The Only One Qualified

Revelation 5 | Easter 3, Year C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Picture yourself scrolling through local job listings, heart pounding as you spot your dream job. Maybe it’s a production supervisor for the local factory, or a job as a registered nurse, or perhaps it’s a position as a retail manager. You check your resume—some factory shifts, a bit of caregiving, a few retail gigs—but you decide to apply anyway. Then the email arrives: “Thank you for your application. Unfortunately, we have decided to pursue other candidates at this time.” Someone else, perfectly qualified, gets the job.

But what if the job is to bring history to an end, judge both the living and the dead, and rule a kingdom which has no end? Who is qualified for that kind of responsibility? Who is worthy of that kind of honor? Who can we trust, so that we can be confident that things are unfolding for the good, even when they’re looking very bad? Is there anyone qualified of that kind of job? Anyone? That’s the question that John answers in Revelation chapter 5.

I. Can Anyone Open the Sealed Scroll? (vv. 1–5)

John has seen a majestic vision of God’s heavenly throne room in chapter 4. As chapter 5 begins something catches John’s attention: “I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals” (v. 1). This scroll is in the right hand of God—the hand of power and authority. This isn’t just any scroll. The scroll contains God’s future plans for history’s end: judgment against rebellious humanity and redemption for His people. It’s written on both sides, meaning it’s comprehensive, bursting with God’s purposes. This scroll holds everything. It’s God’s plan for justice, where evil is overthrown, and salvation, where God’s people are gathered into His kingdom. It contains the promises of the Bible: the martyrs avenged, the prayers of the saints answered, the wicked judged, and Christ returning to reign in his Kingdom on earth as in heaven. But, it’s sealed with seven wax seals.  It’s completely secure. Its contents hidden until someone can open it. But so long as it’s sealed, those promises remain unfulfilled. The scroll’s contents are impressive, but it needs divine authority to reveal and put into action.

A mighty angel steps forward, voice booming: “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” (v. 2). This is about moral goodness. This is about status, rank, and accomplishment—someone with the credentials to approach Almighty God, take the scroll, and enact the plan. The question echoes through all creation. Silence. “No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look into it” (v. 3). The universe holds its breath. No one. No one steps forward. Not the most powerful kings, not the wisest scholars, not the mightiest angels—no one has the qualifications.

No one was found worthy to open the scroll, and it wasn’t because you weren’t around yet. You are not worthy to stand before God. Not even you are qualified. Neither am I. No one is. You can’t save yourself. You can’t fix the world. And you certainly cannot stand before God’s throne on your own merit. Your resume—your good deeds, your best efforts—falls short. Instead, you deserve the judgements that are written in the scroll. God’s law exposes our inadequacy. We’re disqualified, helpless before the sealed scroll.

John’s response is gut-wrenching: “I wept much” (v. 4). This isn’t just frustrated curiosity. John gets the scroll’s importance. It’s appeared a couple times in the writings of the Old Testament prophets. If no one can open it, God’s promises stall. The martyrs go unavenged, the saints’ prayers unanswered, Christ’s return delayed, and the new creation unrealized. Hope itself seems defeated. John’s tears mirror the despair of God’s people have been crying through the ages, “How long, O Lord?” There is a lot in this world to discourage us. Maybe you’re right there with John this morning. It doesn’t feel like God’s plan is working out in your life. When evil, death, and sin seem to win, we despair.

But despair doesn’t get the last word. One of the elders around God’s throne speaks: “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and its seven seals” (v. 5). Hope breaks through! The messiah is described as a lion in Genesis 49:9. Lions make us think of royalty, strength, courage, and ferocity. The messiah is also called the Root of David in Isaiah 11:1. The Lord promised through the prophets that a Spirit-anointed king would come David’s fallen line, destined to restore the Kingdom.

