|
Friends United Meeting |
 |
October 2005
The Lamb Shall Overcome
By T. Canby Jones
Our theme Scripture for these sessions of Friends United Meeting is Revelation 17:13-14: “the ten kings and the Beast will make war on the Lamb and the Lamb will conquer them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.” (KJV) The pressing question for us as peaceable Quakers is therefore, “How do we expect to conquer or change the minds, hearts and policies of ‘kings’ or heads of governments, the ‘beast’ of militarism, preventive strike attacks, and military conquest and overcome by the persuasive, non-violent and overcoming power of the Lamb of God?”
I went to the Scripture to find the role of lambs in early Hebrew animal sacrifices. In Genesis 22 God tested Abraham by commanding Abraham to climb Mt. Moriah with his son, Isaac, fire and fuel but no animal for the sacrifice. On the way Isaac enquired: “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the Lamb for the burnt offering?” Unbelievably Abraham replied, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering my son.” (NRSV) What incredible faith?!
The next outstanding reference to a “lamb” is found in the story of the Passover in Exodus 12:7-13. The “death of the firstborn in every family” is the final plague visited on Pharaoh and his Egyptian subjects for Pharaoh’s refusal to liberate the Children of Israel. To avoid such deaths, every Israelite family was to slaughter an unblemished year-old lamb and, “They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintels of the houses…They shall eat the lamb that same night…roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs…When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will destroy you in the land of Egypt.” (NRSV)
As I sought to learn more about lambs for sacrifice in Leviticus as burnt offerings, sin offerings, restitution offerings or “well being” offerings, I learned that lambs were far down the list of animals preferred for such sacrifices. Bulls, heifers, and goats were preferred above lambs! Strange! What are the implications of that hierarchy? Goats are delightful creatures but I’m stunned that goats are preferred to lambs when it comes to sacrifice!
Moving on to II Samuel 1-7, we read of the prophet Nathan’s parable to king David about “the poor man’s lamb.” David is properly incensed that the rich man would steal the poor man’s lamb to prepare as food for a guest when he had hundreds of lambs of his own. Nathan then lowered the boom telling David “Thou art the man!”—not only for stealing Uriah’s wife Bathsheba so David could have sex with her, but also for arranging to have her husband killed as a cover up. I can’t bring myself to forgive David for that one, even though after promising that the child would die, the prophet Nathan apparently did. To reflect that lambs were at the bottom of the scale of animals valued to be sacrificed adds an interesting dimension to the story.
The remaining Old Testament passages referring to lambs have a positive tone. Isaiah 11:6-11 describes The Peaceable Kingdom: “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and he fatling together, and a little child shall lead them and … They shall not hurt nor destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
Isaiah 53:5-11 is a preview of New Testament affirmations about the atoning work of Jesus on the Cross: “He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, upon him was the punishment…that made us whole…And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth: like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth…Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain…Through him the will of the Lord will prosper … Out of his anguish he shall see light…The righteous one, my servant shall make many righteous and he shall bear their iniquities….” It is hard to believe that this great bridge passage to the New Testament is in the Old Testament!
Turning to the New Testament, the great affirmation about Jesus as “Lamb” is made by John the Baptist in John 1:29-34. Here the Old Testament tradition of a Lamb sacrificed is applied to Jesus and universalized to atone for all the transgressions of humanity. When Jesus approaches John asking for baptism, John bursts forth, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” Christians of all flavors have been celebrating John the Baptist’s affirmation ever since. John the Baptist goes on to witness that he himself came to baptize people with water for the remission of sins but that Jesus came to baptize people with the Holy Spirit. Yea! John! We Quakers say “Amen!” to that and the people who have been baptized inwardly by Christ as Holy Spirit are “fire baptized” and don’t need any water. John goes on to testify that this “Jesus is the Son of God.” Yea! So do we!
The obvious reference to sheep in Jesus’ ministry is the “Parable of the Lost Sheep” in Luke 15:4-7 (NRSV): “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Seeking and saving the lost was and now is a major emphasis of Jesus’ ministry and of those who follow him. The Lamb, then, not only conquers but also seeks and saves the lost.
Another crucial dimension of Jesus’ ministry is his stress on servanthood and suffering. The incident establishing his demand for servanthood is found in Mark 10:35-45. His disciples James and John have been disputing whether they would have the chief seats at Jesus’ right and left hand in his coming Kingdom. Jesus is angered by their self-interest and asks if they will be able to drink the cup that he must drink or be baptized with the baptism which he must undergo? Astonishingly, they answer, “We are able.” To really put them in their place he replies: “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” This is the incident in which Jesus clearly demonstrates that he is not a military Messiah that dominates or uses force, but is the willing slave of all—showing mercy toward and healing the hurt of all people and nations.
