Revelation
What a crazy book in the Bible. I'm not going to begin to attempt to say that I understand "Revelation", but I have completely fallen to my knees after just reading last part of the first chapter (v. 9-20) that, in my ESV Bible, is entitled "Vision of the Son of Man".
At any rate, John (the writer of the book of Revelation) is hearing Jesus telling him to write the book of Revelation and then send it to the seven churches (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea).
After this John then turns to see "the voice" that spoke to him.
This is the part I want to rest on for this post. But before that, I want to let you know what my moment looks like right now.
Right now I'm in the middle of a really God-given moment. I'm at TCX (Twin Cities eXperience) which is a Christmas Conference that Campus Crusade puts on for the Upper Midwest Region (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Dakotas, Iowa), I'm watching Francis Chan talk about our relationship with God, it's depth, its intimacy, and how we take it for granted and lose the basics (Bible, prayer and being alone with God), and I'm reading the last book of the New Testament.
God met me in verse 12 and hasn't left. In verse 12 through 16 John attempts to describe his experience seeing Jesus with his earthly eyes. He tries to use images and colors that we can understand, but when all is said and done, it's hard to make sense of.
"The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 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." -Revelation 1:14-16
All of that to tell us that Jesus is truly beyond any words that we here on earth can create. He is beyond our comprehension and description. John's reaction in verse 17 after seeing Jesus is him simply falling at Jesus' feet as though dead.
That was my exact reaction to reading this passage again. What a description of Jesus! None of it makes sense (white like snow, eyes like a flame, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, etc.). But when you take a moment and just remind yourself that this is an ordinary man (called by God to be a witness of the events of the Gospel as well as the scribe of what is to come), who is using the only words he can grasp to describe the Son of God. It would be like using K'NEX to re-create the Statue of Liberty. It might work ... and look ... somewhat similar, but in no way would it come close to letting you know what the Statue of Liberty looks like in-person.
Meditate on that. On how BIG Jesus is. On how simply amazing and unimaginable and incomprehensible he is. Honestly, it will completely blow your mind if you meditate on it long enough.
Jesus is still our friend, and we are invited into a deep and intimate relationship with him that is more real than any relationship we can have here on earth. But he is also grand, triumphant and beyond all measure.
Speechless?
