Reflections on the Scandal – Chapter 3: The Strange Triumph of a Slaughtered Lamb

Make no mistake about it, in chapter 3 of Scandalous, D.A. Carson means serious business.

A sensible rule of thumb is that when you notice a chapter has the term “slaughtered lamb” in the title, you should prepare yourself for a serious read.

Seriously.

Ok – I’ve used the term “serious” more times in this opening section than I have any rights to, but it’s because you cannot come away from reading this latest chapter in Carson’s Scandalous without being undeniably certain that your Christian life is serious business.

Chapter 3 focuses on Revelation 12: 10-12. Let me be clear from the off – there is no way in this short blog that I can unpack either the entirety of the text or even nearly surmise everything that Carson pulls from it. Instead I’ll simply dwell on those parts which stirred my heart the most. As for the rest; well, you’ll need to read that for yourself.

Even though I’ve read it numerous times before, I find myself marvelling at the verse:

“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb” Revelation 12:11

Here the “they” is the church and the “him” is the devil. We’ll read this verse or similar verses so often in church. We’ll sing songs about the blood of the lamb and share communion where we focus on the blood of Christ, shed for us. Whilst all of these instances fill me with joy, thankfulness and sorrow – meditating on these few verses today has once again hammered home the beauty of scripture and the way in which even the most familiar verses will always have new and powerful ways to speak to us.

These verses and Carson’s thoughts on them have led me to wonder how often do we stroll through life, safe in the knowledge that we’re saved and happily keep God in the background, merely reserved for Sundays and family functions?

Caroline drew attention to how often we hear the phrase and how often we speak it without any real thought that “God sent Jesus to die for us”. The first few pages of chapter 3 really challenged my too-commonly glib attitude to the attributes, power and actions of God.

In chapter 3, Carson paints a fantastic picture of a man who has had a dreadful day and struggles to pray before bed. “I’ve had a rotten day… I don’t really have anything to say”. A few days later the man experiences what can only be described as a picture perfect day. He kneels at his bedside in the evening and flowery prayers flow freely from his lips.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had experiences like this. Carson doesn’t hold back: “How dare you approach the mercy-seat of God on the basis of what kind of day you had, as if that were the basis for our entrance into the presence of the sovereign and holy God?”

Whilst I’ve found chapters 1 & 2 to be remarkably challenging, it’s this third chapter which has grabbed hold of my soul and shaken it. How easy it is to view our life as a movie of which we are the star and our friends and families play supporting roles. Where does God fit into this? How often do I look at a situation and see my hand or other human hands in play but not see the sovereign hand of God at work.

Carson poses a number of questions and asks for the cause. One of those questions is; what has caused the greatest sufferings to the western church in the last couple of decades? He presents numerous arguments from the sociological to the medical. His reasoning is sound. Yet, as he points out, in all of his reasoning, there was no mention of God or of the Devil.

Carson wasn’t suggesting that it was wrong to look for answers from sociological and demographic analysis. In fact he goes to some lengths to point out the benefits. Yet such data should always be considered in view of the sovereign work of God. In fact, I’ll quote directly from the book where Carson explains the danger of restricting our answers to merely human analysis.

“[T]he danger is that… Our answers will be superficially sociological because we do not probe deeply enough to analyze the cosmic tension between God and the Devil. And then, quite frankly, we do not really need God. He could get up and walk out, and we would not miss him.”

Caroline mentioned yesterday that she so often finds that she “de-gods God”. So far, and I reckon it’s pretty safe to assume that it will continue, Scandalous has again and again and again demanded that we acknowledge that at the centre of everything is Jesus and the cross.

Revelation 12 is saying that we, by ourselves, haven’t overcome anything. Not by any of our actions. The devil has waged war against us with all of his fury and rage. We haven’t overcome him by any of our human endeavours. We “overcame him by the blood of the lamb”.

Despite all of our works, or lack of works. Despite our graphs, surveys and focus groups; the heavens rejoice and those who dwell in them because of the triumph of a slaughtered lamb.

Jonny.

This post is part of a series of posts that will take place this week, recording various Firwood members’ reflections upon each chapter of Carson’s book ‘Scandalous- The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus’. For more information, click here