The Beauty of Being Terrified By Jesus.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last, 18 and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades. - Revelations 1.17-18 (Christian Standard Bible)
I’ve read this passage. I’ve preached this passage. I’ve referenced this passage so many times as I’ve tried to convey the splendor and glory of our risen Savior. And yet, this morning, I believe the Holy Spirit made it come alive even more in my time alone with him in his word.
“When I saw him.”
It comes so naturally for us to read these four words from the passage above as a description of what’s really important. Why is that? “I saw the Lord” is not a normal experience. This is something that Isaiah and Ezekiel recorded in their prophetic writings. God let them see a pinhole version of who he is in these visionary experiences. Isaiah wrote this about his experience:
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphim were standing above him; they each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Armies; his glory fills the whole earth. 4 The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke. - Isaiah 6.1-4 (Christian Standard Bible)
These weren’t moments of personal imagination on their part. These were encounters with the Living God that would leave them forever changed. And what was their response to it? The same as John’s.
“I fell at his feet like a dead man.”
There was no time for a cordial greeting or a long-awaited embrace with his Rabbi. Instead, there was terror that consumed John to the point that he fainted as though dead. At just the sight of Jesus, John was consumed with the fear of the Lord in a most literal way.
“FEAR of the Lord”
reverence, fear, i.e., a state of piety and respect toward a superior.
fear, terror, i.e., a state of great anxiety and alarm.
worship, i.e. the act of speech of showing profound reverence toward a superior, which may include ritual action.
awesomeness, i.e., that which causes wonder and astonishment. (Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew [Old Testament])
I’ve often heard people refer to “the fear of the Lord” as a holy reverence. While I completely agree with that definition, I think behind it can be an attempt to lessen the true experience of fearing the Lord to something manageable, or based on a definition of “holy reverence” that is lacking in a true understanding of that statement, so that God still seems approachable, maybe even manageable, to us. But isn’t there a danger in that? Isn’t there a danger in making God less than who he really is so that we are comfortable with our own version of him?
Why are we so afraid of experiencing the fear of the Lord, who is terrifying?
I think part of it, as I mentioned above, is that we want to make sure that we can still approach God. And who wants to approach anything that is terrifying? While I completely understand that because, of course, I agree with not naturally moving toward the terrifying, it’s different when that which terrifies actually invites us to not be afraid. Then that fear that leaves us “as though dead” is turned into awe and wonder that causes us to worship. Jesus’ invitation to John is the same invitation that he gives to us.
“Don’t be afraid.”
There’s the reminder from the terrifying Jesus to those who have surrendered to his Lordship by the grace of God. Those three words came with a touch from the scarred right hand of our Savior on John. That touch and those words were a reminder to “the Beloved disciple” (as John referred to himself often in his gospel account) that the terrifying God who stood before him was the same gracious, loving, and merciful God who walked with him proclaiming and ushering in the Kingdom of God. This “beloved disciple” who leaned up against Jesus during the Last Supper, feeling that sense of familiarity and closeness with him, was now confronted with the reality of the terrifying side of the holiness of Jesus. And please keep in mind that there’s a big difference between being terrified of Jesus and being terrified by Jesus. To be terrified of Jesus means that we’ll keep our distance from him because we don’t really believe that we’re allowed to come close. But to be terrified by Jesus is to acknowledge who he really is, which brings about fear and terror, while at the same time moving toward him because we’ve been approached by Jesus, touched by Jesus, and invited into intimacy with him.
And in that state of terror, Jesus came to John, touched John with his right hand, and reminded him to not be afraid. And he reminds John of the reasons why he didn’t have to be afraid of him.
1). John was reminded about who Jesus was.
“I am the First and the Last, and the Living One.” Jesus reminded John that he was eternal. The same Jesus that John spoke about at the beginning of his gospel account (see John 1.1-2) is the same Jesus who was standing before him, leaving him terrified and unable to look upon the glory of the Messiah.
2). John was reminded about what Jesus did.
“…and the Living One.” In other words, Jesus demolished death by dying and coming back from the dead. That’s power! Jesus even reminded him, “I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever.” Jesus took on the wrath of God because of us and for us. Jesus finished the requirement of the Law so that we could be reconciled to God. Jesus showed his power and authority over sin and death by leaving a tomb vacant. Paul describes it this way:
13 And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. 14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him. - Colossians 2.13-15 (Christian Standard Bible)
3). Scripture reminds us why Jesus did what he did.
This was Jesus. This is what Jesus did. And why did he do all of it? John made it clear earlier on in the revelation that he received and recorded:
To him who loves us and has set us free from our sins by his blood…” - Revelation 1.5 (Christian Standard Bible)
Jesus loves us! Jesus loves you. “Jesus loves me, this I know…” Repeat those marvelous words over yourself that come straight from the grace-soaked message of Scripture. His love for us, the sacrifice that was driven by that love for us, and his desire for intimate fellowship with us to be restored do not lessen the glory, majesty, and terror that comes with who Jesus is. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. He is the one who is, who was, and who is to come. He is the Almighty (see Revelation 1.8). He does not change like shifting shadows or like the cultural norms of our society or our church communities (see James 1.17). He is terrifying and awesome in glory and majesty. He is beautiful in limitless grace and mercy. He is beyond our ability to describe in human terms or finite expressions. And he deserves our everything.
…to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. - Revelation 1.6 (Christian Standard Bible)
So What?
When you find yourself afraid, look to Jesus who is more terrifying than that which you’re afraid of and listen to the Holy Spirit’s reminder of Jesus’ words to his beloved disciple (by the way: we, too, are the beloved disciples of Jesus):
“Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades. - Revelation 1.17-18 (Christian Standard Bible)
Listen to Paul’s words to the Christians in Rome:
31 What, then, are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything? 33 Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies. 34 Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more, has been raised; he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. 35 Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.,
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8.31-39 (Christian Standard Bible)
And as those truths from the pages of the Scriptures sink into the depths of our souls through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, may we have the same response of worship and praise of the terrifying Jesus who invites us to not be afraid because of who he is and what he did all out of his love for us.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways! 34 For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? 35 And who has ever given to God, that he should be repaid?, 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen. - Romans 11.33-36 (Christian Standard Bible)
To God be the glory!
