A Vision of Jesus

[Originally preached 19 January 2003]

Revelation 1.9-20

Today we begin the body of the book of Revelation and it begins just as you would expect it to begin: with a vision. This should not be disturbing. Actually, it’s good. And I say that because a vision is very helpful. It tells us how things really are and gets us beyond how things merely look. Consider the question, ‘Who is Jesus?’ While He was on this earth there were many people who saw Him. And what did they see? How would they have answered our question? Most of them would have said that Jesus is just another Jewish man, maybe with some quirks but that’s all. After all, that is what they saw. But that is not who Jesus is. What you might be able to see is not what really is. Jesus is far more than just another Jewish man, even if you include what look like quirks. The vision reveals something of the real Jesus. And it is so very important that we understand who Jesus really is because as we understand who He is we then understand what He does. One of the most important questions that Revelation answers is the one that asks, ‘What in the world is going on?’ Revelation answers that question first by rephrasing it to this: ‘What in the world is Jesus doing?’ It then begins to answer the question by pointing to who Jesus is. It is no surprise that Revelation begins with a vision of Jesus. It is the foundation of the whole book. Now, let’s go through this vision of Jesus.

The first thing that John mentions is the seven golden lampstands. So, our first question is to ask what these lampstands are about. Now, if only all of our questions were so easy. Jesus actually tells us what they are in verse 20. ‘… the seven lampstands are the seven churches.’ But now notice that Jesus is standing in the midst of these lampstands. He stands in the midst of the churches. Understanding this is not difficult. Jesus is near to His people. He is not far away, preoccupied with other things. He is near, in the midst of His people. But near to do what? That comes later.

Next, we see that Jesus is described as ‘one like a son of man’. Once you hear that I’m sure that your thoughts go to the Gospels where Jesus often refers to Himself as ‘the Son of Man’. But even this use of the phrase goes further back to Daniel. Listen to a section of Daniel 7. We’ll be referring to this a couple of times.

As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. Daniel 7:9-14

Here, ‘one like a son of man’ appears before ‘the Ancient of Days’, before God. And what happens when He is presented before God? He receives ‘dominion and glory and a kingdom’ to the end that ‘all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him’. Unlike the kingdoms that were just destroyed, this kingdom lasts forever. Now, for Daniel this is a vision of the future. But by the time that we get to John this is a vision of the present. Who is Jesus? He is the Son of Man to whom ‘all authority on heaven and earth’ has already been given. [See Matthew 28.18.] Jesus is the ruler of a kingdom that lasts forever, the kingdom of God. Jesus is Lord over all. [See Romans 10.9.] And it is this Jesus who is near to His church.

Next, we have the long robe with the sash. What is this? As you look into your Old Testament again, this seems to be like the clothing that the priests wore as they ministered in the tabernacle and later in the Temple. [See Exodus 28.4.] If this is true, then it is telling us that Jesus functions as a priest. And what were the duties of the priests in the Old Testament. They were intimately involved in the sacrificial system. And so is Jesus, but not in offering the blood of bulls and goats. Rather, He has offered His own blood to cleanse us from our sins. [See Revelation 1.5.] The priests were also to instruct the people in the ways of God. They were the teachers of the Church in the Old Testament. Jesus was in the process of doing that through John in this book. He still teaches us. The priests also cared for the Tabernacle furnishings, things like the lampstand that was in the Holy Place. They were to trim the wick, replace it with a new one when necessary, and fill it with new oil to burn. Jesus also cares for the lampstands which are His churches by instructing, correcting and even rebuking them so that they might burn brightly with the Gospel, and we will see Him do just that in chapters 2 and 3.

Next, is the hair: it’s as white as wool, as white as snow. What does white hair mean to you? It’s a sign of old age. Here, it is a pointer to one who is ancient. Remember back to what I read from Daniel 7. How was the Ancient of Days described? ‘…the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool…’ What do we do with this? Jesus is not only the Son of Man but He is also the Ancient of Days. Here the vision points to the deity of Jesus even as it pointed to His humanity in the first title.

Then we have the eyes that are ‘like a flame of fire’. Let’s start with the image of fire. Daniel 7 also used that image.

