Revelation 1:10-18 NIV
[10] “On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, [11] which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” [12] I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, [13] and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. [14] The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. [15] His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. [16] In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. [17] When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. [18] I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
John was in a terrible situation. Like his fellow believers in the Roman Empire, his bold proclamation of Jesus as Lord, landed him in very hot water. To muzzle his witness, he was exiled to a lonely, remote prison island called Patmos, a Greek island in a cluster of islands in the Aegean Sea.
How did he weigh up his current experience against his memories of Jesus? How did his suffering and the suffering of his fellow believers fit into the picture of God’s kingdom he had gleaned from Jesus’ teachings?
Jesus had warned that connection with him would bring persecution, but that seemed a remote threat until it really happened. John had no idea what would be the next step in this lethal collision with Rome. Torture? Wild animals? Fire? The prospect was terrifying, to say the least!
Little did the authorities know that John’s solitary confinement was the perfect place for him to receive the visions that foretold their destruction.
To ward off the fear that could easily overwhelm him, John turned away from his situation to think about Jesus, the rabbi he followed for years. Days of solitude on the island meant hours of fellowship with Jesus, “in the Spirit”. There were no interruptions or distractions to pull him away from contemplation and prayer. Did John use his situation to pen his immortal gospel?
He must have wrestled with the reality of his suffering entwined with the equally real message of the kingdom of God from the lips of Jesus.
In this atmosphere of despair and hope, alone, on a remote island in the middle of nowhere, something truly remarkable happened.
He heard a voice! Someone was there! He turned around… and saw a person! But no ordinary person, and not anywhere near like the person who had left the disciples with the words… “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
He saw the “now” Jesus, the one who was… veiled in human flesh, the one who is… reigning over all the kings of the earth, and the one who is to come… the one who is coming to put everything back in order as it was in the beginning. To be the Jesus who would do all these things, He had to be more glorious, more majestic, more powerful, with more authority than John ever knew Him to be as a human on earth.
John was so overwhelmed that he fell flat on his face before Jesus. Like Job, he was terrified out of his wits, and he had nothing to say. He couldn’t look at the glory he had just glimpsed. The Jesus he saw on the “Mountain of Transfiguration”, together with Peter and his bother, James, as Peter had described it, was only a pale reflection of what he was seeing at that moment.
2 Peter 1:16-18 NIV
[16] “For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. [17] He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” [18] We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.”
What did John see? He saw light, a human-like person bathed in light, light so bright that he could not gaze at Him. His fleeting glimpses were sufficient to form a picture so glorious that he could only describe it by comparing it with earthly things within the range of his experience…hair like snow, eyes like fire, feet like burnished bronze, a voice like a thunderous waterfall, and a face brighter than the midday sun. This figure was clothed in white and gold. His words sliced like a sharpened sword and his right hand held seven stars! Seven stars as in…real stars, not symbolic, neat, five-pointed stars cut out of cardboard and sprayed with gold paint!
A vision of such glory, majesty, power, and authority momentarily filled his gaze, and John dropped like a stone to the floor on his face in terror. This person, who identified Himself as Yahweh, the “I Am”, the eternal One, was the same one who had walked on the earth veiled in a human body, who died a real death, and who defeated death forever by rising again.
John felt His touch on his shoulder. He heard His gentle voice, the same voice that had sounded like a thundering waterfall, the crashing waves on a rocky shore, speaking reassuring words, “Don’t be terrified, John. It’s me, Jesus, the one who died and came back to life…that one.”
What was Jesus telling John? “Everything you see, John…hair, face, eyes, mouth, hands, feet, light…are the real me. I am the one who holds everything in my right hand…the hand that has power and authority. When I speak, stuff happens. What I say, goes. I Am, John. Not even death and the grave escape me. I’ve got everything in my hand.”
John’s very real and current situation faded from his consciousness. He could relax. No more fear about what might happen. This Jesus was right there, behind him, in front of him, above and below him. Nothing would ever get past His power or authority that He did not authorise or permit.
Was this only John’s experience, John’s privilege as a chosen Apostle? What about us? Can we claim the same reality even though we don’t see Him. Can we trust the promise that Jesus is with us always, even when the chips are down, even when we are faced with a choice? Life, or death?
1 Peter 1:8-9 NLT
[8] “You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. [9] The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.”
Peter said we can, and so did John, and so did the other apostles who wrote letters… They all testify to the confidence we can have in this Jesus whom John saw…on an island…
Why is that possible?
2 Corinthians 1:20 NLT
[20] “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.”
What can be better than that! Yes! Since God never tells a lie, we can confidently grow this awareness in our hearts that, no matter what, where, or when, He’s there, the same Jesus who both frightened and reassured John, “Don’t be afraid. I AM!”
When Jesus is around, everything will be okay!