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The Book, and the One Who Is Able
Revelation 5:1–14 · Matt Miller · Balkan Baptist Church, Novi Sad
When no one can open it
Have you ever locked your keys in your car? You stand in the parking lot, staring through the window at the very thing you need. It is right there, but you cannot reach it. Or perhaps you have held an official document that only one person could sign, and that person was not there. Or you have sat in a hospital waiting room where everyone around you cared deeply, but only the specialist could actually do anything.
In moments like that, good intentions are not enough. Kindness is not enough. Effort is not enough. We need someone who is able.
Revelation 5 opens with that very problem, only on a scale far greater than anything we have ever faced. John, still standing in the throne room of heaven, sees a book in the right hand of God, sealed with seven seals. Then a strong angel asks, with a loud voice, the question that hangs over the whole chapter:
“Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?”
— Revelation 5:2
This is no ordinary book
Whatever is written in this book is not small. It is not a letter, a receipt, or a list of instructions. When these seals are broken, the world will see what it has never seen before. This book carries God’s plan to its end: judgment on a world that has rejected Him, and the coming of Christ’s kingdom. Once it is opened, nothing will be left as it is.
That is why the angel’s question matters so much. Who has the right to set all of that in motion? John looked through heaven, through the earth and under the earth, and no man was found worthy. His response is one of the most human moments in the whole book of Revelation: “And I wept much” (5:4).
Why would He open it?
Here is something that should stop us. The One who will open this book is the One we know as loving, merciful and gracious. He welcomed little children. He touched lepers no one else would touch. He forgave sinners. He wept at the grave of a friend. Peter tells us that “the Lord is… longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9).
When Jesus read from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue at Nazareth, He stopped in the middle of a sentence. He read, “To preach the acceptable year of the Lord,” and then “He closed the book” (Luke 4:19–20). He did not read the next words: “and the day of vengeance of our God” (Isaiah 61:2). In Revelation 5, the One who closed that book in Nazareth is the One who takes this book from the Father’s hand.
So why would the gentle Saviour break the seals that bring judgment on the earth? Is He forced to? Does He have to? Or does He want to?
Where we are in Revelation
Before we answer, it helps to remember where we are. Revelation itself gives us its outline: “the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter” (1:19). In chapter 1, John saw the risen Christ. In chapters 2 and 3, Christ spoke to His seven churches. In chapter 4, John was called up into heaven, and the first thing he saw was a throne, and One sat on it. The elders cast their crowns before Him and said, “Thou art worthy, O Lord.”
Chapter 4 ended in worship of the Creator. Chapter 5 stays in the same throne room, but the focus moves to the Redeemer. Chapters 4 and 5 are one vision. Before any seal is broken in chapter 6, God shows us who holds the book and who is able to open it. The Judge comes before the judgments, and the Lamb before the storm.
The whole chapter answers three questions: what is being opened, who is the One, and why He is the One.
1. What is being opened
Scripture: Revelation 5:1–4.
“And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals” (5:1).
This book is written on both sides. There is no room left to add anything. Ezekiel saw a scroll like it, “written within and without,” and in it were “lamentations, and mourning, and woe” (Ezekiel 2:10). Daniel was told that the words of his prophecy were “closed up and sealed till the time of the end” (Daniel 12:9). Now, in God’s own right hand, is a sealed book, and the time has come to open it. Seven seals mean it is completely shut. Only the right person can open it.
What happens when it opens? From chapter 6 onward, the opening of this book sets everything in motion. The seals are followed by the trumpets and then the vials, and God’s judgment falls on a world that has rejected Him. But the book does not end in ruin. By chapter 21, Satan is defeated, death is gone, and “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (21:4). This book contains the end of sin and the beginning of Christ’s kingdom.
A strong angel asked who was worthy, and the answer was silence. “No man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon” (5:3). No king could do it. No prophet could do it. No angel could do it.
We know this in everyday life. People try to fix the world with laws, education, money and good intentions. Some of it helps, but none of it can end evil or wipe away tears. John wept much, because if no one is worthy, nothing is ever put right.
The world’s greatest problem is not that nobody cares; it is that nobody is worthy.
While John was still weeping, one of the elders spoke to him. He did not say, “Try harder.” He said, “Weep not: behold.”
2. Who is the One
Scripture: Revelation 5:5–7.
“Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof” (5:5).
The elder uses two titles from the Old Testament. Long before, Jacob had called Judah “a lion’s whelp” and promised that “the sceptre shall not depart from Judah” (Genesis 49:9–10). Isaiah foretold “a root of Jesse,” the King who would come from David’s line (Isaiah 11:1, 10). This is the promised King, and He “hath prevailed.”
