happen in our world that make people question whether God is really in control of this world. Things like hurricane Katrina. Things like the events of 9-11. Things like the massacre at Virginia Tech. Like the disciples who went back to fishing in our Gospel reading for this morning, we sometimes go about our various vocations without the conviction that due to Christ’s resurrection, everything has changed.

The vision John relates to us in this 5th chapter of Revelation helps us see what we cannot perceive though any of our own five senses. Our text reveals and unveils the cosmic impact of both Christ’s crucifixion and his resurrection.

Christ’s crucifixion has accomplished the sacrificial atonement for all sin, and his resurrection means that he already reigns in heaven – now – as the One who controls the future. Our text proclaims that the victorious Lamb who was slain has begun his reign.

Hopefully, when ______ read the Epistle a few moments ago, the words struck a chord as familiar. They are of course words that we sing on communion Sundays, as part of our liturgy. So we have sung it for the last three weeks in a row.

The neat part – or neat parts of this text are how we get so many different scenes or pictures. We get a picture of Christ as a Lamb. We get a picture of Christ as the Son of God, the Son of man who was slaughtered on the cross of Calvary. We get a picture of the Lamb next the Father, who is seated on the throne. We get pictures of the worship that has always gone on in heaven, is going on in heaven now, and we also get a picture of how it will be when we get there. And we get a picture of the nearly unimaginable number of saints who will be there worshipping. Our text says "myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands."

Since I didn’t know how many a "myriad" was, I had to look it up. Webster says a "myriad" is: 1) a very large number 2) countless, very many. They even give the Greek root word, which is the same root word as the Greek in our text, and that old Greek word meant ten thousand. So John saw ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands.

Because the Lamb is understood to be part of the mystery of the one enthroned Godhead, he is worshipped with actions – falling down – and words – like glory and honor and power. The same worship was offered to God the Father in the first half of this throne-room scene in chapter 4 verse 11.

This parallel worship expresses the oneness of the Lamb with the Father as the true God. This truth is expressed even more explicitly in verse 13. There every creature in all of creation sings to both the Father and the Son: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb – be blessing and honor and glory and might."

On their face, these verses may seem abstract, complicated, and maybe even almost surreal. But in these verses, and in the Divine Service that we do here each Sunday morning, we get a glimpse of the worship in heaven, especially when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper where the very Paschal Lamb who gave his body and shed his blood is present, sharing his victory with us.

These verses also point out some very real truths. First, Christ the Lamb has conquered satan. Second, the Lamb has made us worthy to reign with him. And third, everything is now different. We no longer have a reason to weep,

Unlike Christ, we have no merit or worthiness in us. Because of our sinful condition we are not worthy to be in Christ’s presence, now or in eternity. We are not worthy of the price he willingly paid for our redemption.

But Christ has changed all that. Christ has freed us from our sins by his blood, shed on the cross. When we were baptized, He clothed us in robes washed and made white in that blood. The Lamb is worthy of blessing and honor and glory because of his work and universal value of his atonement. He was slain and by his blood he ransomed the people of God from every tribe and language and nation.

Blood is a significant element in the portrayal of the lamb throughout the Book of Revelation. He is a lamb who has been slaughtered but now stands. He has freed us from our sins by his blood, because we have washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. As His followers, we are enabled to conquer "by the blood of the Lamb."

There is evidence that early Christians combined the themes of Passover and the Day of Atonement in their interpretation of Jesus’ death. 1 Peter 1: 18-19 says; "Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot."

Paul wrote to the Corinthians that "Indeed, Christ our Passover lamb, was sacrificed." The Gospel of John presents Christ as the Passover Lamb. John the Baptist announced Jesus as the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." Jesus was crucified on the Day of Preparation, when all the lambs are slaughtered for the Passover Feast.

So when our world seems out of control – when it seems like God is not watching or somehow doesn’t care, just remember; Christ reigns in heaven and on earth – now! In the hymn of praise in the Divine Service, we sing the very same hymn that the heavenly hosts sing. In the Lord’s Supper, we receive the heavenly meal of the body and blood of the lamb who was slain.

The infamous standoff between federal officers and the Branch Davidian cult near Waco, Texas in 1993 dragged on for weeks while the two sides negotiated. One stall tactic seemed to lead to another. One of the last delays was a promise by cult leader David Koresh that he would surrender the compound as soon as he finished writing a manuscript explaining the seven seals in the Book of Revelation.

The angel had once asked, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?" Apparently, David Koresh thought he was the worthy one. History – just a few days later – proved him wrong.

In fact, the seals have long been opened, as the heavenly host announced to the apostle John: "Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so he can open the scroll and the seven seals." (5:5) Jesus, by his death and resurrection, has unsealed for us, not only our tombs, but also God’s eternal plan for the redemption of the world.

In the accomplished mission of the Messiah, we see that God has always been moving history forward to and for our salvation, and for Jesus’ sake, heaven itself has been forever opened to us. Amen.