THE SON OF MAN (Revelation 1:9-20)
INTRODUCTION:
During the month of December, we focused on the birth of Christ and the people and events surrounding his birth and early life. On Christmas eve we especially focused on His birth, and this is an important event in history that we should celebrate because through His first advent salvation was made available to mankind. The first advent leaves us with hope as we anticipate the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ and His return for the church and the culmination of all of God’s promises. Often when Christmas has come and gone, we have left Jesus as a baby in the manger and we must remember that He is no longer that helpless baby that had to be cared for and protected by Mary and Joseph, but He is now the glorified Son of Man, and He is intimately involved in the work of His church. This morning I want to focus on a vision that the apostle John saw of the glorified Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. In this vision we will see how the Lord chose to demonstrate His glory and to allow John to see Christ’s ongoing work in His church. Let’s pray and then turn to our passage of Scripture for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to the last book of the New Testament and the last book of the entire Bible, turn to Revelation 1:9-20. John begins by prefacing his vision by telling us who he is, where he is and why he is there. Please, listen and follow along as I read.
Revelation 1:9-20,
“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, saying, ‘Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.’ Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a 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. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. 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. Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things. As for the mystery of the seven stars which 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.’” (Revelation 1:9–20, NASB95)[1]
THE VOICE OF THE SON OF MAN (Revelation 1:9-11)
As the apostle John begins his description of what he saw, he first introduces himself. He lets his readers know who it is that is writing to them, but instead of asserting his apostolic authority, he appeals to his readers as a brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation, and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus. John is a brother and fellow partaker in God’s kingdom because of his redemption in Jesus, the fact that he has endured in the faith shows his perseverance. John was enduring in tribulation at the time of this vision, John tells us that he is on the island of Patmos, this was a penal island where John had been banished because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. John writes that he is imprisoned here for preaching the gospel. When this book was written all the other apostles of the Lord were dead. Believers were being hunted down and banished or killed. But even of greater sorrow was the fact that many churches were defecting from the truth, turning their backs on the teaching of John and the other apostles that they had faithfully and tirelessly delivered unto them. It was a dark period in the history of the church. This is the setting which John paints for us in which he received his vision of the glorified Lord Jesus Christ.
John informs us that he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day. The phrase “in the Spirit” indicates for us that what John experienced on this particular Lord’s Day was not a normal human experience. Through the Holy Spirt John was transported outside his senses, outside the physical realm, beyond the limits of our human understanding. John was taken in the Spirit to a place where he could communicate directly with God. Why did this happen to John? Because God had a message that He needed to communicate to John so that John could communicate it to us. John informs us that this took place on the Lord’s Day which was the customary way for believers to refer to the first day of the week, the day in which we commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. John was simply telling us that this took place on a Sunday, possibly as He was spending time worshipping the Lord.
As he was worshipping on this particular Sunday John writes that he heard behind him a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet. Think back to the Old Testament, before God delivered the Law to the Israelites, they too heard a very loud trumpet sound that made them all tremble (Exodus 19:16). Reading through the book of Revelation you will find that a loud sound or voice often comes before a solemn announcement and before the eruption of heavenly praise. The sound of a trumpet has a piercing, penetrating sound, it can drown out all other sounds and rise above them. John said it sounded like a trumpet, but it was not an instrument, no this sound is a loud voice, the voice of the Lord Jesus himself, his loud voice like a trumpet immediately grabs John’s full attention and drowns out all other sound. The sound is unmistakable, this voice like a trumpet is the risen, glorified Lord Jesus Christ and He is speaking to John. He commands John’s full attention; it is time to listen.
The Lord Jesus tells John in this commanding voice that he is to write a book and send it to seven churches in Asia Minor, churches that John had ministered to while living in Ephesus before being banished to Patmos. John may have wondered while suffering in exile why the Lord had kept him alive. Why had he not been put to death or died like the rest of the apostles? Why had God allowed him to live long enough to see the church begin to slip into spiritual decline? The voice of the Lord Jesus gives him the answer to these questions, the Lord was not done with John yet, He still had more work for him to do. He had one more book for John to write, a book that looks ahead into the future to the culmination of all things, the final victory over sin and the future glorification of the church. John was condemned to exile on this rocky island in the Aegean Sea, but on this particular day John soared on the wings of prophetic revelation to the very throne of God and the glory of Christ. The Lord Jesus tells him to write what he sees, and what he saw was incredible.