… his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out from before him… Daniel 7.9-10

Now, what does fire do? Listen to one use of this image in the New Testament.

… each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 1 Corinthians 3:13

Fire tests the quality of things. If one’s work is done well it comes through the fire unscratched. But if one’s work is faulty it is destroyed by the fire. This is how fire tests. Jesus has eyes of fire. He sees what it going on and He knows the quality of the work being done. In each of the letters to the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3 Jesus says, ‘I know…’ In most, especially where there is a rebuke to be delivered, He says, ‘I know your works.’ Jesus stands in the midst of His churches. He is near to His people. And one reason that He is near is that He might examine what they are doing, that His eyes of fire might put those things to the test. He sees and He knows what His churches are doing and He commends or rebukes accordingly.

John next notices the feet of ‘burnished bronze’ [ESV] or ‘fine brass’ [NKJV]. Since I really don’t know what this image signifies I’m just going to pass it by.

Then there is the voice and it is a loud voice, ‘like the roar of many waters’. Jesus’ voice is referred to earlier in the passage. There the aspect of volume is still prominent but the image is different. There, in verse 10, it is ‘a loud voice like a trumpet’. If you look at other appearances of God in the Old Testament you'll notice that they are also noisy. When God descended to Mt. Sinai there was the booming of thunder and the very loud blaring of a trumpet. [Exodus 19.16,19] When Ezekiel was confronted with an image of God there was a lot of noise.

And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army. Ezekiel 1:24

Then again in the book of Daniel, this time chapter 10, Daniel is confronted by an angel and there is noise. ‘And the sound of his words were like the sound of a multitude.’ [Daniel 10.6] Now, what’s with all this noise? Why is the volume turned up? Actually, it fits. John is being blown away by what he sees. But God does not just use one of the senses, sight. He also uses a second, hearing. This is a vision that appeals to the whole person. Jesus is overwhelming John by the use of sight and sound. And in this way He is making a striking impression on He prophet. Just imagine coming to the big battle at the climax of the movie. Swords are clashing. Trumpets are blaring. Men are shouting. And in the middle of it all the sound is turned off. Something would definitely be missing. Here, the sound is turned way up. Jesus wants John to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that something really big is happening.

We’re down to the last verse of the vision. What we have here are the stars which Jesus tells us are the angels of the churches. We’ll see them again when we get to the letters. In some sense or other they represent the churches. But notice that they are in Jesus’ hand. In the Old Testament the hand is a symbol of power. It might be power to destroy or power to protect. The churches are in Jesus hand.

Then there is the two-edged sword that proceeds out of Jesus’ mouth. What is a sword for? It is for fighting and killing. Jesus fights. He is a warrior. He fights against His enemies. That is true whether the enemies are within His church [See Revelation 2.16.] or outside His church. [See Revelation 19.21.] But the sword that Jesus uses is not a sword of steel. It is a sword that comes out of His mouth. The sword that He uses is His Word. [See Ephesians 6.17.] Jesus is a warrior-king. But the weapons of His warfare are not of the flesh. [See 2 Corinthians 10.4.] He arrives at victory using His Word. (Thus the Church needs to stay away from the use of fleshly weapons to achieve her goals.)

This leaves the last part of the vision, the face. ‘… His face was like the sun shining in full strength.’ The face is a fascinating aspect of our being. It is a key way that we express what we are feeling. The image of the face is applied to God even though He doesn’t actually have a face. Remember the benediction from Numbers 6.

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

But then there is the other extreme.

The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth. Psalm 34:16

We see either God’s smile and rejoice or His frown – or worse – and tremble. All this is in the face. Now, John writes that the face of Jesus shines like the sun. This matches up with something that Paul wrote.

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6

And the point of the image? God’s glory, His smile and His frown, is seen in the face of Jesus. The fate of men and nations hangs on what they see in Jesus’ face.

Now, let’s put the pieces together. What do we have here? We have a vision that answers the question, ‘Who is Jesus?’ Is He just another Jewish man, though maybe with some quirks? I don’t think so! The vision reveals the truth. Who is Jesus? He is the Divine Warrior who comes to assert His authority over all things, both within and without His Church. He is God’s High Priest who intercedes for His people at the point of conversion as well as through the rest of their lives. He is the Judge who sees through the disguises of the human heart to see the true quality of a person’s life. This is who Jesus is. And knowing who He is helps us understand what He does. And that is what the rest of the book is about. Revelation is about this Jesus in action in the Church and in the world.

