People often consider that the Lord Jesus was gentle and mild. However, at least on certain occasions He was not at all gentle. For example, when He went into the temple and found “those selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers sitting there,” He became angry and made a whip out of cords and “drove them all out of the temple, as well as the sheep and the oxen, and He poured out the money of the moneychangers and overturned their tables” (John 2:14-15). Furthermore, in Matthew 23 He severely rebuked the religionists, saying to them, “Serpents! Brood of vipers!” (v. 33). In the Bible a lion signifies boldness, vigor, strength, and victory. In these situations He surely was as bold as a lion.
There are times in our Christian life when we also need to have the face of a lion. For example, some may invite us to participate with them in a certain kind of worldly amusement. At such a time we should behave like a lion. This means that toward anything sinful or worldly, we must be as bold as a lion. All our acquaintances should know that if they talk to us about worldly things, we will behave like a lion.
In the Bible a lion signifies not only boldness, vigor, strength, and victory but also reigning. The lion is the king of the animals. This means that we should be lions to reign for God (Rom. 5:17). If toward sin, the world, and Satan we are strong and bold like lions, God will be able to establish His reign through us.
Revelation 5:5 also speaks of Christ as “the Root of David.” The title Root of David (He is also the Root of David’s father, Jesse—Isa. 11:1, 10) signifies that Christ is the source of David. Therefore, David, His forefather, called Him “Lord” (Matt. 22:42-45). Christ is not only the seed, the offspring, and the descendant of David, who came out of David; He is also the Root of David, out from whom David came. In our concept, Christ was born of David; hence, He was a descendant of David. But Revelation 5:5 says that Christ is the Root of David, meaning that David grows out of Christ. The Bible also says that Christ is the Shoot of David (Jer. 23:5). Hence, He is both the Root and the Shoot.
While in Revelation 5 we see that Christ is the “Root of David,” in Isaiah 11:1 and 10 we see that Christ is also a sprout and branch of Jesse. This indicates that Christ is the source of Jesse and also the source of Jesse’s son David. Isaiah 11:10 says, “In that day the root of Jesse, / Who stands as a banner to the peoples— / Him will the nations seek.” Root denotes the source, the origin. The root of Jesse typifies Christ as the source, the origin, of Jesse. In the prophecies in Isaiah we see that Christ in His divinity is the Shoot of Jehovah and the root of Jesse; we also see that Christ in His humanity is the sprout coming forth from the stump of Jesse, the branch from the root of Jesse, the tender plant that grows, and the root out of dry ground (53:2). In His divinity Christ came out of God; therefore, God is His origin. Hence, Christ is the source, the origin, of Jesse. In His humanity Christ came out of Jesse; therefore, Jesse is His origin, His source. He is the sprout and branch of Jesse, and He is also the root of Jesse. He is everything concerning Jesse. According to His humanity, He came out of Jesse; according to His divinity, He brought forth Jesse.
Christ is both a descendant and the root of David. In the eyes of God, David was the unique person who fought the battle and gained authority, fighting the battle for God and gaining His full authority. That Christ, the Lion-Lamb, is the root of this person means that He is greater than David. This is why He holds the key of David (Rev. 3:7). Whatever David was, had, and did was altogether out of this root. Therefore, as the Root of David, Christ is more powerful and more victorious than David and has more of God’s divine authority.
In Matthew 22:41-46 Christ questioned the Pharisees in His wisdom. These verses say, “Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus questioned them, saying, What do you think concerning the Christ? Whose son is He? They said to Him, David’s. He said to them, How then does David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies underneath Your feet’? If then David calls Him Lord, how is He his son? And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone from that day dare to question Him anymore.” On the one hand, Christ is the Son of David who came out of David, and on the other hand, He is the Lord of David, the Root of David out from whom David came. Christ is the wonderful One who is everything: He is the root, the branch, and the sprout. He is the Son, yet He is the source.
Christ’s response to the Pharisees in Matthew 22:43-45 muzzled the mouths of His opposers. Christ is not only the son of David, the Shoot of David (Jer. 23:5; 33:15), but also the Lord of David, the Root of David. As a descendant of David in His humanity, Christ is the Shoot of David, who issued out of David. But as the eternal God in His divinity, Christ is the Root of David, the source of David. Christ is also our redeeming Lamb in this present age. As such an all-inclusive One, He has overcome to open the scroll and its seven seals.