THE SETTING OF THE SON OF MAN (Revelation 1:12)
John turned to see the person connected to the voice that was speaking to him. The first thing that John sees as he turns around are seven golden lampstands. Olive oil lamps were common in the world of John’s day. They were usually made or clay or metal, filled with oil with a floating wick. They did not produce much light if left down low, to light a room they had to be lifted up on a lampstand. For this reason, lampstands would have been a common sight to John’s readers, but not the lampstands John describes, the lampstands John sees are made of pure gold. Because these lampstands are made of such valuable material indicates for us their tremendous value. In the very last verse of our passage it is explained to us what these seven golden lampstands represent, John writes that lampstands are the seven churches to whom he was to send the book which he was told to write. This is a fitting symbol for the church which God called to be lights in the world. The fact that they are made out of gold shows us how precious the church is to God. The truth is there is nothing more valuable on this earth, and nothing that was bought at so high a price, the purchase price was God’s own blood according to Acts 20:28.
Though these seven lampstands correspond to the seven churches listed in verse 11, this picture of the church is not limited to only those seven churches. In the pages of Scripture the number seven is used often to indicate completeness. So, while the churches listed here will receive specific messages in chapters 2 and 3, the words written to them are for the whole church. These seven churches are distinct churches in Asia Minor, but they symbolize the entire church throughout its history in all its variations.
THE SIGHT OF THE SON OF MAN (Revelation 1:13-17)
After John sees the lampstands, his attention is immediately drawn to the person connected to the voice that spoke to him. This person was in the middle of the lampstands and John said that he saw one like a son of man. This is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of Man. He does not appear like the Christ that John last saw before the ascension. At the end of His ministry, Christ’s full glory was still cloaked in His resurrection body. But here in this vision to John, Christ’s glory is on full display.
The fact that John saw Jesus Christ in the middle of the lampstands should give us great comfort and be a tremendous encouragement to us. This picture of Jesus Christ in the midst of the church. He has not forgotten us or left us alone. This visual reminder that He is with us and intimately involved with the church should be a great reassurance to us. Our God is not a distant God but One that walks among us, who is alive and active in the midst of His people. As John describes the risen, glorified Lord Jesus Christ to us it will give us an understanding of what Jesus Christ is doing in His church.
John first describes the clothing of our Lord; He was clothed in a robe that reached down to His feet and girded across His chest with a golden sash. This clothing described by John is directly tied to the garments worn by the high priest of Israel. John is seeing Christ in His role as the Great High Priest of His people, interceding on behalf of His church. The author of Hebrews speaks of Christ’s priestly role extensively, but that role is summed up for us in Hebrews 7:24-25 which says, “…Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:24–25, NASB95)[2]
The next thing John describes about the glorified Son of Man is His hair that was white like white wool, like snow. Christ’s head and hair gleamed in brilliant white. These words describing our Lord’s head and hair remind us of Daniel’s description of the Ancient of Days who hair was described as like pure wool. Daniel was describing God the Father, John is describing God the Son. This similarity affirms Christ’s deity, but it also speaks of His purity. He is the perfectly pure, unblemished, and absolutely holy Lamb of God. His desire is that we would be holy as well. Paul explained in the book of Ephesians that this was the Lord’s purpose in saving us in the first place to make us holy in Him. Speaking of this Paul writes that Christ “… loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5:25–27, NASB95)[3] Our desire as believers should be to strive to live holy lives. As our Scripture reading said this morning, we should purify ourselves as He is pure in light of our hope in becoming like Him when He appears to take us home.
John moves from Christ’s hair to His eyes and describes them as being like a flame of fire. This description of Christ’s eyes as a flame of fire is a picture of His holy omniscience. The Lord sees everything and is aware, fully aware of everything that is going on in the church. Nothing escapes His notice, nothing can be hidden or concealed from Him. His eyes peer right into the heart of His church and right into the very heart of every believer. Again, the author of Hebrews explains the absolute completeness of the Lord’s omniscience in Hebrews 4:13 where he writes, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” (Hebrews 4:13, NASB95)[4] The Lord sees all things and does not fail to see sin in the church.
Not only does He see it, but He also deals with it as John goes onto describes the Lord’s feet which were like burnished bronze when it has been made to glow in a furnace. In ancient days, the kings and rulers of the earth used to sit on raised thrones so that those who had audience with them were always under their feet. In this way a king’s feet represented his authority and judgment over his subjects. Unlike the feet of flesh of earthly kings, the feet of Jesus are burnished bronze, representing His absolute authority and judgment over sin. John does not only see Jesus Christ moving in the church as her Great High Priest, but also as her King and Judge. This is not the final judgment of God against sin, which was dealt with at the cross. This is the pruning and purging work of Christ in the church. John had spoke of this work of Christ in his Gospel, in John 15:2 he wrote, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:2, NASB95)[5] The Lord loves the church enough to discipline it, to bring the necessary judgment to protect its purity. Hebrews 12:5-11 speak of this disciplining work of our Lord and in those closing verses gives us the purpose of His discipline when the author writes, “… He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” (Hebrews 12:10–11, NASB95)[6]
John next describes not what he sees but what he hears by describing the voice of the Lord as the sound of many waters. Patmos is a rocky island, no sandy beaches and in a storm when the waves crash against the rocks, they do so with a deafening roar. Describing the voice of Jesus in this way again speaks of His authority over the church. In other words, when the Lord speaks to the church it is unmistakable, His voice thunders over the church through the divine authority of His written word to us.
