When God and Jesus come to us, we need to respond to them. This devotional reading looks at how John responded to the Vision Man.
Nuggets
- John fell to his feet because he was probably overwhelmed with everything.
- John’s emotional response was fear.
- John’s responded with reverence.
- Now Jesus is eternal again.
- Jesus holds the keys that open to door of death.
In the past two devotions, we have been setting up how the particulars of the vision John had on Patmos. He was worshiping when he began to have a vision.
The vision of a man John described was “… like a Son of man …” (Rev. 1: 13 ESV). Now, we are going to take a look at John’s response.
Let's Put It into Context
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Devotions in the John’s First Vision series
John’s Physical Response
“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, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (Rev. 1: 17-18 ESV)
John fell to his feet because he was probably overwhelmed with everything.
Not only did John not recognize Him, but also his response was interesting. “… I fell at his feet as though dead …” (Rev. 1: 17 ESV). He just passed out.
John would have told this exactly right. If the wasn’t as dead, he wouldn’t have written it that way. (I don’t know for sure, but I doubt a Jewish man would readily admit to fainting.)
What a perfect place at which to faint – at the Savior’s feet.
Several sermons I read felt that John fainted because of a feeling of sin. I don’t think so.
If John thought this was Jesus, I don’t think his reaction was because he had put a casual spin on his love for Jesus. He had loved Him so deeply for so long – and had seen Him glorified once before.
Sure, John thought Jesus was gone back to Heaven never to be seen again in this lifetime except for Rapture, but I don’t think the response was only because he was surprised.
Yes, our hearts would have gone pitter patter as I am sure his did. A sword coming out of someone’s mouth would be disturbing. Laser eyes would be disconcerting. Even His voice was overpowering, coupled with fire eyes.
Remember, we are to fear God – feel awe – not fear Him – feel terror. Everything God and Jesus do is based on love.
Do disciples have reason to be terrified of God? No. God is our loving Father, not some cruel Someone.
But don’t we feel woefully unworthy to even approach God? We see ourselves so flawed from sin.
God, on the other hand, sees us covered in the blood of Jesus. Our sins have been blotted out.
It is only in our minds that the sin we carry is still there when we have asked God to forgive us of them.
When we do feel fearful and anxious, we are to cast on cares on God. “… The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4: 5-7 ESV).
Macdonald made an interesting point. He wrote, “In what way John saw Him, whether in what we vaguely call a vision, or in as human a way as when [had] leaned back on His bosom and looked up in His face, I do not now care to ask: it would take all glorious shapes of humanity to reveal Jesus, and He knew the right way to show Himself to John.”
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Are we seeing this correctly? I think we say vision – with a perceived non-real element about it – and think terrifyingly real.
What exactly John saw is one for the UNR book – understanding not relevant.
I think John was more overwhelmed – in a good way. John’s emotions had to have been bubbling around within him. He was having a heavenly vision. He was being sent a message from God.
But look at it this way. How many times do we say we want to meet God on the Sabbath day, but don’t expect to or flat out refuse to get ourselves into the Spirit?
We can question ourselves when God comes to see us through the Holy Spirit. If we were to have a vision, we probably wouldn’t fall over as if we were dead – we might just have the heart attack and die.
Even more than that, John was witnessing the glory of God. That is beyond imagination, beyond comprehension.
Then try to put this all down in words???? So, John wrote what he knew. He put it in Old Testament symbolism. “Then I looked, and behold, a form that had the appearance of a man. Below what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming metal” (Ezek. 8: 2 ESV)
Vision Man was coming in victory, and John had too many inputs going in. He just fainted.
Once John realized what was happening, he would have fallen to his knees in worship.
Vision Man’s Response
Fear Not
John’s emotional response was fear.
Two words: fear not. No long discourse regarding what John isn’t supposed to fear. No slap because he was fearful.
Straight comfort.
A hand on the shoulder and some comforting words went a long way with John to revive him. “… ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (Rev. 1: 17-18 ESV).”
(Yes, this is another tally on the side that this is Jesus, not God.)
By saying a short, direct command — fear not — it takes the focus off what we are fearing and puts it solely on Vision Man.
This is just one more example of Jesus’ caring attitude.
The Living One
John’s responded with reverence.
John had seen Jesus after His resurrection. He was there in the locked room (Jn. 20: 19-23). He was there when Jesus came back to show Thomas (Jn. 20: 26-29). Likewise, he was fishing with the others when Jesus cooked them breakfast (Jn. 21: 1-3).
Because Jesus was alive, John knew that he could believe in His promises. No only could John believe in them, but he could also be assured of them.
Maclaren told us how we should read these verses. He wrote,
“We must strike out that intrusive and wholly needless supplement ‘I am,’ and read the sentence unbrokenly. ‘I am the First and the Last and the Living One.’ Now that close connection of clauses in itself suggests that this expression ‘the Living One’ means something more than the mere declaration that He was alive. It means, as I believe, exactly what Christ meant when, in the hearing of this same apostle, He said upon earth, ‘As the Father hath life in Himself so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself.’”
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It isn’t enough that Jesus died and came back to life. If He were to die again – like Lazarus did – He would no longer be the Savior. He has eternal life because God’s power resurrected Him.
Yes, Jesus died. He didn’t stay in some sort of suspended animation for three days. He was dead, gone, and buried in a tomb.
Jesus didn’t stay there. Our living hope – our living faith – says nothing about us. It is about our living Savior.
I Died, and I Live Forevermore
Now Jesus is eternal again.