The classic expression of this kind of willing servanthood by the Lamb of God and his willing servant followers is found in Matthew 25:31-46 where Jesus portrays the “Last Judgment.” God promises eternal life to those who have fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, welcomed strangers, clothed the naked, visited the sick and those in prison. In the punch line God says: “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” This is how followers of the Lamb implement or bring about his conquest.
Jesus exhibited prophetic anger against the Scribes and Pharisees who put on a great outward show of punctilious religiosity but inwardly were “ravening wolves” full of greed and were hypocritical “whitewashed tombs,” “tithing mint and dill and cumin” and neglecting the weightier matters of the law.” He ends his diatribe against them in Matthew 23:32-33 saying: “Fill up then the measure of your ancestors. You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell?” Not very lamb-like language, is it, but does it sound prophetic or like a conqueror?
One of my favorite passages, which immediately follows Jesus’ excoriation of the Pharisees, is Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem. It reveals his broken heart and certainly expresses the sorrow and compassion of “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” It is found in Matthew 23:37-39 and Luke 13:34-35: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, You will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
The book of Revelation is, of course, the source and locus of our key scripture, Revelation 17:14: “They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
Scholars believe that Revelation was written in Asia Minor between 90 and 95 A.D. at the end of the rule of the Roman emperor, Domitian. The author, John, in all likelihood, was not John, “the beloved disciple,” nor John the brother of James the son of Zebedee. The theme of the book is: The Triumph of faith in the face of persecution and the threat of death.
John, the revelator, is called to write letters to seven churches in Asia (Minor). In his introduction he portrays Jesus in a very exalted manner: “I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest. His head and hair were white as wool, white as snow, his eyes were like a flame of fire, His feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full force.” (Revelation 1:13-16)
Whew! Is this a peaceable lamb being described or an exalted royal figure with all forms of force at his disposal? Or perhaps he is so exalted that those who rely on force of arms and violence will be so over-awed they would not dare rely on such force.
In Revelation 6 there is more about the conquering Lamb: “Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures call out, as with a voice of thunder, ‘Come!’ I looked and there was a white horse! Its rider had a bow; a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering and to conquer.” Doesn’t sound very peaceable to me, does it to you? But it is Jesus so it has to be peaceable! The description in Revelation 7:9-10 is much better: “After this I looked and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated upon the throne and to the Lamb!” Hey! That’s more like it! Terrific! Salvation to all tribes and peoples! Yea!
In Revelation 7:13-14 we are addressed by one of the elders standing around the throne who says, “Who are these robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal: they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Friends, the governments of this world seem bent on “preemptive strike” and other wars and a studied neglect of the poor in the earth while large corporations swallow each other in order to make larger profits. God and his Lamb will terminate their wars, bring peace and justice, and expropriate corporate profits in order to rescue the poor of the earth. These are some of the promises I hear in these great passages from Revelation, do you also?
The further you go in Revelation the more extensive become the promises of God. When the seventh angel blows his trumpet in Revelation 11:15, there are “loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever.’” Bring it on, Lord. That’s what we’ve been struggling and hoping for all our lives!….
Turning back to our golden text, I will repeat it so that we can think together how to implement it and bring about its fruits described in Revelation 21 and 22. Chapter 17:12-14 reads: “And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, with the beast. These are united in yielding their power and authority to the beast. They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of Lords and King of kings, And those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
Committed to Jesus not only as Lord but also as Prince of Peace and peacemaking, we eschew anything to do with war and war making. He commanded us to love our enemies and bless those who curse and despitefully use us. That commandment is binding on all Christians with no exceptions. (See Matthew 5:43-48 or Luke 6:27-28) Earlier He has told us, “Blessed are the Peacemakers for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9) We are also commanded not only not to kill but “that every one who is angry with his brother (or sister) shall be liable to judgment.” (Matthew 5:22) How do you do with that judgment? I fare poorly. When I get really frustrated my anger can really flare. How about you? Paul advises us in Romans 12:17-21, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil.…If it be possible so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all….Beloved never avenge yourselves…for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’”
No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them, if they are thirsty give them something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on their heads. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Go ahead, think of the dozens of other places in which Jesus or Scripture teaches us to live in holy obedience to His inward Voice saying: ”This is the way, walk ye in it!” (Isaiah 30:21)
Have you ever sung or rejoiced in Handel’s Messiah? He concludes that life-changing Oratorio with the outburst of praise to God and to the Lamb based on Revelation 5:11-13:
“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the all that is in them singing, ‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever’ And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’”
“And the elders fell down and worshiped.”
§
T. Canby Jones is Professor Emeritus of Wilmington College, Ohio. As a recorded minister, he has spoken at numerous conferences and meetings.