Bird's-eye view
Revelation 5 presents us with a scene of cosmic crisis and glorious resolution. Following the vision of the Father on His throne in chapter 4, the camera, so to speak, zooms in on a scroll in His right hand. This scroll represents nothing less than the title deed to history, the Father's sovereign plan for the world, sealed and inscrutable. A challenge rings out through all creation: who has the authority, the moral right, to unroll God's purposes and bring them to pass? The silence that follows is deafening. No created being, whether angelic, human, or demonic, is found worthy. This cosmic impotence plunges John into deep despair, for it seems that God's plan is stalled, history is meaningless, and evil will go unanswered. But the despair is shattered by a glorious announcement. There is one who is worthy. The Lion of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, and through His victory, He has earned the right to open the scroll. This chapter is the hinge of the entire book; it is the heavenly perspective on the ascension of Jesus Christ, where the slain and risen Lamb takes up His authority at the right hand of the Father to execute the divine decree and govern all things for the sake of His church.
The central drama here is the problem of worthiness. The universe has a moral problem that power alone cannot solve. A created being cannot fix the mess that created beings have made. The only one qualified to take history in hand is the one who is both God and man, the one who made history and entered into it to redeem it. The solution is found not in raw power, but in sacrificial atonement. The Lion prevails because He is also the Lamb who was slain. His death was not a defeat but the ultimate victory, the act that qualified Him to rule. This scene establishes Christ's absolute authority to judge the wicked and save His people, which is precisely what the opening of the seals in the subsequent chapters will unleash.
Outline
- 1. The Unopenable Scroll (Rev 5:1-4)
- a. The Sealed Decree of God (Rev 5:1)
- b. The Angelic Challenge (Rev 5:2)
- c. The Cosmic Silence (Rev 5:3)
- d. The Apostolic Despair (Rev 5:4)
- 2. The Worthy Redeemer (Rev 5:5)
- a. The Elder's Consolation (Rev 5:5a)
- b. The Victorious Lion (Rev 5:5b)
- c. The Davidic King (Rev 5:5c)
- d. The Qualification of Conquest (Rev 5:5d)
Context In Revelation
Chapter 5 is the direct continuation of the throne room vision that began in chapter 4. Having established the absolute sovereignty and holiness of God the Father, the Creator, the scene now shifts to the problem of redemption and history. Chapter 4 shows us the One who wrote the plan; chapter 5 reveals the One who is worthy to execute it. This chapter is the theological centerpiece of the entire book. Everything that follows, from the seal judgments to the final victory, is the result of the Lamb taking the scroll and opening its seals. This event in heaven is the ultimate reality behind the events on earth. Specifically, this vision provides the heavenly perspective on the ascension of Christ. While the disciples on the Mount of Olives saw Jesus go up into a cloud, John is shown what happened next: the Son arrived in the Father's throne room to be enthroned as the Mediatorial King, receiving all authority in heaven and on earth. The woes and judgments that will befall first-century Jerusalem and the persecuting Roman Empire are not random acts of history; they are the direct result of the enthroned Lamb opening the scroll of God's covenant lawsuit against a faithless world.
Key Issues
- The Identity of the Scroll
- The Meaning of the Seven Seals
- The Question of Worthiness
- The Reason for John's Weeping
- The Paradox of the Lion and the Lamb
- The Connection to Christ's Ascension and Enthronement
- The Fulfillment of Old Testament Messianic Prophecy
The Crisis of History
It is difficult for us to overstate the gravity of the scene John witnesses. This is not a minor hiccup in the heavenly court; it is a fundamental crisis. God has a plan for the cosmos, a final word on how everything is to be wrapped up, but it is sealed shut. And a challenge is issued to all created beings, a challenge that echoes in every corner of the universe, and the result is a profound and absolute silence. No one steps forward. This silence is the confession of the entire created order that it is utterly incapable of solving its own problems. No angel, no matter how strong, has the moral authority. No man, no matter how righteous, has the standing. No demon, no matter how arrogant, has the power. The creation is locked in a state of futility. This is the ultimate expression of Romans 8, where the creation groans, waiting for its redemption. John's weeping is therefore the only appropriate response. It is not just personal sadness; it is the weeping of a man who understands the implications. If the scroll remains sealed, history has no meaning, sin wins, God's promises fail, and the entire creation remains under the curse. The problem is not a lack of power, but a lack of worthiness. Who is righteous enough to execute the righteous plan of God?
