The lamb on the throne

Interestingly, as Steven Friesen [Imperial Cults and the Apocalypse of John, 198] notes, “John did not attempt to work out the relationship between the Lamb and the One on the throne through discussions of ontology or through abstract reasoning. His vision report works through the logic of worship and of apocalyptic symbol.” In this light, the strategic inclusion of hymnic praise is one means that John uses to paint a vision of past, present, and future in which the Christians of Asia Minor can locate themselves, form their communal identity, and live accordingly as worshipers of God and the Lamb.—Matthew Gordley, New Testament Christological Hymns, p. 215