Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. – Revelation 13:11

Today’s Scripture Reading (May 2, 2018): Revelation 13

American satirist H. L. Mencken argue that “The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it. Power is what all messiahs really seek: not the chance to serve. This is true even of the pious brethren who carry the gospel to foreign parts.” I wish I could argue that he was wrong, but missionaries throughout history have too often had their role to play in the conquest of foreign lands. It is hard to remove our need for power from of our lives. Too often, we carry that craving for power everywhere we go. We say that we are acting in the interests of saving humanity from itself, but the actions often belie a quest for power. Even within the Christian Community and family, this quest for power is present. And the quest for power has destroyed many churches. The problem is that our need for power is present within our fellowships, but it shouldn’t be.  The Christian message is always “come and die.” At the center of our faith is a cross, and for most of us that is a disturbing fact that we do not want to admit. We would rather argue that, at the center of the Christian Church is an empty tomb. At the center of the Christian Church is a source of power. But that is never preached in the Bible. At the center of our faith is a cross and a Messiah telling us that “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it” (Mark 8:34-35). Power is never supposed to be part of the equation.

John is beginning to understand this spiritual principle. In Revelation 5 he introduces us to the scroll that only the Lion of Judah has the power to open. But when John looks for the Lion and the one with power, all he finds is the Lamb, “looking as if it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6). It had been decades since the crucifixion of Jesus, and yet the Lamb of God still bore the marks of his execution. At the center of the Christian faith stands a cross.

Here John introduces us to a second reversal. He sees a beast rising out of the earth. And the beast looks like a lamb, but it speaks like a dragon. This Lamb does not look like it had been slain, but rather comes with great power. Often scholars refer to this lamb as the false prophet.  And the false prophet comes with a mild appearance, but he speaks with the power of the words uttered by the first beast, and there is no good in him.

If we believe that we are serving the Lamb of God who comes with power, it might be that we are really serving this second beast. John says that the Lion of Judah and real Lamb of God comes with pain and weakness, still bearing the fresh marks of his mortal wounds. The Lamb of God still carries his cross as he instructs us to pick up ours. This is not about power. It is about being the servants of God who serve those with power hoping that we can lead others to Jesus. There can be no other reality for the Christian. And we need to be careful that we are not in service to the second beast.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 14

Personal Note: Happy Birthday, Laurie.