Deo Gloria
Sermon for April 24, 2022
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Revelation 1:4-18
Theme: What is Jesus Doing Now?
- He is watching over us.
- He is ruling for us.
- He is speaking to us.
Have you ever wondered what certain stars or celebrities from years ago are doing now? Take Henry Winkler, for example, the guy who played “The Fonz” on Happy Days—what’s he doing now? Well, since his days on “Happy Days” Henry Winkler has appeared in a number of movies including “Night Shift” and “The Waterboy.” He also has guest-starred on a number of TV shows such as “The Practice,” “Arrested Development” and “Crossing Jordan.” In recent years Mr. Winkler also has provided a voice on the PBS animated series “Clifford’s Puppy Days.” He and his wife, Stacey, and their 3 children live in California.
So what about Jesus? Having just come through another Lenten season, another Holy Week and another Easter, where the spotlight is focused squarely on Jesus and all that he did to accomplish our salvation, we may wonder the same about him. What is Jesus doing now? I mean, doesn’t it seem as if he too has faded into obscurity since his resurrection and ascension almost 2,000 years ago? Though it may seem that way to us at times, our text this morning assures us that just the opposite is true. Jesus hasn’t faded into the background at all. He is still very busy, very active on our behalf. He is watching over us, he is ruling for us and he is even speaking to us.
When he was about eighty years old, the apostle John too may have wondered what Jesus was doing. Sixty years of hardship had passed since Jesus’ resurrection. Sure the church had grown a lot over the years, but it had done so at a tremendous cost. One by one Jesus’ original disciples had been martyred for their faith. John’s brother, James, had been the first to go. He was beheaded by Herod Agrippa just ten years after Jesus’ resurrection. Twenty years later Peter, the spokesman of the disciples, was crucified upside down by emperor Nero. John was now the only one left, the only original disciple who had not been killed on account of his Christian faith. And things had not been easy for him either. At the time he wrote this letter, John was living in exile on the island of Patmos, a small, deserted island off the coast of Asia Minor, the country we know today as Turkey. The congregations he had left behind on the mainland were suffering too. Some of the members had been kicked out of their local synagogue. Others had been arrested and put in prison. Some had even been tortured and put to death. So, yes, what was Jesus doing while his people were suffering?
John received an answer to that question when Jesus appeared to him and gave him the spectacular vision we have recorded for us in the book of Revelation. He reports the encounter like this:
I turned around to see the voice that speaking to me. And when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, 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. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
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. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!(vv. 12-18a)
Jesus appeared to John to assure him that he had not forgotten about his people. He made that clear by standing among the seven golden lampstands. At the end of the chapter Jesus explains that the lampstands represent the seven churches to whom John was supposed to write.(1:20) The churches are compared to lampstands because Christians are to be the light of the world and let their lights shine for Jesus. The fact that Jesus stood among them meant that he was keeping the promise he had made to his disciples: “Surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age”(Matthew 28:20). So what is Jesus doing now? He is watching over us. He is standing in our very midst.
And because he is in our midst, Jesus knows what’s going on in our congregation and in our lives. For example, Jesus said to the church in Ephesus:
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.(Rev. 2:2-4)
Isn’t it kind of scary to think that Jesus knows everything that is going on both here at church and in our lives, that he knows everything we say, everything we do, even what we think about other people? We can hide our sins from others, but we can’t hide them from Jesus. His blazing eyes see things even Superman can’t see with his x-ray vision. They penetrate to our very hearts.
On the other hand, the fact that Jesus stands in our midst and knows what’s going on is also very comforting. Remember the words that were used to describe Jesus? “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood…”(v. 5). Think of it like this: Imagine you were out boating this summer and you got caught out on the lake in a storm. Struck broadside by an unusually large wave, your boat capsized and your leg got caught in the anchor rope and the anchor was dragging you down. You were struggling as hard as you could to keep your head above water, but you were losing the battle. Then your fishing buddy came to your rescue. He dove down underneath you, untangled your foot and set you free. Imagine how thankful you would be! Jesus set us free from the anchor of our sins, the weight that would have dragged us down to eternal death in hell. He did so by shedding his blood for us on Calvary’s cross and paying the penalty for all our sins. Are we afraid to have someone like that standing in our midst, someone who loves us so much, someone who even shed his own blood for us? Not at all, we’re glad he is among us. It is very comforting to know that Jesus, our living Lord, is with us, that he is watching over our church and watching over our lives for our eternal good.
