Read Revelation 5:1-5   

Lion of Judah

If you are familiar with “The Chronicles of Narnia” books by C S Lewis you will know that the main character in the story is Aslan the Lion, the son of the Emperor-Over-the-Sea. Aslan is gentle, kind, and loving, but he is also full of courage and fearsome in battle against his enemies. And early in the story, he willingly lays down his life to save his friends.

A young girl once wrote to Lewis to tell him that when she thought of Aslan, she thought of him as Jesus. “Is this wrong?” she asked.

Lewis wrote back to her and told her that was exactly Who he wanted her to think of – Aslan wasn’t a representation of Jesus, he was Jesus! In another letter he stated:

“I did not say to myself, ‘Let us represent Jesus as He really is in our world by a Lion in Narnia.’ I said, ‘Let us suppose that there was a land like Narnia and that the Son of God, as He became a man in our world, became a Lion there, and then imagine what would happen.’ If you think about it, you will see that it is quite a different thing.”

Luke doesn’t refer to Jesus as the Lion of Judah in his account of His birth, but John does in today’s reading. The lion was the symbol of the Jewish tribe of Judah and as the son of David, whose family came from the tribe of Judah, Jesus is rightly called “Lion of Judah.”

As the Lion of Judah, Jesus is loving and kind toward us, showing His love by willingly dying for us and our sin.

But our Lion of Judah is also strong and brave. He courageously faced our enemies of sin, death, and the Devil, and destroyed them forever!

No wonder John says, “the Lion of Judah is worthy!”