The Lamb who was slain

I have started reading a devotional in French each day. One of them caught my attention early this week, so I went ahead and translated it.

"In antiquity, the edicts of kings were sealed. When someone opened the seals in order to read the edict it was a very solemn proceeding. In the last book of the Bible, The Apocalypse (Revelation), a question is posed: "Who is worthy to open the book" that is in the right hand of God, sealed with 7 seals? This book contains the divine decree indicating the judgments that will fall upon unbelieving humanity. It's content has long been concealed. With patience, God was waiting for men to come to Him. But the moment has come to exercise His judgments, to prepare the arrival of His kingdom.
The book must be opened by someone qualified to do so. No one can open the book nor look in it. Who can, if not God himself, proclaim the end of the period of the Gospel of Grace and the commencement of judgment? A voice said, "The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome to open the book." The only one who could open the book was the Lord Jesus. He appeared in the middle of the throne in the form of a lamb who had been slain. The lamb of God: this title says that Jesus suffered and that he died on the cross, rejected by men, carrying the sins of many. Now Jesus is the judge. He alone is worthy. Why? Only the perfect man who never sinned can judge guilty men; but above all, before being the judge, He demonstrated his love: He gave his life for those who accept him." [1]

This was the day after I read Psalm 76:7-11 "You, even you, are to be feared; and who may stand in your presence when once you are angry? You have caused judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared and was still when God arose to judgment, to save all the humble of the humble of the earth. For the wrath of man shall praise you; with a remnant of wrath You will gird yourself. Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them; Let all who are around Him bring gifts to Him who is to be feared. He will cut off the spirit of princes; He is feared by the kings of the earth." (NASB)

Then, in Bible study, we talked about the parable of the vineyard. The man leading the Bible study was trying to get us to contemporize it and apply it to our lives. I was getting more out of it for what Jesus originally intended it to be. It is in Mathew, the gospel written to the Jews. Jesus is addressing it to the Jewish religious leaders- the guardians of the the faith. In the story, a king puts his vineyard in the care of a certain group of stewards. When the time for the harvest has come, He sends servants to collect the harvest from the workers. Rather than complying, the workers beat the servants or kill them. Finally the king sends his own son, thinking that certainly they wouldn't dare to touch his son. But they kill the son also, guided by the deranged logic that somehow the king will allow them to inherit the property in place of the son. Jesus then asks his audience what will happen to this unspeakably cruel tenants. They say that the king will surely come and kill them all, and give the vineyard to others.

Jesus then proceeds to make it very clear that He is the son and they are the tenants. God set apart his vineyard, His kingdom on earth, in the people of Israel. It was they who carried His name and the messianic line. They seemed determined to ignore God but He would not give up on them because of His grace and His faithfulness to the promises He had made to Adam, Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, and David. He sent his servants, the prophets. The people killed them. More specifically, the leaders of the people generally did the killing. It was as if they thought themselves more powerful than God. They wanted to replace God's plan with their own. They wanted to take over the vineyard and take the fruit themselves (the honor and glory and praise, most specifically).

Finally, God sent his son. Sure enough, the very men to whom Jesus was talking thought that if they got rid of Him, they would be able to maintain their control over the people of Israel. So they killed Him. And, lest I point a finger, I must remember that it was my sins that killed Him as well. Then what happened? Did the king kill the wicked tenants? No. He didn't (at least not immediately) because He is God, and He is merciful. But He did give the vineyard to others. This story is now, without allegorizing or modernizing or contemporizing, directly about the modern church. We are a part of the vineyard, and we are accoutable for it. God cares deeply and personally about His kingdom and we dare not treat it lightly.

The Son who was dead is now alive and powerful beyond imagination, the firstborn of the resurrection. He is not just a nice guy who did nice stuff once upon a time. May we live in respectful observation that "He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust." (NASB)


[1]La Bonne Semence 2009, 3 mars (back side of the 2 mars page -NL le 25 PQ le 04 61-304 2009)
La Bonne Semence - 30, rue Châteauvert BP 335 26003 VALENCE