The Names Of Jesus - “The Lion Of Judah”

The Names Of Jesus - “The Lion Of Judah”

Genesis 49:9-10

“Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who dares rouse him up. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples.”

The name, Lion of Judah, is only found in two places in the Bible. It’s found at the end of the first book and at the beginning of the last book. The Lion of Judah is kind of a parentheses around the Bible itself.

A lion is a majestic and ferocious animal. It’s an interesting name for someone who identified Himself as the Lamb of God. I’ve heard it explained this way: when Christ came the first time, He came as a Lamb. Be careful, because the next time He comes, He will come as a Lion.

What is that telling us about Jesus? It’s telling us that while He came in love and was willing to lay down His life for us, He also has judgment and the death of sin in His heart. Here’s what the Book of Revelation says about the Lion of Judah.

Revelation 5:4-5

Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it; and one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.”

In the next several chapters the seven seals are opened, the seven trumpets sound and the seven bowls are poured out. That Lamb of God unleashes all of the judgments of mankind on the Earth.

We can forget about that side of Jesus, but it is every bit as real and important as His willingness to die for you and His amazing sacrificial love for His creation.