Editor’s note: After careful and prayerful consideration, the Presbyterian Outlook editorial team has made the difficult decision to discontinue Outlook Standard Lessons. Our final lesson will be material for Sunday, May 18.
For many years, the Outlook has offered these lessons — rooted in outlines from the ecumenical Uniform Lesson Series — as a resource for churches and individuals across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). We are deeply grateful for the ways these lessons have supported your study and teaching of Scripture.
This change comes as we discern how best to serve the evolving needs of the modern church. In an effort to make Presbyterian theology more digitally discoverable, our small team is launching a new initiative to strengthen our search engine optimization efforts and support long-term digital growth. This work will require substantial time and focus. As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to pause lower-traffic projects — including the Outlook Standard Lessons — to direct our energy where it can have the greatest impact.
We understand this transition may cause inconvenience, for which we apologize.
For those interested in continuing the Uniform Lesson program, we recommend The Present Word, published by Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Like Outlook Standard Lessons, The Present Word follows the same foundational outlines — and includes additional resources such as teachers’ guides and worship leaflets. To continue seamlessly, look for The Present Word’s Summer 2025 Quarter.
Finally, subscribers may wish to explore our archive of past Outlook Standard Lessons, which may help fill curriculum needs in the months ahead.
Thank you for your understanding — and your continued support of the Presbyterian Outlook.
Revelation 5
In the late first century CE, Rome was the dominant power in the world. Emperor Domitian, who died in 96 CE, claimed divine status and demanded reverence (worship) from his subjects, insisting that they refer to him as “My Lord and God.” Temple shrines, priests and altars devoted to the imperial cult were active in the seven cities of Asia Minor mentioned in Revelation 2-3. Followers of Jesus believe that, through his crucifixion and resurrection, he surpasses the power and authority of Rome. They provoke the emperor’s ire by refusing to worship in his shrines, boldly proclaiming Jesus as “Lord and Savior.” Christians discovered that questioning Roman authority and the emperor’s divine mandate can lead to censure, punishment, or even death. Revelation likely was written during Domitian’s reign while its author, John, finds himself imprisoned on the island of Patmos “because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 1:9).
John writes to encourage the beleaguered churches to keep their faith. Despite their sufferings, Christ has already triumphed over the “kingdom of this world” (Revelation 11:5). John observes a temple, more glorious than any earthly shrine dedicated to the emperor. On a great throne sits a figure who “resembles jasper and carnelian” (Revelation 4:6). There are twenty-four thrones, upon which sit twenty-four gold-crowned elders. From the great throne come flashes of lightning and peals of thunder. Seven torches, representing God’s seven spirits, stand in front of the throne. Four living creatures, each with six wings – one like a lion, one like an ox, one with a human face, and one like an eagle – hover over the scene, singing day and night, “Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord God Almighty” (compare Isaiah 6).
John spies a scroll with seven seals in the right hand of the one seated on the great throne. A “mighty angel” demands, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals” (Revelation 5:2)? Unfortunately, “no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth” is found worthy to open and to read the scroll. John “begins to weep bitterly.”
Then one of the elders says, “Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals” (Revelation 5:5). But when John turns to look at the mighty Lion, he sees “a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered.” The slain lamb takes the scroll, and the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fall before the lamb, and they begin to sing a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to break its seals, for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation; you have made them a kingdom and priests serving our God, and they will reign on earth” (Revelation 5:9-10).
The slain lamb, the martyred Jesus, is worthy because, Paul writes, Christ “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, assuming human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. Therefore God exalted him even more highly and gave him the name that is above every other name so that at the name given to Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:7-11).
Even though tyrants rage, God reveals a Lion who appears as a Lamb enthroned over the heavens and the earth who embraces an authority inspired by selflessness and sacrifice. The kingdoms of this world cannot destroy it.
As for us, we are called to holy dissidence. When we say “yes” to the Lion-Lamb, we say “no” to those who selfishly grasp at power as though it were a commodity. How are you saying “yes” to the slain and risen Lamb and “no” to tyranny?
Questions for reflection on Revelation 5:
- How does understanding the portrayal of Jesus as the Lion-Lamb in Revelation challenge your views of power and authority?
- In what ways can you embody the values of selflessness and sacrifice in your own life, particularly in the face of societal pressures to pursue personal gain or power?
- Think about a time when you encountered a situation that forced you to decide between standing up for your beliefs and conforming to societal expectations. How did that experience influence your understanding of faith and conviction?
- What practical steps can you take to actively demonstrate holy dissidence in your community, supporting marginalized voices and resisting tyrannical structures that prioritize power over compassion?
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