Revelation 5:5
Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Look! The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”
Jesus is the answer for the world today and for the eternal question. What makes Him qualify so uniquely? Today we note that He qualifies on account of two titles that have tremendous prophetic significance: the Lion of Judah and the Root of David.
Firstly, He is of the royal Lion of the tribe of Judah. This reference in the last book of the Bible dates back to the patriarch’s prophecy made in the first book of the holy Scriptures: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people” (Genesis 49:10).
This prophecy restricts the number of possible candidates for this eternal assignment. It narrows down the Messiah to one nation and one tribe in the whole wide world– the true Redeemer would be a Jewish man. He would be a Jewish man with a lionlike authority, majesty and boldness.
Indeed, anyone who reads the Gospels cannot dispute the majestic power and authority with which Jesus went about His life and ministry in Israel. His courage to venture into the dark jungle of a rebellious, depraved and demon-infested world required lionlike courage. Furthermore, Jesus’ venturing into the midst of the awesome, glorious and formidable Throne of heaven also requires a majestic, lionlike boldness of divine proportions.
As we celebrate the Lion of Judah’s worthiness, let us also embrace the lionlike boldness His finished work purchased for us too: “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion” (Pro 28:1).
Pastor Josh