“I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet,” —Revelation 1:9-10
I’ve always liked John. If we are allowed to have a favorite apostle I would pick him. In his gospel and letters he always kept things pretty simple, mostly I think because God meant for it to be simple. John returned to the same theme over and over again throughout his writings…love. It was John who wrote, “God is love,” he was the one who told us that “God so loved the world that He sent His only Son,” and he refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” That’s a pretty important awareness, something that took the others a while to understand. I know I’m still working on that one. John was one of Jesus’ “inner circle” and was very close to the Lord throughout His ministry. Of all the apostles I think John knew the Lord the most intimately. Jesus even entrusted the care of his own mother to him while hanging on the cross.
So here we find John banished to the island of Patmos in trouble for preaching the gospel. On the Lord’s day, Sunday, the day of the week Jesus rose from the dead, John was “in the spirit” (more on that in another post) and heard a loud voice. Turning around to see who was speaking he saw an amazing sight.
“and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.” —Revelation 1:13-16
And John, the disciple who probably knew Jesus better than any other, who spent 3-1/2 years walking with Him daily, hearing His words, eating with Him, talking with Him daily, reacted how?
“When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.” —Revelation 1:17
The glory of the risen Son of God, shining brighter than the sun, manifesting His radiant splendor knocked John right off his feet. We don’t follow a Savior still hanging from a cross; that event was a moment in space and time, a very important moment grant you but a singular moment that has passed. We serve the living, risen Savior, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords seated for eternity in all His glory, power, honor, and might at the right hand of the Father. All His enemies are vanquished, placed under His feet which we, the body of Christ–the Church, are.
And how did Jesus respond to John at His feet?
“And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”” —Revelation 1:17b-18
We all have an image of who we think Jesus is. Even John, as close as he was to Jesus, was amazed at the sight of the glorious Lord, the Son of God, eternal risen Savior. And in all His might and glory Jesus reached out His hand and laid it on John and told him, “Don’t be afraid.” Jesus wants to reveal Himself to us in the same way. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. So come into His presence and bask in the light of His love. He has already won the victory for us.
(originally published 4/6/13)