THE SEVEN-SEALED SCROLL
THE SEARCH
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5:4
So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. . 5:4 The Agony: The pause in the revelation of the Person of Jesus must have been primarily for John, because the elders knew what was coming. Was this a dramatic pause? John still had not seen Jesus. Was there no solution? John wept in heaven. This is the same word that is used when Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41) and when Peter wept after his denial of knowing Jesus (Luke 22:62), and refers to a deep and unrestrained emotion. John had witnessed his Savior crucified, had seen the early believers martyred, had seen Jerusalem destroyed and the inhabitants massacred, and John had seen the churches barely surviving as they struggled against enormous odds and internal weakness . Would there be no end? No hope? John could not help himself. Where is Jesus? Reflection: Have you ever felt despair or desperation when all hope was dissolved?
5:5
But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals. 5:5 The Appearance: John must have been standing among the 24 elders, because one turned to him and told him to stop crying. Then he proceeds to present the Savior. This dramatic introduction of the revelation of Jesus Christ in power and authority amplified the uniqueness, majesty and supremacy of Jesus. All of heaven was about to erupt in exuberant praise and worship. John was told, “Do not weep,” that is “stop weeping.” John sees Jesus now for the first time. Reflection: How do you think John felt when he saw Jesus for the first time in heaven? Had He changed?
3. THE LAMB (5:6-7)
5:6
And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven