Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one seated on the throne. It had writing on the front and the back, and it was sealed with seven seals. I saw a powerful angel, who proclaimed in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or look inside it. So I began to weep and weep, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look inside it. Then one of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Look! The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has emerged victorious so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Then, in between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a Lamb, standing as if it had been slain. It had seven horns and seven eyes, which are God’s seven spirits, sent out into the whole earth. He came forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one seated on the throne. When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each held a harp and gold bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. They took up a new song, saying,

“You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals,
        because you were slain,
        and by your blood you purchased for God
            persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation.
You made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
        and they will rule on earth.”

Then I looked, and I heard the sound of many angels surrounding the throne, the living creatures, and the elders. They numbered in the millions—thousands upon thousands. They said in a loud voice,

“Worthy is the slaughtered Lamb
        to receive power, wealth, wisdom, and might,
        and honor, glory, and blessing.”

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea—I heard everything everywhere say,

“Blessing, honor, glory, and power
belong to the one seated on the throne
    and to the Lamb
        forever and always.”

Then the four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshipped.

Commentary

John, the Seer of Mysteries, to whom was revealed what was soon to happen, saw how in heaven the seven-horned Lamb, standing atop the mountain and as if slain, was worshipped, for He was "worthy ... to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing" (Rev. 5:12), and "the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of ... Christ" (11:15), "the prince of the kings of the earth" (1:5), with His "kings and priests" (5:10). In Christianity is born the new sense of life that one should not flee the world but that Christ is coming into the world for the marriage feast of the Lamb, the feast of Divine-Humanity - as the King and therefore as the judge. In the battle for the Kingdom of Christ the faithful turn toward the coming Christ; their hearts are inclined toward Him in their expectation of Him, and one begins to hear the still timid refrain of the nearly forgotten ancient Christian prayer: "Even so, come." 

Christ's continuing enthronement, of His royal ministry, which is being accomplished in history, is disclosed in the book of Revelation as the apocalypse, that is, as the revelation of the hidden, inner content of history. In the heavenly vision of the One who sits on the throne and who holds in his right hand a book, in this vision of the historical destiny of the Church and, with her, of the historical destiny of humanity and the entire world, "no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon" (Rev. 5:3). But as one of the elders said, "Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof" (5:5). "In the midst of the throne ... stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth" (5:6). And when the Lamb took the book, all fell down before Him, and one heard voices saying, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing" (5:12). This is echoed by the voices of "every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them" (5:13). This is the enthronement of the Lamb on earth, or the beginning of His royal ministry. 

The images of the Apocalypse clearly reveal the fundamental idea indicated in the New Testament concerning the royal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ: namely, that this ministry takes place in history, and that it takes place not only as the inner manifestation of the power of the accomplished redemption but also as the new and effective action of the "Lamb as it had been slain" (Rev. 5:6). This enthronement of the Lamb is realized in the war of the Lamb against the forces opposed to Him - first in their confused interaction and then in the final separation of the forces of good and the forces of evil. Only as its final result does this tragic accomplishment include the triumph of the new city descending from heaven onto the new earth under the new heaven. This tragedy fills all of history from the Ascension of the Lord to heaven until the very end of history. Christ's enthronement is accomplished by a long and intense battle, and this enthronement represents His continuing ministry, which does not end until the end of history. It represents His royal ministry on earth.  (The Lamb of God)

Collect

Stir up your power, Lord God,
and support us with your mighty strength,
that your merciful grace may bring us quickly
the salvation that our sins delay.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever. Amen.