Verse by Verse Commentary
1 Then I saw in the right hand of Him who sits on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.
John's attention is drawn to the right hand of the Father, the hand of power and authority. In that hand is a scroll. In the ancient world, a scroll was a book. This is God's book, His sovereign decree. This is the plan of history, what some have called the Book of the Reign of Jesus Christ. The fact that it is written inside and on the back indicates its fullness and completeness. There is nothing to be added; God's plan is comprehensive and exhaustive. This detail also echoes the scroll given to the prophet Ezekiel, which was also written on both sides and contained "lamentations and mourning and woe" (Ezek. 2:10). This tells us that God's plan includes judgment. It is sealed up with seven seals. Seven is the number of perfection and completeness. This scroll is utterly inaccessible, completely secure. No one can simply snatch it or peek inside. It can only be opened by one who has the legal right to do so.
2 Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals?”
A strong angel, a powerful creature, acts as the herald of the court. His strength, however, does not qualify him to open the scroll; it only qualifies him to issue the challenge. He proclaims with a loud voice so that the challenge is heard throughout the cosmos. The question is not "Who is strong enough?" but rather "Who is worthy?" This is a moral and legal question. Who has the character, the standing, the righteousness, to take God's plan and execute it? The question implies that a rigorous standard must be met. To break the seals is to take responsibility for all that is written in the scroll, to administer both the blessings and the curses of God's covenant. It requires a unique combination of perfect righteousness and sovereign authority.
3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it.
The response to the angel's challenge is a cosmic silence. The search is exhaustive, covering the three tiers of the created order: in heaven (the angelic realm), on the earth (the realm of mankind), and under the earth (the realm of the dead and demonic). And the result is absolute. No one. Not a single creature in the entire universe was found who met the qualification. The word able here means more than just physical ability; it means they lacked the requisite authority, the moral capacity. The greatest of the archangels is not worthy. The most righteous of the saints is not worthy. All are creatures, and all, apart from grace, are implicated in the fall. This universal inability is a devastating verdict on the state of the creation. It is utterly helpless to save itself or to bring about God's ultimate purposes.
4 Then I was crying greatly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.
John's reaction is not one of mild disappointment. He was crying greatly, weeping uncontrollably. This is the proper pastoral response to the crisis. John understands what is at stake. If the scroll remains sealed, then redemption is a fantasy. The martyrs will go unvindicated, evil will triumph, and God's glory will not fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. History becomes a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. John's tears are the tears of a man who sees the utter bankruptcy of the created order and the apparent frustration of God's plan. He weeps for the hopelessness of a world where God's will remains a closed book.
5 And one of the elders said to me, “Stop crying! Behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Just as John's despair reaches its lowest point, one of the twenty-four elders, representing the redeemed people of God, intervenes. The command is sharp: Stop crying! Despair is no longer the appropriate response, because the crisis has been resolved. The elder directs John's attention away from the problem and toward the solution. Behold! Look! The answer was there all along. He is identified with two powerful Old Testament messianic titles. First, He is the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah. This comes from Jacob's prophecy in Genesis 49:9-10, which promised that the ruler, the scepter-wielder, would come from Judah. The lion is the king of beasts, a symbol of royal power and authority. Second, He is the Root of David, a title from Isaiah 11:1, 10. This identifies Him as the promised Davidic king, the source and foundation of David's throne. He is not just a descendant of David; He is David's Lord, the root from which David's kingship grew. And what is His qualification? He has overcome. He has won the victory. The Greek word is nikao, from which we get the name Nike. It signifies a decisive conquest. His entire life, death, and resurrection was a victorious campaign against sin, death, and the devil. And because He has conquered, He has earned the right, the worthiness, to open the scroll.
Application
This passage confronts us with the central crisis of our existence and points us to the only solution. The crisis is our utter unworthiness. Like the rest of creation, we are not able to fix our own mess. We cannot atone for our own sins, we cannot establish our own righteousness, and we cannot bring about the kingdom of God by our own efforts. Left to ourselves, the scroll of our lives is a story of woe, and our destiny is sealed in condemnation. John's weeping should be our weeping as we recognize our own spiritual bankruptcy before a holy God.
But the gospel command to us is the same as the elder's command to John: "Stop crying! Behold, the Lion!" Our hope is not found by looking within ourselves, or by looking to any other created being. Our hope is found by looking outside ourselves to Jesus Christ. He is the Lion King who has fought our battles and won. He is the Root of David who has established a kingdom that cannot be shaken. His worthiness is not something He was simply given; it is something He achieved. He overcame. He lived the perfect life we could not live and died the substitutionary death we deserved, and in His resurrection, He conquered our greatest enemies.
Therefore, we should have absolute confidence in His reign. The scroll of history is not in the hands of fate, or chance, or powerful politicians. It is in the hand of the Lamb who was slain. He is working all things, even the tumultuous events of our day, according to the Father's perfect plan. Our job is not to weep as though history is out of control, but to worship the One who is in perfect control, and to live as faithful citizens of the victorious Lion of Judah.