If Jesus really is standing in our midst and watching over us, though, why do we face so many trials and hardships? Is it perhaps because he is only here to spy on us? No, as we see in these verses, Jesus is here to rule for us. In v. 5 Jesus is described with three phrases: He is “the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” Who is really in charge of what’s going on in our world? Is it President Biden or Vladamir Putin? Is it the leaders of the oil-rich nations in the Middle East? Is it the United Nations? No, it’s Jesus. Jesus is ruling over all things, over all the powers of this world for the benefit of his Church. The apostle Paul makes the same point in Ephesians ch. 1, where he writes, “And God placed all things under his [Jesus’] feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way”(vv. 22+23).
It doesn’t always seem like Jesus is in control, though, does it? Sometimes it seems more like Satan is in control; that there has been a coup and Jesus has been toppled from his throne. Jesus, however, assures the Christians in Philadelphia that he remains firmly in control:
See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan…come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.(3:8-10)
Jesus promised the Christians in Philadelphia that in spite of their small numbers, they would flourish as a congregation because he was with them and would bless them. He even promised to keep them safe during an upcoming time of trial and persecution. Only a God who has control over all things can guarantee something like that.
If Jesus has the power to keep us safe from harm, why doesn’t he always do that then? Why, for example, did he let John and those other first century Christians suffer so much? Two reasons: Jesus allows suffering and persecution to come into our lives to discipline us, to teach us and train us to rely completely and totally on him and not on ourselves, and thereby strengthen our faith. Secondly, Jesus uses suffering and persecution to bring his people home to heaven. Even in death Satan can not harm us. Jesus is in control of our destiny. The same hand that rules the universe reached out and touched John and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades”(vv. 17+18).
No doubt that was a tremendous comfort for John, but what is Jesus doing for us today? How can we be certain that he still stands in our midst and lays a calming hand on us when we’re troubled or afraid? We can be certain because Jesus tells us so. Yes, Jesus still speaks to us. In fact, that was the very reason he appeared to John. John was directed to write down Jesus’ words and send them to the seven churches in Asia Minor. And when the people in those congregations read those letters, they could be sure that Jesus himself was speaking to them.
These letters weren’t just meant for those congregations, however. At the end of each letter Jesus urges all who have ears to hear to listen to what he had to say. So when we read these letters in Revelation, or any part of the Bible for that matter, we can be sure that Jesus is speaking to us as well.
“Big deal!” you say? It is a big deal to have Jesus’ Word. Did you notice how the Word was portrayed in John’s vision of Jesus? It was portrayed as a sword coming out of Jesus’ mouth. And this sword was no small, little dagger either. It was a rhomphaia. A rhomphaia was a broad sword once used by Thracian warriors. It stood almost as tall as a man and was so heavy it had to be handled with two hands. Rhomphaia is the word used in the Septuagint to describe the sword Goliath used. In other words, when you are exposed to the Word of God, look out! God’s Word is powerful, extremely powerful in two different ways. On the one hand, the Law cuts us apart. It convicts us of our sins and makes us feel terrible inside. On the other hand, the Gospel comforts us and fills our hearts with joy and hope and peace. It assures us of our forgiveness and that nothing can ever separate us from God and his love. So what is Jesus doing right now? He is speaking to us with his rhomphaia, his powerful and penetrating Word, leading us to repent of our sins and comforting us with the message of forgiveness, so that we might remain strong in our faith until the day that he returns.
Although our Savior Jesus may not seem to be as prominent as he was on Easter Sunday, let’s not think of him as a has-been or washed-up Savior. Our Easter candy may get stale but our Easter joy doesn’t have to. And it won’t when we take to heart words like these from Revelation ch. 1. Jesus’ appearance to John assures us that Jesus is watching over us and is ruling for us. Likewise, it demonstrates that he still speaks to us in his Word. Therefore you and I can be certain of this: even though life may be difficult for us and we may experience suffer and persecution as the Apostle John did, Jesus remains at our side, working hard to bring us to our eternal home in heaven. Amen.