Will You Turn To See Jesus? Part 2 (Revelation 1:14-20)
GIST: We need to see Jesus for who He is: powerful, compassionate… bigger, better, and brighter than everything; and when we do, we will be overwhelmed, but He will raise us up with grace!
Last week, we began walking through the last section of Revelation chapter 1 where we’re given this amazing, though challenging, picture of Jesus. Let’s just start by reading the full context again, then we’ll recap a bit and try and take the rest together this morning.
“12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around His chest. 14 The hairs of His head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In His right hand he held seven stars, from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in full strength. 17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”
Last week, we said it is easy to get lost in the imagery here, but the whole focus of the text is seeing Jesus. I don’t want us to lose sight of that this morning either. Even if we miss out on some of the cultural context of these images—and, guys, we’re coming to several today I just don’t fully understand—we can still appreciate the message. Here’s our gist part 2: We need to see Jesus for who He is: powerful, compassionate… bigger, better, and brighter than everything; and when we do, we will be overwhelmed, but He will raise us up with grace! Let’s just dive straight in→
I. We Need To See Jesus For Who He Is
Last week, we saw His sovereignty and holiness. Let’s keep going with the imagery John uses to describe what Jesus looked like when he turned to see Him. Essentially, these next few seem to be picturing Him as both powerful and purifying.
“His eyes were like a flame of fire…”. Ok, so this isn’t the most severe case of dry eyes ever recorded ☺️. Fire is referenced a lot in the Old Testament. The most obvious is probably in the context of sacrifices where the fire works as the purifying agent. However, we also see fire as a sign of God’s power. My favorite example of this is when God reveals Himself to the prophets of Baal by answering Elijah’s prayer and sending down fire from Heaven to consume not only a sacrifice but also the entire altar...and all the water that had been dumped around it. The other major example of fire I think of from the OT is the pillar of fire God used to guide the Israelites by night as they moved through the wilderness. Man, typing that up just now, I’m struck with how timely that example is for us, as God’s light continues to guide us through this dark wilderness!
So, which image gives us insight into why Jesus eyes are on fire? Yes. ☺️
This next one is less clear, at least for me. “15 His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace…” These aren’t Iron-man’s boots, but… I remember hearing John MacArthur point out that in the temple, bronze or brass was always associated with sin. That has led many to associate this image with purifying judgment. But again, understanding every image isn’t required for understanding its purpose. Jesus is coming in power and strength and majesty we can’t fully wrap our heads around, and He’s→
Loud and Clear. “and His voice was like the roar of many waters.” Have you ever been around a waterfall or even to a water park with big slides? Rushing water is deafening. If you’re with someone else, you’ll literally have to yell your conversations. Heck, if I’m giving the kids a bath, and I have my head in the tub while the water is running, I can’t hear people standing in the same room as me. In both situations, you know what I’m not struggling to hear? The water. When Jesus speaks, His voice is powerful and loud. You won’t be able to ignore it.
I was listening to Jon Courson preach this week, and he made a really interesting observation about the “many waters”. He called them “contrubutaries”, a little play on words there ☺️, and said that one of the reasons God’s voice is so loud and clear is He tends to make it heard through various speakers over and over again. You’re reading the Bible, listening to music, talking to your friend, catching a better sermon on youtube, and the message keeps coming at you. It’s crazy because Melissa and I actually have this conversation pretty often about seeing God confirming things in our lives through so many different avenues. I think it’s because I’m super dense and need the reinforcement. One of the most recent times we saw was actually in the decision for me to teach through Revelation. People kept coming to me individually asking if we could do this, so we took that as confirmation. Now, everywhere we turn it seems like everyone is preaching through Revelation right now! Maybe God needs us to see Him like this?
The next image is another difficult one for me. I think it’s an image of Him→
Protecting the Churches? “16 In His right hand He held seven stars,” We’re actually given an interpretation for this...but it’s still hard to completely grasp. “20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand,... [they] are the angels of the seven churches…” There has been a lot of speculation here about who these angels are. Probably the most straightforward interpretation is that these are actual angels who are connected to, or attendants of, or messengers to these churches, and therefore, the Church — and He holds them. (Yeah, I know I just put like three options in the “straightforward” interpretation ☺️). Either way, they are not acting alone. They are under His specific control and guidance. To me, this appears to represent even more Jesus’ provision and protection for His people.
Then we have this image of His→
Penetrating Word. “from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword…” If you were to take this as what Jesus actually looks like...it would be absolutely terrifying ☺️. It seems to refer to the power of His words — piercing hearts with the Truth. Hebrews 4:12 “12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Aren’t you glad His Word has that kind of power? Do you ever forget His Word has that kind of power? When we share the gospel, don’t we make it so much about what we will or won’t be able to say? It’s not.
And in the last image, we’re reminded that He is really→
Beyond Us. “and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.” Bright and glorious, the source of all light, warm and life providing, brighter than the seven stars in His hand. Our eyes should not be able to look on Him and live, and yet… He is revealing Himself to us. So, we need to see Jesus for who He really is, and→
II. When We Do, We’ll Be Overwhelmed, But He’ll Raise Us Up With Grace
Look at 17-19 (we addressed 20 earlier). “17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.” Yeah, this could be its own sermon, but I think seeing it in context here is helpful. John sees Jesus, and is immediately→
Overwhelmed. He falls on the ground like he’s dead. That’s quite the reception ☺️. Here, again, we see Jesus as→
Compassionate and Strong. He sees John collapse, and He comes and lays His hand on him. His right hand in particular. This is a really beautiful picture. Right hands were used as symbols of blessing (like when Jacob is blessing his grandsons in Genesis 48) and strength or authority (as when Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father). John is broken and overwhelmed, and Jesus comes with blessing and strength and authority, and touches him. He doesn’t just tell him to stand up. I didn’t even think about this until this week literally as I was typing these notes at 1:45am on Saturday morning, but John is laying at Jesus’ feet like a dead man. The only way Jesus can place His hand on John is by stooping down to touch him! Guys, that’s exactly what He does for us! He sees your brokenness and reaches down with His right hand!
And the one stooping down to touch you is→
Eternal. He’s the first and the last. He created this world and controls every aspect of its existence. And extends amazing→
Grace - He defeated sin for us! He died for us and provided our means of salvation—freedom from the bondage of sin—so→
What are we afraid of? He holds the keys of life and death. The passage says He controls both Death and Hades. I know it could be so easy to go crazy with the mythological reference here, but that would miss the point. The term “Hades” was commonly used to refer to the afterlife. Death is being personified here, but it literally refers to...dying. So, what’s the picture? Jesus is in charge of both physical and spiritual death. Even more, He holds the past, present, and future! (And that’s what we’re told this letter will address).
So, John is lying on the ground completely overwhelmed. He fell...like a deadman, so I think it’s safe to say he was a little terrified at that moment. What does Jesus remind him? Nothing in the world could be more terrifying than God, and He's the one who died to save us!
TAKEAWAYS
We Need To See Jesus For Who He Is: Powerful, Compassionate… Bigger, Better, And Brighter Than Everything.
And When We Do, We Will Be Overwhelmed (And We Should Be).
But He Will Raise Us Up With Amazing Grace!
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