Jesus continues to live and will continue to live forevermore. He told us He would live forever. “… And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt. 28: 20 ESV).
The Trinity each have a hand in our gaining eternal life.
- “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool’” (Ps. 110: 1 ESV).
- “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16: 11 ESV).
- “inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories” (I Pet. 1: 11 ESV).
Jesus isn’t going to just sit back, put His feet up, and enjoy eternity. He will be an active Savior.
Brown told us what that was going to look like throughout eternity. He wrote
- “He shall live for ever as the glorious representative of God.
- “He shall live for ever as our gracious intercessor.
- “He shall live for ever as our spiritual King.”
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I know. Will we need a representative of God when we will have access to God Himself?
Jesus has to live forever. Our justification must be everlasting.
This justification is only available to us because Jesus was alive from the beginning of eternity to His time here in human form to eternity forevermore. It is based on His being our Mediator.
Keys of Death and Hades
Jesus holds the keys that open to door of death.
Let’s look a second at Jesus’ death. It was pretty amazing, wasn’t it?
Jesus came to earth for one purpose – to die. He took on all our sins – the sins of everyone who has ever lived.
Yes, the Son of God gave His life for ours.
Jesus had to. He had to shed His blood to be the sacrifice for our sins. The Plan of Salvation was complete with His death.
But the resurrection solidified His position as God. We could truly see Him as God. His glory was restored.
God’s power raised Jesus from death.
Jesus returned to Heaven where He lives today. That is where He will remain for eternity.
We have to remember that Jesus was given all authority after His resurrection. “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’” (Mt. 28: 18 ESV). Jesus has the keys to the invisible world — Heaven, grave, and Hades.
Keys represent that power and authority. Part of that authority is governmental authority. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9: 6 ESV).
If the Head of the Church holds the keys, the Church need not fear.
Jesus is Lord of death because He holds the keys and has conquered death. Only He can open the doors. “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’” (Mt. 25: 41 ESV).
The takeaway here is that Jesus is Sovereign. God is Sovereign.
If Jesus holds the keys to hell, doesn’t that mean He and God send us there? No, it doesn’t.
We choose to spend eternity in hell because we choose not to submit to God.
Just because we don’t know the date and time of our deaths, it does not mean we die by chance. By holding the keys of death, He knows the set time of our demise.
Jesus can use the keys to open or shut the doors of hell.
We know about God shutting the door. “And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in” (Gen. 7: 16 ESV).
We have to wait until Revelation 20 for Jesus to actually shut the gates of hell.
Jesus received the keys to hell when He conquered death.
We hear its name given in several different ways: hell, Hades, Sheol. What does it mean?
Gilfillan tried to help us with that. He wrote, “The term signifies the place Unseen; or, more properly, the Unseen. And by the Unseen I understand a place or state distinct from the grave, which receives only the bodies, while it, in its awful circle, includes the souls of the departed — different from Gehenna, or the Lake of Fire, which engulfs ultimately both the bodies and the souls of the lost …”
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We’ll talk about hell more in depth in Revelation 20.
We died, so Jesus died. He lives, so we live.
We question how Heaven can be big enough to hold all the disciples who have lived down through the ages. We think there will be too many for it to hold.
But will there?
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Mt. 7: 13-14 ESV).
Maybe the question should be is, how is Hades going to hold all the people going there?
Making the Connections #1
Ooo, baby. I have to process this.
Berry said something about the invisible world. He wrote, “What is going on in the invisible above is essential to the understanding of what is going on in the visible around. Only as we get glimpse of the issue can we appreciate the purpose and strength of grace.”
Resource
We tend to think of Heaven and earth as separated. You know, the chasm between them (Lk. 16: 26).
There is no portal for ease of travel between the two. But that doesn’t mean one doesn’t impact the understanding of the other.
We may understand Heaven as being a utopia. But if we don’t understand hell, we may think everyone goes to Heaven.
Only children of God — the sheep — get to spend eternity in Heaven. Those who have not ABCDed — the goats or Matthew 7: 21 people — won’t get there.
We only get to salvation through grace. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2: 8-9 ESV).
Making the Connections #2
The bottom line is John responded with reverence. I found a great sermon by Liddon that I want to summarize.
Reverence is not among the virtues to which worldview people endeavor. Liddon said that is because,
“Reverence, he thinks, lives in the past, lives in the unreal, lives in sentiment; lives for the sake of existing institutions, good or bad. It is naturally fostered by their advocates, while it is the foe of active virtue in all its forms. This idea of reverence is entertained by many persons who are in no degree responsible for the shape it takes, and who are quite sincere in entertaining it. They do but take in and accept and act on judgments which are floating in the mental atmosphere which they breathe.”
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- If they do revere something, they more than likely make a joke out of it.
- Reverence is based on truth and carries its own demands.
- Reverence comes only through imitating Jesus.
- Reverence transforms us.
- We can see God now through reverence. We see Him through the eyes of our hearts. It is a test of our faith.
- Reverence must begin with inward religion and be based on love.
John’s focus in the vision went immediately to Vision Man. He knew the vision was from God, requiring His reverence.
How Do We Apply This?
- Believe in the promises of the living Christ.
- Understand that Jesus is our Mediator.
- Dedicate our whole beings to Him.
- Revere God.
Father God. Regardless of the situations in which we find ourselves, You are always with us telling us to fear not. That isn’t because fearful things are not present. It is because You are totally in control of the situation, and we only need to trust in You. Amen.
What do you think?
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