ACC ~ Revelation 5 v5

THE ANTICHRIST DECEIVES BY IMITATING THE SON OF GOD. HIPPOLYTUS: Now, as our Lord Jesus Christ, who is also God, was prophesied under the figure of a lion,because of his royalty and glory, in the same way have the Scriptures also previously spoken of antichrist as a lion, because of his tyranny and violence. For the deceiver seeks to liken himself in all things to the Son of God. Christ is a lion, so antichrist is also a lion. Christ is a king, so antichrist is also a king. The Savior was manifested as a lamb; so he too, similarly, will appear as a lamb, though within he is a wolf. The Savior came into the world in the circumcision, and he too will come in the same way. The Lord sent apostles among all the nations, and he similarly will send false apostles. The Savior gathered together the sheep that were scattered abroad, and he too will bring together a people that is scattered abroad. The Lord gave a seal to those who believed on him, and he too will give one in like manner. The Savior appeared in the form of man, and he too will come in the form of a man. The Savior raised up and showed his holy flesh like a temple,and he too will raise a temple of stone in Jerusalem. ON THE ANTICHRIST 6.

THE LION OF JUDAH IS THE CONSOLATION OF THE CHURCH. TYCONIUS: In this one elder we recognize the whole body of the prophets, for their prophecies consoled the church as they foretold that Christ would come from the tribe of Judah and would redeem the world by his own blood. Of him it was foretold: “Judah is a lion’s whelp. For prey, my son, you have gone up. You lie in wait as a lion and as a lioness. Who will rouse him up?” Moreover, the same one is taught to be a lamb as well as a lion, for he assumed death with a devout innocence, even as he killed with power the death he had assumed. To death he had long ago truly issued threats, saying through Hosea, “I will be your death, O death, I will be your sting, O hades.” And through Isaiah, “Behold, the root of Jesse will rise for the salvation of the people. The nations will entreat him, and his sepulcher will be glorious.”For when anyone of the faithful individually and earnestly weeps for his or her own sins and recalls the promises of redemption “through the consolation of the Scriptures,” [that person] will recognize that he or she has the hope of eternal salvation. As I say, by one of the elders this is confirmed with a similar response. For this reason, he mentions what is past while he is also promising the future, because in the things of the past the Spirit shows future things by way of subtle hints. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 5.5.

TOWARD THE DEVIL CHRIST IS A LION, TOWARD THE WORLD A LAMB. AUGUSTINE: So the true victory of our Lord Jesus Christ was achieved when he rose again and ascended into heaven. Then was fulfilled what you heard when the Apocalypse was read, “The lion from the tribe of Judah has conquered.” It is he that is called a lion, he that is called a lamb. He is called a lion for courage, a lamb for innocence. A lion because unconquered, a lamb because gentle. And when this lamb was slain, he conquered by his death the lion “who prowls around seeking whom he may devour.” The devil, you see, is called a lion for his ferocity, not for any virtue. Thus the apostle Peter says we must be on the watch against temptations, “because your adversary the devil is prowling around seeking whom he may devour”; but he did say how he prowls around: “Like a roaring lion he is prowling around, seeking whom he may devour.” Who could avoid encountering the teeth of this lion, if the lion from the tribe of Judah had not conquered? Against the lion fights a lion, against the world a lamb. The devil was exultant when Christ died, and by that very death of Christ was the devil conquered. It’s as though he took the bait in a mousetrap. He was delighted at the death, as being the commander of death. What he delighted in, that’s where the trap was set for him. The mousetrap for the devil was the cross of the Lord. The bait he would be caught by, the death of the Lord. And our Lord Jesus Christ rose again. SERMON 263.2.

IN HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION CHRIST IS LAMB AND LION. AUGUSTINE: “Like a sheep he was led to be slaughtered, and like a lamb in the presence of his shearer he was without voice, thus he did not open his mouth.” Who is this? Obviously the one about whom he goes on to say, “In humility his judgment was taken away. His generation, who shall relate?” I can see this model of such humility in a king of such power and authority. Because this one, who is like a lamb not opening its mouth in the presence of the shearer, is himself “the lion from the tribe of Judah.” Who is this, both lamb and lion? He endured death as a lamb; he devoured it as a lion. Who is this, both lamb and lion? Gentle and strong, lovable and terrifying, innocent and mighty, silent when he was being judged, roaring when he comes to judge. Or perhaps both in his passion lamb and lion, and also in his resurrection lamb and lion. Let us see him as a lamb in his passion. It was stated a moment ago: “Like a lamb in the presence of his shearer he was without voice, thus he did not open his mouth.” Let us see him as a lion in his passion; Jacob said, “You have gone up, lying down you have slept like a lion.” Let us see him as a lamb in his resurrection. The book of Revelation, when it was talking about the eternal glory of virgins, “They follow the lamb, it is said, wherever he goes.”The same book of Revelation says, what I mentioned just now, “The lion from the tribe of Judah has conquered, to open the book.” Why a lamb in his passion? Because he underwent death without being guilty of any iniquity. Why a lion in his passion? Because in being slain he slew death. Why a lamb in his resurrection? Because his innocence is everlasting. Why a lion in his resurrection? Because everlasting also is his might. SERMON 375A.1.

THE INCARNATE LORD IS THE ROOT OF DAVID. OECUMENIUS: For he said to me, “Behold, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open its seven seals.” He who has conquered our conqueror, the devil, it says, that is the one who has opened the scroll and its seals. And who was this “Lion from the tribe of Judah”? Obviously, the Christ, concerning whom the patriarch Jacob spoke: “He lay down and couched as a lion and as a lion’s whelp. Who will arouse him?” For the holy apostle is witness that the Lord was from Judah according to the flesh: “It is evident that our Lord Jesus Christ was descended from Judah.” Someone might wonder why he was not called “a rod from the root of Jesse” or “flower coming out of the root,” as Isaiah said,but rather the “root of David.” He says this to show that although according to his humanity he was a rod coming forth from the root of Jesse and David, according to his deity he was the root not only of David but of every visible and invisible creature, since he was the source of them all. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 5.1-7.