Year of the Dragon, Eternity of the Lamb

Perhaps you have heard that it is the Year of the Dragon according to the Chinese New Year. Many women who follow such traditions are planning the birth of a child, so that they may proclaim with hubris that their son/daughter is a dragon.

I cannot blame people for wanting themselves or their children to have a lifelong association with a flying, fire breathing, take no prisoner mythical serpent. The dragon sure beats the animal Chinese fate has attached to me; the rat. Even thought the rat is thought to be a loyal trustworthy person, there is very little pride in promoting my connection to a sewer dwelling rodent often riddle with disease (no offense of course to Mickey).

Considering all this you really have to give props to Jesus. I have not gone back and calculated according to the Chinese calendar what animal Jesus would be connected with, but Jesus is associated with an animal. You would think that the Son of The Almighty All Powerful Creator and Sustainer of the Universe would have a pretty cool animal tied to his persons. However if you are a follower of Jesus you understand that our Savior likes to flip this confused lost world completely upside down, and that is no different when it comes to his own mascot.

The Messiah is described by prophets and Biblical writers as “The Lion of Judah.” “Judah” being the 4th son of Jacob whom is was prophesied that the liberator would come from and “Lion “being an incredibly powerful, intimidating, and cool animal. Yet, despite this awesome moniker, Jesus shows up vastly different than this roaming predator.

Revelation 5 is perhaps the greatest contrast to how Jesus sees himself, verses how the world perceives him. In this chapter of the apocalypse it is said that only the Lion of Judah is worthy to open the last scroll of revelation that would release the work of God in the end times. This seems to make sense because what is more powerful and worthy than a lion, the king of the forest? However, when Jesus shows up, he does not show up as the perceived destructive lion. Instead, Jesus reveals himself, worthy to open the final revelation of God, as a lamb. If this isn’t weak enough, Jesus goes a step further. He does not just reveal himself as a lamb, but as a slain, dead, sacrificed, bloody, mangled lamb.
                                       
Jesus is portrayed as a lame lamb, and a slaughtered one at that. You know who shows up as the almighty dragon? The Devil, the Prince of Lies, Satan, Deceiver, and enemy of God

The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. – Rev. 12:9

As I said the Son of God likes to mess with us. So what is being said here?

The dragon is often what we think about when we think of power; strong, ambitious, control, fierce, independent. The lamb (and a dead one at that) is small, weak, susceptible, dependent, and defenseless. Jesus conquers through the means of humility, evil attempts to conquer through violence.

SPOILER ALERT: Jesus wins, his kingdom lasts, the devil’s kingdom falls. What’s the lesson, surrender to God, forget your vain will, humble your pride, lay down your defenses, and join the victorious lamb that conquers. This is life, life that falls into the lap of a gracious, wonderful, and powerful God. Jesus is not looking to devour us, he is looking to draw us to him, and he does that through a display of true love; sacrifice. This is our salvation, this is our King, this is our example, to be sheep.