Jesus: I am the Lion of Judah

Rev. 5:5: “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.”

The last time we talked about Jesus as the Lamb of God. What would seem an opposing title is today’s topic, the Lion of Judah.

One of those questions you ponder when you have time to think about it, is, “Why is the lion called the King of the Beasts/Jungle?” Some light research led me to Quora.com, where I took a few samples of information that came up on my Google search:

“Lion is known to be the King of Beasts (“king of the jungle” would be a misnomer) across most cultures of the world. This is mostly because of a lion’s appearance and partly because of the social structure of a pride and the lion’s role in the pride.” “It is usually called the king of beasts because of its royal appearance the mane gives lions, and because they live in prides.” – Why is the lion called ‘The King of beasts’? – Quora (https://www.quora.com/Why-is-the-lion-called-The-King-of-beasts)

As a young child I saw an animated version of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe on television. At the time I didn’t recognize the simile that C.S. Lewis was weaving into the Chronicles of Narnia – this was my first exposure to it. I remember the scene where Aslan the Lion lays down his life on the altar and is killed by the White Witch; at the time, I thought, “but he is the hero, right?” Then when Susan and Lucy discover the altar broken and that Aslan lived again….then, I recognize who Aslan represented (no wonder Lewis chose a lion as the representation!):

“Aslan is the only character to appear in all seven books of the Chronicles of Narnia. Aslan represents Jesus Christ, according to the author, C. S. Lewis, who uses the allegory in the books that Aslan is the Lion and the Lamb, which also says in the Bible about God.” – Aslan | The Chronicles of Narnia Wiki | FANDOM powered by Wikia (narnia.wikia.com/wiki/Aslan).

The lion is seen as king; what better title for Jesus Christ, our King, than the Lion of Judah.

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Jesus: I am the Lamb of God

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

“Night of the Lepus” was a science fiction/horror film from 1972, starring Stuart Whitman, Janet Leigh, Rory Calhoun, Paul Fix, and DeForest Kelley. In this film, the monstrous antagonist was kept secret in press releases and trailers. Finally, when the film debuted, the audiences saw that the monstrous creatures stalking the humans were…giant…bunny…rabbits. Yep, you read right. Giant bunnies that had become carnivorous were the monsters in this film. Now, you can make a lot of animals look vicious or creepy: spiders, snakes, bugs, wolves, bears, bats, etc….but bunny rabbits? Even as a child watching this film, my only thought was “they don’t look scary”…not even with ketchup on their mouths to be the effect of blood! Believe it or not, this was based on a novel, The Year of the Angry Rabbit , by Russell Braddon (I’m sure something got lost in translation from book to film). This movie went down in the annals of B-movies and camp. Who would believe a killer bunny? (more information can be read at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Lepus).

Our Savior has many titles, but one may strike non-Christians as odd. Jesus has been described as King, God, Lord, Savior, Shepherd, and Alpha and Omega. But do you realize one of His titles is…the Lamb of God? “A lamb?” you might ask. Yes, because besides all of His mighty titles, Jesus Christ came as a living sacrifice to pay our sin debt. In Bible times, sacrifices were made at the temple to pay for atonement from sins. Often, a spotless animal was the sacrifice, and in many of those cases, it was a lamb without blemish. A lamb, meek and mild. Our Savior is the Lamb of God; He willingly went to the cross to pay a debt we couldn’t pay…the only spotless, perfect sacrifice that could be made. The world might ask, “your Lord is a Lamb?” Yes…THE LAMB OF GOD. Unlike Hollywood movies, this is fact, not fiction.

Something to think about!

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Jesus: I am the Indescribable Gift

2 Cor. 9:15 “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

“One Froggy Evening” was a 1955 Looney Tunes cartoon that has gone on to become one of the masterpieces in cartoon history. It tells the story of an unnamed construction worker, helping to demolish an old building. As he is uncovering the cornerstone, he finds a time capsule of sorts. Included in this collection, a frog hops out. Once he spies the fellow looking back at him, the frog dons a top hat, grabs a cane, and starts dancing and singing “Hello, Ma Baby”!

What a gift! A singing/dancing frog! Does the fellow enjoy this gift that he has uncovered? Does he take him home to enjoy the unheard-of talents for such an amphibian? No, he does like most of us would do…dollar signs dancing in his head, he tries to find a way to cash in on his new discovery. The trouble is, every time he tries to show the frog’s talent, the frog reverts to type, sits there and croaks. He’ll only perform for the man and only if it is just the man watching. Through a series of attempts to get rich, the man becomes bankrupt, homeless, thrown in an asylum for being crazy, and finally becoming free again. Spying the construction site of a new building, he quickly puts the box with the frog in it inside its cornerstone, and runs away free. Years later in the future, a spacesuit-garbed “demolition man” is disintegrating the now old building. He find the frog, the frog dances and sings for him,…and history repeats itself as he scurries away with his gift, looking to cash in.

We, as Christians, have come into possession of a Gift offered to us. The Gift of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He paid the penalty of sin for us, and through accepting Him as Lord and Savior in our lives, guarantees us eternal life in Heaven. A set of dictionaries filled with every positive adjective in the English language would utterly fail at adding to the one adjective used in 2 Corinthians to describe this Gift: Indescribable. As such, we need to remember that we don’t need to waste the precious value of this Gift of God. We don’t need to behave like “heathens” brazenly continuing to sin just because we have “fire insurance”. We need to live for Jesus every day, telling others about Him, so that we can help share this Gift. We certainly don’t need to keep it to ourselves! People will see the value of this Gift, if they see the change that is brought in our lives by Jesus. Remember, we may be the only exposure of Jesus some people might see.

So what are you going to do with your Gift today?

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