Lion and the Lamb

 

God’s omnipotence is awe inspiring. He possesses all power. But additionally awe inspiring, and also perplexing, is that at the same time we read in Scripture, that He is merciful and compassionate.

So our God who possesses all power is the same God who is infinitely compassionate and gracious. And in that understanding we see both the Lion and the Lamb.

While those attributes of God seem to contradict one another, they do not.

The Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the Lamb are two distinct names for God that are used in Scripture that describe elements of Christ’s nature.

“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29).

“But one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals’” (Revelation 5:5).

God sent Christ to earth to lay down His life for us. Throughout Jesus’ ministry on earth, He was a servant.

He did not come to be served as we see in Matthew 20:28.

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

At the conclusion of his ministry, we find Jesus during His final hours on earth being abused and mocked by Roman soldiers. They beat Him, they spit upon Him, and they tormented Him. Through all of this, what was His response?

“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 its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).

Like a lamb to the slaughter. These words resonate within us because they speak of Christ as a humble servant, willing to lay down His life.

But we need to remember that His response was not weakness; it was strength.  He was keenly aware of who He was and what He came to accomplish.

In Revelation 5:5 it states that the Lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed. What does this mean? It means that Jesus won the victory!

The Gospel of John 19:25-27 depicts Jesus, in the final moments of life, arranging for the care of his mother to the “disciple Jesus loved” (Thought to be John himself). In the midst of his torment, Jesus hung from the cross making arrangements for Mary to have support after His death. The strength and self-control that He exhibits in this moment, to continue loving and caring until His final breath, was evident until the end.

There is strength in the Lamb as well as the Lion.

In Luke 23:40-43, Jesus forgave one of the criminals that was crucified alongside Him, even in the midst of unbearable agony. Jesus maintained both the compassion and strength to minister to this man in His deepest moments of pain.  While He was the sacrificial lamb in his sinless sacrifice, He was also the lion who ferociously defeated death.

Yet He never compromised Gods truth.

It is so important to understand that Jesus is both tender like a lamb and mighty like a lion. Understanding both sides of Jesus is crucial for our relationship with Him because if you only comprehend one side of Jesus, it skews your relationship with Him, and diminishes the true miraculousness of who He is.

We were given the power of the Holy Spirit within us; the strength of the Lion and the tenderness of the Lamb.

This means we have conviction in what we stand for without compromising the love that God has asked us to give. It means we stand in what God has told us to be true and share that truth in love with others.

Sometimes we get this upside-down. To love others does not mean we have to agree with them or follow their path in order to love them. Jesus never lost His conviction in whom His Heavenly Father was. Jesus never compromised the Word of God for the sake of relationship.

Jesus’ words were sometimes convicting and blunt, but always filled with compassion.

On the other side of this juxtaposition is the fact that we don’t have to roar like a lion to prove a point or make a statement. When Peter cut of the ear of the guards servant who had come to arrest Jesus; Jesus healed the man’s ear instantly and rebuked Peter in that moment.

We have forgotten how to be both the Lion and the Lamb in our Christian walk. Many of us lean towards one or the other.

It’s not to say there isn’t a time for righteous anger or complete surrender. The problem lies in the fact that we forget to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us. We can only wrap our minds around being one or the other extreme. Strong, brave and forceful OR meek, timid and submissive. These are both contorted understandings of what it means to be both lion and lamb.

If we only know Jesus as a lamb, we might conclude, that Jesus isn’t strong enough to handle our problems; or that Jesus will just agree with how ever way we want to live.  

If our understanding of Jesus and God is only as a fierce, strong lion, we may then only perceive Him as tough and lacking compassion and mercy; Maybe feeling that God is only harsh and judgmental.

Jesus is both the Lion and the Lamb and when we live in the power of the Holy Spirit we can be too.

We can have conviction in love.

We can stand our ground with respect.

We can speak Gods truth with authority in peace.

We can love and care for others without compromising God truth

Ask Holy Spirit to fill you with the power of the Lion and the compassion of the Lamb. Only our surrender to Jesus will allow these two animals to live inside of us with a balance of strength and compassion that surpasses all understanding.

When we see the glory of the Lamb and anticipate the power of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, how can we not stand in awe of this great salvation with which He has bestowed on us?

Glory to the Lamb and the Lion!

-Pastor Patti