Lion. For most people the word ‘lion’ brings an instant image to mind. For those of us who live in the United States, it most often comes from nature shows on television or visits to the zoo, but it is there nonetheless – a large, 300 to 500 pound feline with powerful legs, a strong jaw and long razor-sharp teeth; a predator, swift, skilled and merciless during the kill. When one thinks of a lion we think of power and, rightly, fear. To be ‘lionized’ is, according to Merriam Webster, to be treated as ‘an object of great interest or importance’. Many nations including Egypt, Greece and England have chosen the lion as a symbol of the power of gods or men due to the traits associated with the ‘king of the jungle’, namely power, dignity, authority, dominion, justice and ferocity.
Now, let us consider the lamb. A lamb is a young sheep, weighing 125 pounds at most, kept as livestock and therefore domesticated, important for wool and meat. They are herbivores. They are prey animals with a strong tendency to congregate close to other members of the flock. Figuratively a lamb is a person easily deceived or cheated, or in other words naive, or a sweet mild mannered person or child. One of the most common references in life and online is ‘like a lamb led to the slaughter’.
The lion’s roar. The lamb’s soft bleat. A meat eater. One that lives on plants. A predator. Prey. Power. Humility. Ferocity. Meekness.
Hmmm…there seems to be a contradiction here, doesn’t there? Scripture refers to Christ as both the lion and the lamb.
I have on my desk a beautiful stature of Christ as the Lion of Judah executed by Michael Dudash; the idea taken from the scripture in Revelation chapter 5, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.” This is contrasted by several verses in one of the most meaningful passages of scripture, at least to me, Isaiah 53. Verse 7 says, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”
So how can one man be both a lion and a lamb? One man could not. Humans seem to be forced to make the choice between slaughtering and being slaughtered, but God’s perfect man – His son, God incarnate – could. Jesus Christ arrived on this earth as a helpless baby. Long ago people often referred to babies and children as ‘lambs’ due to their defenseless nature. When he became a man, Jesus started to exhibit his ‘lion’ tendencies, teaching with ‘power’ and ‘authority’, demanding justice for the poor and oppressed, showing dignity and, yes, a ferocity for His father’s house and mission. Jesus was indeed ‘King’ of this jungle called planet Earth.
But Jesus also showed his ‘lamb’ attributes daily. He was kind. He loved little children. He had compassion for others, which led him to cure the sick, heal the lame and give sight to the blind; to give of himself so much that he was often weary, and once spoke of having no place to lay his head. He catnapped in boats. He stole away to pray and ‘recharge his batteries’. And then he gave more.
And then he allowed himself to be led like that lamb to the slaughter, and died.
It’s hard for those of us who live in the 21st century in the United States to grasp how powerful that image – the lion who let himself be led, mute and unprotesting, to the slaughter – is. The people of Israel who lived in the time of Christ knew what a 500 pound feline predator could do to another animal or man. And, every week, in their lives and in their temples, they saw sweet, docile lambs being slaughtered. At the temple, it was a common sight to see a lamb waiting, meekly, for its blood to be spilled in order that the one who carried it there might offer prayers up to God to assuage His righteous anger, to ask for justice, and to implore His mercy.
The lamb has little choice.
The lion has all the choice in the world.
For those of us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the King we follow, there is no paradox. There is only the beauty of the lion's choice of the lamb - of the choice of King Jesus - who had every right and the ability to demand sacrifice, instead turning Himself into the sacrifice to save us and set us free.
I take this also to re-assert proverbs which says that the beginning of knowlege is the fear of the Lord. There is a reason the following is in Revelations. He came as a defenseless babe and died like a slaughtered lamb for the forgiveness of sins. But he will come again as the lion to judge the living and the dead.
ReplyDeleteRevelation chapter 5, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.”