So John turns to see a Lion, and he sees a Lamb: “a Lamb as it had been slain” (5:6). He still bears the marks of death, yet He is standing, alive. He is the Passover Lamb whose blood protected Israel (Exodus 12). He is the One “brought as a lamb to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7). He is “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
He has seven horns, a sign of complete power, and seven eyes. We do not have to guess what the eyes mean, because the text tells us: they are “the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth” (5:6; compare Zechariah 4:10). He has all power, and He sees everything.
Then comes the moment the whole chapter has been waiting for: “And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne” (5:7). No one pushes the book into His hands. He is not forced. He comes and takes it, because He has prevailed and it belongs to Him to open.
We expect power to look like a lion: loud, forceful, impressive. God’s answer is a Lamb with wounds. The One who conquers is the One who was willing to be slain.
Heaven’s Lion wins as heaven’s Lamb.
We now know who the One is. But why is He the One? Heaven answers with a song.
3. Why He is the One
Scripture: Revelation 5:8–14.
When the Lamb takes the book, the living creatures and the elders fall down before Him. They hold harps and “golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints” (5:8). Again the text interprets the picture for us: the incense is prayer (compare Psalm 141:2). Every prayer God’s people have ever prayed for His kingdom to come is held before the throne at this moment. Not one of them has been forgotten.
Then they sing a new song:
“Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”
— Revelation 5:9–10
Notice the word “for.” He is worthy because He was slain. His worthiness is tied to the cross. He redeemed people from every language and nation and made them “kings and priests” unto God (compare Exodus 19:6). Here in Novi Sad, that includes Serbian, Hungarian, Russian and English speakers alike.
So here is the answer to our question. Why would the gentle Saviour open a book of judgment? Not because He stopped loving. The same love that took Him to the cross will not leave sin, death and tears in place forever. A doctor who truly loves his patient does not leave the cancer alone. The Father “hath committed all judgment unto the Son” (John 5:22), and the Judge is the very One who first died for sinners. Before the book is opened, mercy has already been offered.
Then the worship grows wider and wider. John hears angels, “ten thousand times ten thousand” (compare Daniel 7:10), and then every creature in heaven and on earth, saying with a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.”
— Revelation 5:12
The hands that open the seals are the hands that were nailed to the cross.
CONCLUSION AND APPLICATION
Back to the locked door
Think again about the keys locked in the car, the document no one could sign, and the waiting room where only the specialist could help. In each case, the problem was not how much people cared. The question was who was able.
Revelation 5 answers that question for the whole world. The book holds the end of sin and the coming of Christ’s kingdom, and no one in heaven or earth could open it. The Lion of the tribe of Judah, who is the Lamb that was slain, prevailed. And He is worthy because He was slain and redeemed us to God by His blood.
The gentle Saviour is not forced to open the book. He is not going against His character. He opens it because the same love that went to the cross will not leave sin, death and tears in place forever.
Examine your heart
What have you been trusting to set your life right? It might be money, a relationship, your own discipline, or the hope that things will simply get better. None of those is worthy, and none of them can open what only Christ can open.
Where are you still weeping like John? The elder’s words are for you too: “Weep not: behold.” Stop staring at what is locked, and look at the Lamb who holds it.
Do you pray as if your prayers matter? Heaven keeps the prayers of the saints in golden vials before the throne. Not one of them is forgotten.
One step this week: The Lamb redeemed people “out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” Write down the name of one person who does not yet know Him. Pray for that person by name every day, and before Sunday, invite them to church or share this message with them.
The Lamb is your Saviour
Every one of us has sinned against a holy God (Romans 3:23), and no amount of good behaviour can make us worthy. But Jesus Christ is worthy, and He did what we could not. “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and… he was buried, and… he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). The Lamb “as it had been slain” is standing, alive.
Salvation is not earned. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). We turn from our sin to God in repentance and put our trust in Christ alone.
The book is already in His hand, and the seals will be opened. Jesus Christ is coming. Right now, the Judge is still the Saviour who offers mercy. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Do not wait until you meet Him only as your Judge. Come to Him today as your Saviour.
If you have never trusted Christ, you can call on Him right now, wherever you are reading this. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). Tell Him you know you are a sinner, that you believe He died for you and rose again, and that you are trusting Him alone to save you.
A QUESTION TO REFLECT ON If the book were opened today, would you meet the Lamb as your Saviour or as your Judge? |
A prayer
Lord Jesus, You alone are worthy. No one in heaven or earth could open the book, but You prevailed, because You were slain and redeemed us to God by Your blood. Forgive us for trusting things that cannot save. Dry our tears by turning our eyes to You. Keep our prayers rising before Your throne, and give us courage to tell others about the Lamb while it is still the day of salvation. We wait for You with hope. Amen.
ABOUT THIS STUDY This study is part of our Revelation series, preached on Sunday evenings at 6:30 pm at Balkan Baptist Church, Ćirila i Metodija 42a, Novi Sad. You are welcome to join us. |
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