Jump Start # 1254
Revelation 1:17 “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, I am the first and the last”
As the Revelation letter opens, the apostle John hears a voice talking to him. He turns to see who it is. Described in magnificent and glorious terms is the Lord. Our verse follows. John falls. He falls like a dead man. I’ve see dead people, but I’ve never seen someone fall dead. In the movies, they simply fall down. I don’t know if John passed out or fainted.
There are three interesting thoughts here:
First, John’s reaction is not what many boast and claim that they would do. You here people claiming to ask God, demand of God, look Him in the eye and all sorts of false and dumb ideas. When God spoke to Job, he realized that he had been talking out of turn with God. When John sees the glorious Jesus, he falls as a dead man. It’s hard for us to grasp nor imagine the glory of God.
Second, John fell. I find this fascinating. This is what I would expect my reaction would be, but not John’s. John was one of the apostles. He saw Jesus walking on the water. He saw Jesus heal. He saw Jesus transformed. He saw Jesus even upon the cross. The words of Jesus sank deeply into his heart. For three years he has been with Jesus constantly. He traveled, ate, listened, asked questions and witnessed this glorious Savior on earth. Now, possibly sixty years later, John sees Jesus one more time in a vision. He falls. He falls as a dead man. John is in his eighties or nineties at this point. When an elderly person falls, it usually means bad news. The first thing we’d think is a broken hip. Today, that would be a delicate and complicated problem for someone that age. Back then, without surgery, it meant being confined to bed for the rest of his life. John knew Jesus. We’d think, if anyone would have stood and raced toward Jesus, it would have been John. They had a glorious history together. John had taken care of Mary. But at this vision, even John fell as a dead man. The glories of Heaven are overwhelming, even for someone that knew Jesus. When Jesus returns, He will return in all His glory. That will be something to see, if we haven’t passed out and fainted.
Third, Jesus placed His right hand on John. Jesus touched. The touch of Heaven. He did that so often. He touched Jairus’ daughter after she had passed away. She came back to life. Jesus touched the eyes of a blind man and he saw. He touched lepers. He touched the coffin of a young man who was on the way to the cemetery. He arose from the dead. When Peter tried to walk on the water and started to sink, Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him. Those hands turned over the money tables in the Temple and drove out the livestock and those making profit. It was those hands that were stretched out by Roman guards and a nail was driven through them. It was those hands that Thomas would later inspect and declare that Jesus is the Lord and God. Jesus reached out for John.
What a powerful thought. John was most likely the last remaining apostle. He’s an old man. He fell. And Jesus was there to help him up. Jesus was there to extend His hand to him. Those simple words are the very words of comfort and hope for you and I. We don’t see it, but the very thing happens to us over and over. We fall and Jesus is there to pick us up. We fall in fear. Bad news overwhelms us. A loss of a job. Trouble in the family. Heartache in the congregation. A death. A divorce. Crippling news. We fall. We crumble under the weight of pressure, burden and stress. We feel that this is it for us. We feel that we will never get over this. We feel that we are defeated. And then, there is a hand stretched out for us. It’s not literal, but it’s there. It’s the hand of Jesus. He’s there. He’s there to lift us up. He’s there to dry our tears. He’s there to dust us off and put us back on the path. Now, He doesn’t do this against our will. He doesn’t do this without our faith. But He’s there. Person after person can tell us of troubling and terrible experiences in their lives, yet they stand today. They stand because of God. Forgiveness, hope, peace and faith have given them an extended hand. Heaven was there. Fear was conquered. Questions answered. Doubt driven away. Jesus reached down and touched.
Jesus wasn’t through with John. There was a message he had to see and then record. The suffering saints needed the words that John was told to write. They need to know that Jesus is victorious. They needed to hear good news. Christ is bigger than Caesar. God can do what no one can. The fallen John, got up and wrote a magnificent book that has given hope to generations of people. It’s God’s final message. It’s the last words of inspiration. It’s a picture of God’s people, wrapped in white robes, standing victoriously around the throne of God in Heaven. They won. They won because Christ won. Where is the sting of death? The victory belongs to Christ.
Get up John and write this message. My people need to know. In a similar way, God wants us up. Get up and share the word. Get up and encourage those who are defeated. Get up and show the world that He is still alive.
John fell…Jesus touched…a story was told. Those simple words are our words. We fall. Jesus touches. A story is told. Not our story, but His story.
Someday, we too will see this glorious Savior. The words of a contemporary song asks, Will I bow, will I dance…John fell.
Roger