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The Lion or the Lamb? Jesus the Messiah - Pacifist or Warlord?
The Lion or the Lamb?
Is your opinion of Jesus too westernised or simply too nice? Little Jesus meek and mild who needs our assistance? God forbid! There is often a tendency to examine Jesus attributes and character from isolated passages in scripture or just the nice bits that make us feel good about ourselves!
Well which one is it? Is Jesus the Lion or the Lamb, or is He both and if so how can that be?
Is He a pacifist or a warlord and has He come to judge the world or bring peace... I have talked to Muslims and they believe what the Imam tells them, I've talked to Jewish people and they believe what the Rabbi says to them, I've talked to Catholics and they understand the words of the priest as gospel. I've talked to Christians who form their opinions on what the man at the front says rather than reading the word of God for themselves and asking God for the Holy Spirit to reveal it to them!
In answer to the above question - Jesus is both the Lion and the Lamb. My opinion isn't particularly important but what is important is what the Bible says!Jesus is the Lion of Judah 'Behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals' (Rev 5:5) Also 'Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey my son, you have gone up, he bows down, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who shall rouse him? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to Him shall be the obedience of the people.' (Gen 49: 9-10) What did John the Baptist, the messenger preparing the way for Jesus the Messiah say in John 1:29 "Behold the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world!"
Okay so we've established that scripture confirms that Jesus is the Lion of Judah and the lamb that takes away the sin of the world. Another thing to bear in mind is that God does not change (Mal 3:6 I am the Lord I do not change and Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and forever.) but He has established particular covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and there is also a new covenant which helps us understand His ways and actions as God acts out of His covenant promises! In other words God does not change but He does introduce dispensations of His economy of governing mankind via His covenants.
Another factor to take into consideration is Jesus role in His first coming and second coming. Jesus fulfills different functions at His first and second coming. He came in peace on the first occasion and will come to judge on His second arrival.Even though He is God, on the first occasion He came to Jerusalem riding on a colt the foal of a donkey on what we refer to as Palm Sunday. At His second coming He shall appear on a white horse. But what about when the Messiah rules with a Rod of Iron and we are warned in Psalm 2 'Kiss the Son lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little (Psalm 2:12) Before Jesus reigns in His millennial kingdom He will return on a white horse (not a humble donkey this time) 'Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has a name written on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.' (Rev 19:16)
We often then read the gospels and although that is an excellent frame of reference to start from it doesn't include what the whole of scripture has to say about Jesus. We may read only Matt 5-7 known as the Sermon on the Mount and conclude that Jesus was a pacifist but what about the rest of the gospels content? 'Not everyone who says to Me Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.' (Matt 7:21) What about weeping and gnashing of teeth? what about the offense of the gospel?, what about persecutions coming, what about taking up the cross, what about His cleansing the temple twice, the world's hatred and he who does not believe is condemned already?
Furthermore we forget often that Jesus is an eternal being and appeared on numerous occasions prior to His incarnation most often as the Angel of the Lord. How can I be confident in saying that Jesus appeared as the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament? Check Psalm 34:7 'The Angel of the Lord encamps around all those who fear Him and delivers them.' Obviously the Angel of the Lord is an omnipresent being and in Judges 2:1-3 confirms that He brought the Israelites out of Egypt and confirmed that He would never break His covenant with them.
So in the Old Testament scriptures we have a very interesting study of His attributes and character whereby He steps in as The Angel of the Lord from allowing Abraham to offer up Isaac as this was a picture of what Abraham's descendant Jesus would do for us by dying for our sins, He wrestles with Jacob, appears as a Deliverer to Moses in the burning bush, reveals Himself to Joshua as Commander of the army of the Lord, visits Manoah in Judges 13 and ascends in the flames, slays 185,000 Assyrians who were led by the boastful Sennacherib and saves Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace!
Where do we go from here? Well we need to acknowledge that Jesus is sovereign and that by obeying Him we aren't doing Him a huge favour! Elijah thought He was the only one doing what God required of Him but God had reserved seven thousand others. If God doesn't use you because you won't be used by Him he'll use someone else. Dominion theology teaches that Jesus has no hands or feet to tell and save others but ours, which is not true as in His omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence He can do what He wants and via whatever way He wishes and I am writing this because if I don't God will find someone else in whatever way He wishes according to His perfect timing!
What I think is even more remarkable, is that Jesus laid aside His majesty temporarily during His thirty three year earthly ministry and came to save us and die for our sins, whilst He was still God! Mark's gospel could be summed up 'For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.' (Mark 10:45) What should we do now? Be extremely grateful, get your lives sorted out by getting real with God and confess your sins, repent, believe and receive Him into our lives by the Holy Spirit and get ready for His second coming!! Thomas saw Jesus and His miracles, His compassion and still doubted but then came to know Him as 'My Lord and My God!' (John 20:28) |
