Revelation 5:1-7: Is Anyone Worthy?

Today is part 4 in our series on Revelation 4 and 5. We took three posts (find the first one here) to make our way through chapter four and it is a wonderful and glorious chapter, but without chapter five, we are lost. Revelation 4 sets before us our Creator. Revelation 5 brings us face to face with our Redeemer. We will be looking at 5:1-7 and we will break this passage into pieces in order to slow us down and live through the scene that John paints for us. Here are the first four verses:

1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 

Our eyes have been upon the living creatures and the twenty-four elders for the past few verses, but now it is as if the camera pans back to the throne and zooms in on the right hand of God, and in his hand is a scroll. Enclosed within its seals is perhaps the comprehensive, eternal plan of God (1). All the promises of God and bringing those promises to fruition are here!

But a booming voice of a mighty angel reveals a problem: is there anyone worthy to open this scroll and execute the plan? This question echoes throughout all creation in search of one to step forward and open the scroll. And it is as if John looks around and no one is moving toward the scroll. The question has reverberated back to the halls of heaven with an answer of silence. No one is worthy. The promises of God will not be fulfilled. There will be no salvation, no justice for God’s people, no fixing of this creation. John is overcome with a sense of despair, of deep sadness, of hopelessness. And now the halls of heaven are filled with the echo of his wailing.

It could have ended this way, but it doesn’t.

5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” 

What a poignant picture! I imagine one of John’s brothers in the faith coming and putting his arm around him in a comforting gesture. As wonderful as that would be, it is the words of this elder that breaks through the grief. There is one! There is only one! He is the one who has been promised to us in types and shadows. He is the one we have been waiting for since the day we rebelled against our God in the garden and cast this creation, and ourselves, into turmoil and bondage. He has conquered! 

It is here that we might imagine the elder turning John in a certain direction, pointing, and saying, “Look there.”

6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.

The one who is worthy comes from “among the elders”! He is one of us! And yet, he is more, so much more. The seven horns, the seven eyes and the seven spirits of God speak of his divinity. This is the God-man who has received the Holy Spirit without measure. This is the one who is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Perhaps John notices the scars, so the Lamb looks as if he has been slain. But he is standing. He was dead but now he is alive! 

Jesus, who conquered sin and death, steps forward and takes the scroll. He is worthy!

Now here is a question: When is this? The answer to this question is what should really set our hearts aflame and bring perspective to all of life. To understand what we have just witnessed, we need to have two other passages in our minds. In Acts 1, Jesus ascends from the Mount of Olives on a cloud. He has finished his forty days of Bible study with his disciples and is now ascending to the throne on high. He disappears, out of view of his disciples, but, in a sense, reappears in the book of Daniel: “Behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him” (Dan 7:13-14). 

What we have just witnessed in our passage is simply more description of what happened on the day when Jesus ascended into heaven. Daniel gave us a broad picture, while John filled in some of the details. In other words, Revelation 5:1-7 has already happened. Our precious Jesus has taken the scroll and is now seated on his throne. The risen King has taken his kingdom and begun to reign.

We need to see the response of the living creatures, the elders and all of creation, but that is for tomorrow. For today, know that your Jesus, the one who is the Lamb of God for you, rules and reigns over all of creation. He is the only one worthy to take the scroll.

Here is an Andrew Peterson song, sung by Shane and Shane: Is He Worthy?  You won’t want to miss!

1. See William Hendriksen, More Than Conquerors, 89. For a more detailed discussion on the scroll, see Beale, NIGTC, The Book of Revelation, 339-348.