City Life Starter

The Word

Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
    your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
    your father’s sons shall bow down before you.
Judah is a lion’s cub;
    from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
    and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
    until tribute comes to him;
    and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
Binding his foal to the vine
    and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
    he has washed his garments in wine
    and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
    His eyes are darker than wine,
    and his teeth whiter than milk.

Genesis 49:8-12 

And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain…

Revelation 5:5-6a

Reflection

Today’s passage denotes Jacob’s dying blessing over his son Judah, prophetically describing a powerful king. Interpreting the blessing at a surface level, enemies are effortlessly subject to him. Israel humbles itself before him. Like a lion roaring with justice, no one guilty will dare provoke him. His Kingdom is endless and everyone pays him tribute and obedience. He has so much good wine that he allows his animals to eat the grapes off of the best vines. He is beautiful in appearance, wears a royal red-purple robe, and radiates with vitality.

In the book of Revelation, John has a vision where a figure is announced as the “Lion of the Tribe of Judah”. As John turns to see, there stands a Lamb with a mortal wound, for whom everyone in heaven bows down in silent worship. This figure is Jesus, the Lion of Judah and the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”

Application

The idea of a powerful king depicted as a roaring lion is what most of us will sign up for. If I need a king, then give me one that gives me good stuff, keeps me safe, and punishes my enemies. A king brutally and shamefully killed by his enemies, according to typical wisdom, is a loser, not a lion. So how exactly does this paradox play out?

Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

1 Corinthians 15:24-26, emphasis mine

Jesus did not simply build a world empire. He could have easily done so, if He wanted. But power on the world’s terms says, “Do as I say or I will kill you.” His power is above the very system, death, that gives the powerful their power. This is how the Lion of Judah is also the slain lamb.

His call for you and me is to pick up our own cross. We need not seek to get ahead, or get even, through the use harm toward others. Rather, through self-sacrificial love, by the power of God’s Spirit alive in us, the power of God will overtake every enemy power that comes against us.

Prayer

Dear Father,
Thank you for the Lion of Judah, Jesus, who valiantly gave Himself over to death in order to conquer it. May Jesus quickly come again and put an eternal end to the power of death in this world. May you come now to my heart, inserting a new confidence in my certain resurrection, so that I may not fear what my enemies might do.
Amen