Prayer of the Day: Almighty and everlasting God, You have given Your Son, the Lamb who was slain, to redeem us by His blood; grant that we who join the song of heaven may trust in His saving work, rejoice in His resurrection, and offer to You our prayers and praise with faithful hearts; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!” Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.

Dearly Beloved Fellow Believers,

One of the glories of the Christian faith is the hymns that believers have written to praise God and to tell of His love in Jesus Christ. This tradition of worship and teaching in song is one that very much has its roots in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament we have the Psalms which were not just recited, but set to music and sung. The New Testament exhorts believers in Christ to “teach and admonish one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” and to “sing with grace in our hearts to the Lord” (Col. 3:16; Eph. 5:19). Music and poetry are truly gifts of God, and we make the highest and best use of these gifts when we use them to praise God and give Him glory.

Hymns are an important part of our worship this morning, as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. The hymns that we are singing today are our response to the resurrection Gospel. With them we joyfully declare the good news that “He is risen.” With them we say together that we believe the promise of eternal life that Christ has given us in His resurrection.

In our text, it is the citizens of heaven who are singing. In the heavenly scene that John describes for us here, the heavenly beings are singing “a new song.” Now, when we hear this, we might think that this is a song confined to heaven, one that we cannot join in singing now. But clearly we can join in singing this new song; yes, for the words of it are revealed to us. And the source of this song is also known to us: it is the great event that we are celebrating today, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the resurrection Gospel that inspires the heavenly new song in our text. Let’s listen to that new song so that it may also inspire our Easter praise.

He was able to carry out God’s gracious plans.

The new song opens with the words,

The song is sung to Christ; He is the Lamb who is at the center of this heavenly vision. His worthiness to open the scroll with its seven seals is the cause for the great rejoicing in heaven that takes place here.

The scroll is the first thing in the vision that John points out to us. We are to take note of it and consider carefully what it means. The most significant thing about this scroll is whose it is: it is “in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne,” that is, in the hand of God. He is the one who sits on heaven’s throne, the one who has all power and authority. This is God’s scroll, then, and the writing that it contains is His word, His will and counsel. We are to notice that the scroll is completely filled up with writing, on the inside and on the back, which we understand to mean that it contains all of God’s counsels.

But even though John can see that the scroll is filled up with writing, he can’t read any of it, because it is sealed with seven seals. Why seven? Seven in the book of Revelation is the number that represents God’s gracious dealings with man, so the seven seals indicate that the scroll contains God’s plan of salvation. John is eager to have the scroll opened, to read what it contains. But not just anyone can open those seven seals, only one who is worthy, and so the call goes out for someone who is worthy to open them. But alas, no one can answer the call: “no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it,” which we understand to mean that no one in all the universe could unfold and carry out God’s gracious plan for mankind.

John weeps at this silence following the call for someone worthy to open the seals and the scroll. There is no future for mankind without someone to open the scroll. Without someone to carry out God’s plan of salvation, the bright world into which John has been permitted to gaze would have to remain forever hidden and closed. With all of this, God would impress on us that the world can’t save itself. We sinners do not have within ourselves the resources for our salvation. This is a message that is very much needed, especially in our times when a great lie of the devil has so taken root. This lie is the idea that the world can be improved and perfected by human wisdom, ingenuity, and effort. It is the claim that we have inside of us everything we need for our well-being. It is the contention that we don’t need God, that we don’t need Christ to save us. The vain search here for someone who can open God’s scroll is a powerful statement from God that these ideas are false.

There is only one who is worthy to open the scroll, to reveal and execute the counsels of God: Jesus Christ. Why is He able to do this when no one else could? The answer is in the names by which He is identified here. He is called “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” and “the Root of David.” Both of these names are from prophecies of Christ; they reveal His power and majesty as the mighty, conquering King. John is told not to weep because Christ “has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” He has carried out and brought to completion God’s eternal plan of salvation.

He was slain, but now He lives.

But the main representation of Christ here is the Lamb. John sees this figure standing in the very center of the assembly; He is its focal point. This Lamb is clearly a divine figure, for He has divine characteristics: seven horns and seven eyes signifying God’s almighty power and omniscience. And from Him the Holy Spirit goes forth into the world.

The most remarkable feature of the Lamb that John saw in this vision is that it had been slain. It had been killed; not just wounded, but slain. And yet, though it had been slain, it stood, it was alive. It is here that we have a powerful representation of Christ’s resurrection. He was put to death as the sacrificial Lamb; the sinless, holy Son of God was put to death as an offering to God for us to cleanse us of our sins. And then, as He had promised and foretold, He arose from the dead on the third day. Here in Revelation He appears as the risen, victorious Christ. Seeing Him as He appears here assures us that He did take away our sins, He did reconcile us to God. You are forgiven. This Lamb who now lives is the same Lamb who offered Himself to God for us, for He still bears the marks of His wounds. Christ the Lamb calls out to us here as He did to Thomas when He urged him to look at and to touch the wounds in His hands and side. “Don’t doubt, but believe,” He says to us, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death” (Rev. 1:18).

It is the Lamb who was slain but now lives forever who inspires the new song, which we again quote, this time in its entirety:

What a change in our standing Christ the Lamb has brought about! Instead of condemned sinners, cast out from God’s presence, with no hope, we are now redeemed by precious blood, exalted to reign with Christ.

Our reigning is real. It is pictured here in the vision by the twenty-four elders, the representatives of the Church, the people of God. They fall down in worship before the Lamb and present to Him their “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” What does this have to do with our reigning? Luther explained it when he said, “The world is ruled by the prayers of the saints.” God’s children offer prayers according to His will and in the name of Jesus. We pray that His name be hallowed and that His kingdom come. We pray for our loved ones, for our church, for our country. Those prayers are heard and answered; great things happen in response to them. The mighty of this world imagine that they are in control, but things often do not at all go according to their plans. Christ reigns, and His believers reign with Him.

He is worthy of all praise, honor, and glory forever.

For all that the Lamb has done, He is worthy of all praise, honor, and glory forever. This is the new song that grows and spreads as John watches and listens in awe and wonder. It is taken up by myriads of angels around God’s throne: “the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” And finally, “every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea” joins in the song.

You and I are privileged to join in the new song, praising Christ for His work of redemption. For we know that Jesus, God’s Son who laid down His life for us on the cross, has destroyed death’s power. He is risen. May we sing to Him a new song of praise all our days, and then join with the multitudes of saints and angels in heaven, singing,

Amen.

—Rev. John Klatt

Watertown, SD

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