Behold the Lion of Godনমুনা

Day 2

Lions have been known for their courage, fearlessness, boldness, and strength. These characteristics are exactly the picture we see of Jesus in the Book of Revelation.

Courage means being able to do something that, by nature, will frighten you. None of us can think of dying in the same way as Jesus did. As we learned yesterday, Jesus endured a very harsh and dehumanising death. The book of Isaiah, chapter 53, describes the type of suffering Jesus endured for us during the process of crucifixion. On the night of His arrest, Jesus found Himself praying alone in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus uttered these words to His disciples before they fell asleep. “I am deeply grieved to the point of death.” And unto the Father He said, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” [NKJV] The Gospel of Luke mentions in chapter 22, verse 44, that Jesus’ sweat actually turned into drops of blood. To reach that point of anguish and inner torment and still persist in the purposes of the Father, to die in the hands of the Roman soldiers, could have only been courage and fearlessness. When Jesus endured the cross, despite the shame and the pain, He earned His description as a courageous and fearless Lion.

The word boldness is essentially the same as courage, but courage has more to do with the capacity to do something, whilst boldness means the willingness to do the thing that needs courage. We see Jesus as the bold Lion when He willingly endured the cross, not fighting back or calling upon legions of angels to come to His protection. Jesus didn’t stop the soldiers from plucking His beard, or hitting Him with clubs, or whipping Him, or hammering nails through His hands and feet, He didn't even talk back to the leaders of the time. It took real boldness to willingly say “Yes” to the Father’s will in going through the process of crucifixion.

BUT, the Bible does not stop there in describing Jesus, so we are not left hanging with this picture of the Son of God being sacrificed for all sins of humanity. NO, we receive a totally different picture of Jesus when we read the book of Revelation. In chapter one, Jesus is described as having hair as white as wool, fire coming from His eyes, His voice sounding like mighty, rushing waters, a two-edged sword coming from His mouth, feet like bronze furnished by fire, a royal robe, and a golden breastplate. This Jesus carries the keys of death and hell in His hand. This Jesus is the only One found worthy to open the scroll with the seven seals. He is the only One strong enough, worthy enough, holy enough to open the scroll. This Jesus is the Lion-Jesus. This Jesus is the One who learned obedience from the things He suffered, and now He can roar His roar of victory for all ages to come. This Jesus is courageous, bold, fearless, and most definitely mighty in battle.