BACKGROUND - Chapter five of Revelation is the heavenly scene that captures John’s attention. In the vision he sees a sealed scroll and is disquieted when no one is worthy to open it. Finally he learns of the one who will open the seal-the lion from the tribe of Judah. In the midst of worship and movement in heaven, John sees the Lamb who is worthy to open the seal. The opened seal will reveal the crises that will come upon the world and will thus form the content of the rest of John’s revelation.

The elders are the first to "solve" the problem of the closed seal by telling John that "the Lion of the tribe of Judah . . . has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals." Their response in verse eight affects and impacts every creature in the universe, "on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them" (v.13).

NIB ON THIS PASSAGE:

If it is the slain Lamb that merits the worship of the heavenly host, then we have to ask about the character of the lifestyle that is acceptable to God. It is not the mighty of the world who attract fame and attention, those who are worldly wise, those who run the system best of all. It is those who are victims of the system of the beast and Babylon, just as the Lamb was, who are promised the blessings of the age to come (7:15). Revelation 5 compels us to consider a different understanding of the meaning of success and the exercise of power. This is so difficult to hold on to when we are pressured to conform to a culture of self-aggrandizement epitomized by Babylon. [1]

Get into the mood of the text! Find a CD of Handel’s Messiah. Play the selection, "Worthy is the Lamb" and let the music lead you into worship. Or for a more contemporary musical offering, play Michael Card’s "You Are Worthy," from his CD, Unveiled Hope. Let the music sink into your soul until it expresses your adoration of the Lamb. You might try something similar with other songs which lead the hearers into praise and adoration. Then try singing the scripture in your heart and mind throughout the day.

We have a homily based on this passage in our DPS archives for your review.

You may want to use this passage that is worshipful and liturgical as a door into a discussion of the topic of worship.

You might want to retell the scenario so that listeners become aware that this idea of worship is much, much larger than they’d ever imagined. We are part of a company of worshipers that is as large as our universe and share such worship with beings outside of time and space that offer and adore and worship God as the supreme Cause, the Unnamable, the Creator of all creation, etc. And then lead hearers to the awareness of how they, in a small but significant way, participate in such mysterious worship through their own liturgy and especially in the Eucharist.

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[1] New Interpreter’s Bible, XII (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998), page 606.