IN LIKE A LION, OUT LIKE A LAMB

  

I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 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.”

Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. (Rev. 5: 4-7)

Welcome to the final day of March. It has been a lion of a winter, but now it is slipping away like a lamb. You can almost hear hearts melting along with the snow all over campus.

When the metaphors of “lion” and “lamb” are applied to the month of March, they are intended to describe extreme opposites. The same applies to the Savior whom we are following to the cross during this season of Lent. He is proclaimed to be a Lion, but he adopts the role of a Lamb. The Lion symbolizes majestic kingship and authority; not only is the Lamb weak and fragile: this particular Lamb looks as if it had been slain. The contrast between the two could not be more stark.

How do we worship a Lion-Lamb? Do we have to choose one or the other? The Catholic writer G. K. Chesterton writes in his classic work Orthodoxy, “Christianity got over the difficulty of combining furious opposites, by keeping them both, and keeping them both furious.” In other words, we may not choose.

So how do we follow a Lion-Lamb during Lent? Perhaps Scriptures like these can guide us:

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him (John 13: 3-5)

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth (Isaiah 42: 1-4a).

The Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes (Rev. 7.17).

Two works of art can help you respond to this wondrous reality. Ponder the mural behind the stairway between the library and the front reception desk; it combines the Lion-Lamb metaphor with several other rich biblical metaphors. Or sing along with Graham Kendrick’s great composition, “The Servant King” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VeQrWmvCms .

This is our God, the Servant King; He calls us now to follow Him To bring our lives as a daily offering of worship to the Servant King