Scare-Me Jesus

What does Jesus Christ look like to you? Yes, you most certainly have created an image of Him in your mind. We all do! Usually, that image looks like an idealized version of ourselves. Living in a media age, we may think He looks like James Caviziel, the actor who played the part in “The Passion of the Christ.” He may resemble one of those pictures we saw in our Sunday School papers when we were impressionable children. I fairly certain He doesn’t look at all like the last portrait of Him that we read in the Bible.

Take a look. "Standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance." (Revelation 1:13-16, NLT)

You can admit it. That’s really a frightening picture, isn’t it? John, who saw this Jesus was totally freaked by the vision so much so that he says, "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last." (Revelation 1:17, NLT) He was so afraid, he fainted! We need a vision of Jesus Christ that includes that kind of majestic, awful ‘AllMightyness.’

If we conceive of Jesus Christ as a weak, but nice, Man; or a wandering hippie who occasionally did neat tricks like feeding a lot of people with a kid’s lunch; or as an enigmatic figure who spoke in riddles that nobody really understood; or as an ‘out of touch’ holy man who lived with his head in the clouds- we will not seek His wisdom to guide us nor trust Him to keep us. As much as I like nice, kind people when it comes to being led, I want someone who is smart, powerful, and wise out front! Because I live in a complex world, full of sin and suffering, with huge problems, I want to see Jesus like John saw Him – in majesty, in power – in a way that compels me to fall in my face and worship Him! Only then, I will stand up and follow Him with confidence. If my vision of Him is too wimpy or incomplete, I will not be able to abandon myself to His leadership.

The Christian message is full of Jesus’ love, as it should be, but that love is too often unmatched by His majesty. There is a reason that the New Covenant begins with the Gospels that show us the humanity of our Savior and that it closes with the Revelation of Jesus Christ that lets us see Him in His majesty. The first helps us to love Him; the second to follow Him to the ends of the earth. John saw terrible visions of the trials of the Church because of the wickedness of men and the attacks of the Devil, but those visions were matched with this near the end of the book: "Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress." (Revelation 19:11-15, NLT)

So, is your vision of Jesus Christ complete?
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Be Thou my Vision,
O Lord of my heart;
Nought be all else to me,
Save that Thou art
Thou my best thought,
By day or by night,
Waking or sleeping,
Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom,
And Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee
And Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father,
I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling,
And I with Thee one.

Riches I heed not,
Nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance,
Now and always:
Thou and Thou only,
First in my heart,
High King of heaven,
My Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven,
My victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys,
O bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart,
Whatever befall,
Still be my Vision,
O Ruler of all.

Be Thou my shield
And my sword for the fight,
Be Thou my dignity,
Be Thou my might.
Thou my soul's shelter
And Thou my high tow'r,
Raise Thou me heav'nward
O Pow'r of my pow'r.

Be Thou My Vision

Hull, Eleanor / Byrne, Mary E.© Public Domain
CCLI License No. 810055