The Son of Man

Reading Amount: Revelation 1:1-20

Central Verse:

I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. 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. - 1:13b-16 NRSV

As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lamp stands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lamp stands are the seven churches. - 1:20

Central Truth:

Christ is the Lord over all creation but his love is manifest in that he is present with us as individuals and as a community.

Food For Thought:

In the opening chapter of Revelation we learn that it is a letter written to seven churches in particular. Because it is a letter we must assume that the language used would be something that the intended audience (the seven churches) would be able to understand and interpreted for their day. This gives us an anchor point for all interpretation to follow.

Old Testament - while the vision given to John is unique and dramatic it relies heavily upon an understanding of the Old Testament. Usage of such terms as "Son of Man" and the description as "Alpha and Omega" require some form of understand the Old Testament to see the richness and depth of the descriptors.

When Revelation is read we have to make decisions as to whether what is being spoken is metaphorical or literal. The author of Revelation commonly uses the word "like" in his descriptions of various parts of his vision. For instance in our theme verse we see Jesus described as "like the son of man," "like a flame of fire," "like burnished bronze," etc. As mistakenly done in some circles the description here of Jesus cannot be used to ascertain his ethnicity or looks. "Face was like the sun shining" doesn't mean white any more than hair like white wool means black. With a knowledge of the Old Testament and an understanding of how 1st century culture would have seen these descriptors we find that Jesus' hair was white to denote wisdom and identification with the "Ancient One" as described in Daniel. The golden sash was a symbol of royalty, and that the sash wasn't holding up the long flowing robes is another sign of royalty but it is also a sign of the priesthood who had long robes. Eyes like fire denote a power to convict and truth. Stars in his hands are a sign of Christ's power over the stars which were viewed as control people's lives. And the two edged sword is the piercing nature of Christ's words (no not an actual sword).

Lamps and angels - the lamps were probably earthenware oil lamps on top of golden stands, much the same as a menorah. This would have represented the continuation of the Jewish community, of whom John's original audience would have still felt a part of. In the ancient world there was a lot of concern about angels and angelology, the angels were either representatives of the spirit of each individual church or they were the angel representatives of the leaders of those churches.

Connections:

The first church that I pastored I wasn't at for very long. I was only an interim pastor and my total tenure was eight months long. In that short time I learned some valuable lessons and saw some amazing and tragic things happen. One of the tragic events I experienced with this congregation was the death of a young father in a motorcycle accident.

This young man was only in his late twenties. He was married with a daughter just two years old. He had just started a local restaurant that was receiving great reviews and slowly starting to gain business. The accident happened late at night as he was traveling home after a long day of working. Here I was a young pastor in my first church, dealing with a situation that struck very close to home (his daughter was the same age as my daughter and we were relatively close in age.)

I wondered and struggled with how to speak to his family and friends, how do you bring hope in a situation that is painful and seemingly hopeless. I don't remember everything I said that day. I know I tried to bring hope but I believe that if I was in that situation now I would call upon the image of Christ we have here at the beginning of Revelation.

The churches in Revelation were feeling persecution, the were feeling pain and hopelessness yet here in the midst of all of that Christ is present. Christ is ministering, Christ walks through the pain with us. The value of knowing and being able to visualize who Christ is helps us to face the pain and suffering we encounter in our lives. While the beginning of Revelation is universal in scope I believe that the image can be applied to our lives as in the case of a tragic death. If Christ is the Lord over all creation that includes micro as well as macro. In the midst of the most tragic things we experience the power of God is present drawing us forward.