Revelation 1:9-19  ⁹ I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.  ¹⁰ I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet  ¹¹ saying, "Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."  ¹² Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,  ¹³ and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest.  ¹⁴ His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire,  ¹⁵ his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters.  ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force.  ¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,  ¹⁸ and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades.  ¹⁹ Now write what you have seen, what is, and what is to take place after this.

Yesterday at church I used the phrase “seeing is believing” in my sermon.  So for today, I thought I would give you the description of Christ that was written by John in his revelation.  For many of us (and for lots of other Christians) we have a picture in our mind of Jesus as a handsome man with light skin, long flowing brown hair and a well trimmed beard.  However, Jesus probably had more of an olive complexion, dark hair, and probably a longer beard (Gillette hadn’t invented Mach 3 razors yet :D ).  However, like other things I mentioned in my sermon, the appearance of Christ has become sort of a tradition in the church.  We all have those images of this handsome man because of the pictures we have seen throughout our lives. 

The description of Christ as presented by John reminds us not so much of Jesus, but as God the Father, sitting on the throne as a powerful and wise ruler who wears all white.  The Father is presented in several places in the Bible as one who sits on the throne like an “Ancient One” with a long flowing white beard and white clothes.  The description above in Revelation sounds more like that picture of God the Father rather than of Jesus. 

Even though we have not physically seen Christ or God the Father, it doesn’t mean that we haven’t “seen him”.  We see Christ everywhere we go, especially in the people that we meet.  We can see God in the creation, as we see the work of his hands in the world to help things grow and bloom.  Most of all, we see Christ in ourselves, every time we look in our hearts and minds.  Christ is alive in each one of us, and therefore we too are an image of Christ, not only to ourselves but to everyone we meet

In our prayers this week:  Catherine and Ann

God’s Peace,