I saw a Lamb standing,
as though it had been slain,
with seven horns
and with seven eyes.
REVELATION 5 : 6
THE LION AND THE LAMB
The Excellence of Jesus Christ
John Piper
A lion is admirable for its ferocious strength and imperial appearance. A lamb is
admirable for its meekness and servant-like provision of wool for our clothing. But
even more admirable is a lion-like lamb and a lamb-like lion. What makes Christ
glorious, as Jonathan Edwards observed over 250 years ago, is “an admirable
conjunction of diverse excellencies.” For example, we admire Christ for his
transcendence, but even more because the transcendence of his greatness is
mixed with submission to God. We marvel at him because his uncompromising
justice is tempered with mercy. His majesty is sweetened by meekness. In his
equality with God he has a deep reverence for God. Though he is worthy of all
good, he was patient to suffer evil. His sovereign dominion over the world was
clothed with a spirit of obedience and submission. He baffled the proud scribes with
his wisdom, but was simple enough to be loved by children. He could still the storm
with a word, but would not strike the Samaritans with lightning or take himself
down from the cross.
The glory of Christ is not a simple thing. It is a coming together in one person of
extremely diverse qualities. We see it in the New Testament book of Revelation:
“The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can
open the scroll and its seven seals” (5:5). Here is the triumphant lion-like Christ
ready to unroll the scroll of history. But what do we see in the next verse? “And
between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a
Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes,
which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth” (verse 6). So the
Lion is a Lamb—an animal that is weak and harmless and lowly and easily preyed
upon, and sheared naked for clothes, and killed for our food. So Christ is a lamb-like Lion.
The Lion of Judah conquered because he was willing to act the part of a lamb. He
came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday like a king on the way to a throne, and he
went out of Jerusalem on Good Friday like a lamb on the way to the slaughter. He
drove out the robbers from the Temple like a lion devouring its prey. And then at
the end of the week he gave his majestic neck to the knife, and they slaughtered
the Lion of Judah like a sacrificial lamb. But what sort of lamb? Revelation 5:6
says, the “Lamb [was] standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns.”
Notice two things. First, the Lamb is “standing.” It is not slumped in a bloody heap
on the ground as it once was. Yes, it had been slain. But now it is
standing—standing in the innermost circle next to the throne.
Second, the Lamb has seven horns. A horn is a symbol of strength and power
throughout the book of Revelation (12:3; 13:1; 17:3, 12), as well as in the Old
Testament (Deuteronomy 33:17; Psalm 18:2; 112:9). And the number seven
signifies fullness and completeness. So this is no ordinary lamb. He is alive from the
dead, and he is completely mighty in his sevenfold strength. He is, in fact, a lion-like
Lamb.
We see this with trembling in Revelation 6:16, where men call to the mountains
and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from . . . the wrath of the Lamb.” And we see it
in 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.”
So Christ is a lamb-like Lion and a lion-like Lamb. That is his glory—“an admirable
conjunction of diverse excellencies.” This glorious conjunction shines all the
brighter because it corresponds perfectly with our personal weariness and our
longing for greatness. Jesus said, “Come to me, all who are labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I
am gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:28-29). The lamb-like gentleness and
humility of this Lion woos us in our weariness. And we love him for it. If he only
recruited like the Marines, who want strength, we would despair of coming. But
this quality of meekness alone would not be glorious. The gentleness and humility
of the lamb-like Lion become brilliant alongside the limitless and everlasting
authority of the lion-like Lamb. Only this fits our longing for greatness. Yes, we are
weak and weary and heavy-laden. But there burns in every heart, at least from
time to time, a dream that our lives will count for something great. To this dream
Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations. . . . And behold, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).
The lion-like Lamb calls us to take heart from his absolute authority over all reality.
And he reminds us that, in all that authority, he will be with us to the end of the
age. This is what we long for—a champion, an invincible leader. We mere mortals
are not simple either. We are pitiful, yet we have mighty passions. We are weak,
yet we dream of doing wonders. We are transient, but eternity is written on our
hearts. The glory of Christ shines all the brighter because the conjunction of his
diverse excellencies corresponds perfectly to our complexity.
Once, this lamb-like Lion was oppressed and afflicted. He was led to the slaughter.
Like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, he did not open his mouth (Isa