Now, seeing this is really great. But the text gets especially practical when you take the next step. The text gets practical when you look at John’s response to this vision. What happened to John? ‘When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.’ [Revelation 1.17] What is going on here? This is John, ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’. [See John 21.20.] What is he afraid of? He wasn’t afraid of Jesus when they walked the Judean countryside. What’s going on? This fits with other similar situations. What happened to Moses at the burning bush? [Exodus 3.6] Or Isaiah when he saw the Lord high and lifted up? [Isaiah 6.5] Or Ezekiel [Ezekiel 1.28] or even Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration? [Mark 9.6] What happens when someone finds himself confronted with something of the glory of God? He becomes very afraid, very quickly. ‘But John was saved! What is there to fear?’ Well, so were the others. But having one’s sins forgiven does not remove the need for fear. Even though the sins of these men were forgiven, here they were in the presence of Holiness itself. They were vividly reminded that they were sinners still. And so, John fell as a dead man in the presence of the glorious Lord.

This says something about how we are to approach the risen Jesus. There is no room for a nonchalant and casual response to being in the presence of the Lord. We come to Him as sinners! Forgiven but sinners nonetheless. And to the extent that the glory of the holy Savior is grasped by us, to that extent we will feel our sinfulness, to that extent we will fear. That we do not fear very much does not speak well for us. We need to have more of the fear of the glory of Jesus. It would be an indication that we are seeing the real Jesus more clearly. That is something worth praying for. And what do we pray? ‘Lord, show me Your glory.’ [See Exodus 33.18.] When more of the glory of Jesus is revealed to us, we will fear. [See Exodus 34.8.] And that will show that we are getting closer to the spiritual maturity that John had.

But John doesn’t stay as a dead man. Jesus gently lays that right hand of power on John and speaks words of comfort to him.

Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Revelation 1:17-18

Jesus reminds John of His work as the Savior and how, on the cross and from the tomb, He took care of sin and death. John is raised up. The fear is removed. And then John is given a task.

Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. Revelation 1:19

Do you see what is going on? There is a progression here. First, there was a revelation of Jesus. Something more of who He is was revealed to John. Then John quickly became aware of his own sinfulness. The contrast with the glory before him was too great. He is overwhelmed. But Jesus reveals His gentle mercy. He restores John with a touch and words of the Gospel. John is now ready for the next step, mission. Jesus commissions John to the work that He has for him. There are four steps to this progression: a revelation of Jesus, the conviction of sin, the application of the forgiveness of the Gospel and then mission. This progression exposes the weakness of the Church today. Too many try to short-circuit the progression. Many talk of the third step of forgiveness without working through the two prior steps, the revelation of who Jesus is and then the experience real conviction of sin. Then there are those who speak of mission but neglect the first three steps. They are not ready for mission. Then there are those who think that if they work through all the steps once that is good enough. But this progression is an ongoing cycle to be repeated again and again. After the first experience of the steps leading to mission comes a deeper revelation of Jesus, leading on again to the other steps, but this time at a deeper level. And on we go, again and again and again. The church today is failing because it has not experienced what John did. It knows little of this progression. It knows little of Jesus and what flows from deeper and deeper revelations of who He is. The need of the day is for the Church to come to her God, to repent of her shallowness and her contentment with that shallowness, and then to ask, ‘Father, show me Your glory. Let me see a bit more of who Jesus really is. By Your Spirit, reveal to my heart something more of this Divine Warrior, who is also High Priest and Judge of the Church and the world. Lord, we would see Jesus.’ As we give ourselves to that kind of prayer, we will see more of Jesus, as He really is. Then we will enjoy what John did: the deepened conviction of sin that leads to the glorious experience of gracious forgiveness. And out of this will come a Church ready to serve her Lord.

Revelation is a practical book. It is that because it is a book about Jesus and the Gospel, about repentance and faith in that Gospel. You have had something more of that Gospel revealed to you today. Will you believe it?