Revelation
1:9-20
It
is important to note where this passage and this whole book begin. John begins with suffering having been exiled
to Patmos and sharing in the tribulations, but still persevering. There is one article, “the”, which is applied
to three nouns. In doing so John links
the three into a single unit or reality.
They are three expressions of the same thing. These three nouns are suffering, kingdom, and
perseverance. Faithfulness or
perseverance in the midst of the certainty of suffering is part and parcel of
being part of the Kingdom. It is not
that suffering is an unexpected aberration and perseverance or endurance is
something we have to do. Rather
suffering is to the kingdom life what labor is to pregnancy, or muscle strain
is to a work out. It is an absolute and
necessary part of and the fulfillment of the experience. Through out most of history being a part of
the Kingdom of God meant suffering through which the disciple persevered.
Why
didn’t John simply “name and claim” his way out of the suffering? One possibility is that John was ignorant of
his authority to name and claim personal peace and prosperity into his
life. Another possibility is that John
lacked adequate faith. A third
possibility is that suffering, perseverance and the kingdom are so linked
together that God works in and through these, rather than extracts us out of
them.
John
hears a loud voice and when he turns to see the voice he is so terrified that
he falls like a dead man. Maybe he
fainted and maybe he simply lost all strength because of being
overwhelmed. The power and glory and
symbolism cause John to collapse. John was no young novice; he has seen and
experienced plenty. John has seen the
worst you could find on earth, but is terrified by the best of Heaven. Completely overcome by what he saw he falls
into a heap. What revives him is the
touch of the right hand of what terrified him.
We mustn’t miss this point: what devastates us by its grandeur and glory
will lift us up with its gentleness.
Perhaps
the reason we are lacking in the personal touch of the Savior is that we have
lost or have never known the fear of the Almighty. Having reduced Jesus to a personal domestic
or wingman, having tried to turn God into a vending machine that dispenses
goodies, we have lost the fear and awe of God.
Having lost any fear of God, we are incapable of the comfort of
God. WE do not have His comfort because
all we want are trinkets. As suffering
and endurance are part of the Kingdom, so fear is a critical part of
comfort.
Questions
to ponder.
When
do you find Jesus most terrifying? Why?
One
old prayer reads: “Imprint on our hearts
such a dread of Thy judgments, and such a grateful sense of Thy goodness to us
as may make us both afraid and ashamed to offend Thee.”
Why
if, in view of the fact that God has appointed Christ to be our Judge, do we
not fear His judgments enough to avoid behaviors that we know will offend Him?
Does
the fact that Christ loved us with such passion that He gave himself for us in
His death cause us to be ashamed of even thinking about doing those things that
add to the burden of His Cross?
Do
we see Jesus as being great enough to be King and Master of this world, or do
we see Him absent and disengaged from life, or only involved in His little part
of reality? How does our opinion affect
the way we live?