This is Jesus Christ, who “has prevailed”, “has conquered.” That victory qualifies Him to take the scroll. John’s hopeless weeping is overcome by the reality that Jesus has conquered! Your weeping, your despair is over. Jesus gives hope. Jesus wipes away tears, and He is mighty to save. When you’re discouraged—by sin, suffering, or a broken evil world—look to Jesus. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). His victory is what comforts us in our distress. 

II. The Lamb is Worthy (vv. 6–10)

John turns, expecting to see a roaring lion, but instead sees something shocking: “a Lamb standing as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth” (v. 6). This Lamb bears the marks of death. It’s a sacrificial lamb—yet it stands alive in the center of the throne room.  What happens to sacrificial lambs? They get slaughtered, they get killed, and that’s what Jesus did. The Lion is a Lamb. Jesus conquered by getting killed. It is the greatest paradox in the world: the almighty King overcame all his enemies when his enemies overcame him. Jesus conquered not by might but by meekness, not by killing but by being killed.  His victory was not a military conquest but the cross, where He died as a sacrificial offering.  Jesus, the slain Lamb, has conquered. Satan thought he’d won by orchestrating Christ’s death, but the cross was victory disguised as defeat. Jesus’ resurrection turned the ashes of crucifixion into salvation for the world. Trust Him. Your only hope is to be swept up in His death and resurrection. If you don’t, you’re defeated. But if you do, His victory becomes yours.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I have never seen a lamb with seven horns and seven eyes. Horns in the bible describe strength and authority. Eyes describe insight and wisdom. Seven often refers to completeness. So, putting it together: the “seven horns” tell us that Christ has complete strength and authority; the “seven eyes” tell us that he has perfect wisdom and the fullness of God’s Spirit. This Lamb is no weakling. He’s the Passover’s ultimate fulfillment, slain to redeem God’s people. Then, with breathtaking audacity, “He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne” (v. 7). No one objects—not God the Father, not the angels, not the elders. Jesus assumes authority to control history’s end, to right all wrongs, and to bring salvation.

The moment Jesus takes the scroll, heaven erupts. The four living creatures and twenty-four elders fall before Him, offering harps and golden bowls of incense—“the prayers of the saints” (v. 8). Notice next the song that’s sung: “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth” (vv. 9–10). Why is the Lamb worthy? Because He was slain. His blood paid our ransom, to free us from the penalty and wrath our sins deserve. This redemption is universal in scope, reaching “every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” No culture is excluded. And the Lamb doesn’t just save us; He gives us a future and purpose: we become kingdom under His rule, priests living in holiness, destined to reign with Him on a renewed earth.  Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus’ blood has bought you, given you a purpose, and secured your future. You’re not a cosmic accident but a priest in His kingdom. Live for Him. Share His redemption with a world that needs it.

III. All Creation Worships (vv. 11–14)

The worship swells. John hears “the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” (v. 11). This countless host proclaims, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” (v. 12). “Every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them” joins in (v. 13). They cry, “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!” The four living creatures say, “Amen!” and the elders fall in worship (v. 14). All creation acknowledges both God and the Lamb. Jesus walks right up to the Father and lays hands on the scroll, and all Heaven responds by praising Jesus. Is there any way that John could have more clearly communicated that Jesus is God?

What keeps you from trusting in Jesus? Jesus Christ is the only One qualified to open the scroll, to execute God’s plan for judgment and redemption. You’re not worthy—none of us are. But the Lamb has conquered, and that turns our tears into triumph. His blood has redeemed us. You have a future place in His kingdom. So, trust Jesus. He’s the Lamb who was slain, the Lion who conquered. He holds your destiny, and He’s worthy of your worship. John knew God’s enemies still raged, but Jesus has conquered by his cross and resurrection. When you despair, look to Him. Your only hope for victory is Jesus’ death and resurrection for you. Do you want that victory? Then you have to trust in the only one qualified, Jesus Christ your Lord. And so today our worship joins with the worship of the angels and the archangels and all the company of heaven, “Worthy is the Lamb!”  And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

May the pace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.