"Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals" (Revelation 5:5). The scene is one of the most dramatic in all of Scripture. John is weeping in heaven because no one in heaven or on earth is worthy to open the sealed scroll in God's right hand — the scroll that contains the unfolding of history and judgment. Then an elder says to John, "Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah." But when John turns to look, he sees not a lion but a Lamb, "as though it had been slain" (Revelation 5:6). The Lion is the Lamb. The King who conquers is the Lamb who was slain. The title comes from Jacob's prophetic blessing of his son Judah in Genesis 49: "Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; and as a lion, who shall rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people" (Genesis 49:9-10). "Shiloh" is a messianic title — the one to whom the scepter rightly belongs. Jesus came from the tribe of Judah (Matthew 1:2, Hebrews 7:14), and He is the promised Lion who will one day roar in judgment over every enemy of God. But He is also the Lamb who was slain, and the two identities are one. The Lion conquered by becoming the Lamb; the Lamb reigns as the Lion.