John goes onto describe again what he sees, and he writes that the Lord was holding in His right hand seven stars. Again, in verse 20 just as the lampstands were explained we also have explained to us the meaning of the stars, the stars are the angels of the seven churches. There has been much confusion over the meaning of this explanation. Does each church have an angel over it, and if this is what is meant think about what this means? Why would God give a message to John to be relayed to angels who would then deliver it to the church? Besides that, nowhere in Scripture do we read of an angel having authority over the church. Rather in Hebrews they are described as ministering servants, not leaders of the church. The Greek word that is translated angel is used for angels, but the word actually means messenger and is also used of men in Scripture. These stars then represent the pastors or leaders of the church who would receive John’s message from God and carry it back to their churches. What this means is that the Lord will always have His chosen messengers, not only will He choose them, but He keeps them in the palm of His hand. As I already mentioned the church in Asia Minor was under attack, persecution had come and some had fled, some had compromised with the world. But no matter how bad it had become the Lord still had His faithful men serving His church. Even today we see churches defecting, caving into the world, and compromising with them. But we must never forget that the church is under the sovereign care of Jesus Christ. He will always have faithful men, faithful shepherds that He gifts, calls, and sets apart to care for His church, to care for His people.
Part of the Lord’s sovereign care is to protect the church from the wickedness of false teaching. John describes another observation that He makes of the Lord which illustrates the Lord’s sovereign protection of the church. John writes that out of the Lord’s mouth comes a sharp, double-edged sword. This is not the short sword that the Roman soldier carried on a daily basis, this was a broad sword, and it is the broad sword of God’s truth. Near the end of Revelation God will use this sword against the ungodly. Here it is being used in judgment against enemies and threats in the church. In chapter 2 of this book Jesus says to the church at Pergamum, a church overrun with heresy and false teachers, He writes in verse 16, “‘Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.” (Revelation 2:16, NASB95)[7] Again the author of Hebrews reminds us of the deadly power of God’s truth, he writes in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12, NASB95)[8] This is the weapon the Lord chooses to use against deceivers and every false teacher that would try to invade His church with their deceptive teachings. The weapon of His truth, His Word has fought many battles and because of it the church has prevailed through all of history.
The final detail that John mentions in his description of Jesus is that His face was like the sun shining in its strength. Looking at the Lord’s face was like staring into the sun at high noon on a cloudless day. This blazing light is the shekinah glory, this is the brilliant, blazing holy glory of God, radiating from the face of God the Son. Jesus spoke of this glory in His high priestly prayer in John 17:5 when He said, “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” (John 17:5, NASB95)[9] The glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ shines through the church and the people of God reflect His glory to a watching world. Understand this is the reality of the true church; God redeems sinners to build His church, their transformed lives reflect the majesty of His glory to the world, whereby God draws more sinners to Himself. The awesome, brilliant glory of our Lord shines through the church, lighting up a lost and dark world.
CONCLUSION:
This is the vision that John saw of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, a vision of the Lord in the midst of the church serving as their Great High Priest always interceding for them. He saw them as their King and Judge, disciplining them so that they might share in His holiness, protecting them from the enemies of the church and those who would seek to deceive them. Finally reflecting the majesty of His glory through them that He might draw other sinners into His kingdom. John’s response to this vision of the glorified Son of Man was to fall at His feet like a dead man, John collapses before the Lord of glory in fear, in reverence, in worship. John’s response is the same response we see throughout Scripture of everyone who sees a vision of the Lord or encounters the Lord. This should always be the response of anyone who sees the Lord, whether you are a redeemed sinner or not, you should be terrified to be in the presence of Holy God. There is always this fear and reverence in a true vision of Christ because we see His glory and He sees our sin, we are exposed before Him.
John collapsed before the Lord, staring at His bronze feet of judgment and the double-edged sword of His word, we too would collapse in a lifeless heap. But the terror of that vision turned to comfort as the Lord reached down and placed His right hand on John. He said to John, “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 1:17–18, NASB95)[10] These were words of comfort and encouragement to John, and they should be to us as well. The truth that He was dead and alive forevermore should cause our hearts to lift in grateful praise that He has purchased our salvation and any and all discipline and judgment is to draw us closer to Him and to purify us as He is pure in preparation of meeting the glorified Son of Man. There is reason to be terrified when we see God moving in judgment against the church, but that terror turns to comfort when we reflect on what God has done for us. Just as He had work for John to do, He also has work for us. We are not called to write another book of the Bible, but we are called to proclaim the glory of His gospel to those around us, to reflect His glory to a dark and dying world. The glorified Son of Man is at work in the church, how will you respond to Him, and His charge to proclaim the gospel to those around you?
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.