Apocalyptic? #14: Morphing Jesus—Which Jesus do YOU see? (Rev. 1:9-20)

 

⁹ I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. ¹⁰ On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, ¹¹ which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

¹² I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. ¹⁴ The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. ¹⁵ His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

¹⁹ “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. ²⁰ The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

 

 

(Revelation 1:9-20  NIV)

 

Everyone you know has morphed and is currently morphing.  When I think of my children, I remember each one of them, individually, as a baby bump, a sonogram, a newborn infant, a toddler, kindergartener, elementary-, middle-, high-schooler, collegian, young adult, worker, spouse, parent, etc.  When I “see” them, which one of these iterations of their personhood do I see?  I love to remind my kids and grandson of their phrases and expressions from their childhood, but in a real sense, each iteration of each child appears to be at least a little different.  Yet, it is the same person! When I have looked in the faces (and even the height) of my kids at various points in their life, I have seen my wife, myself, their grandmothers, their grandfathers, their great grandparents, and even their great great grandmother Faust, who, at age 105, chewed her tongue in the same manner as my younger daughter Auburn.  Furthermore, I can project, based on family resemblances what they might look like in the future.  In the world to come, what will each of us look like?  By the “image” we possessed at which stage in our lives will we be represented forever?  It’s a conundrum, but the principle of a trope called synecdoche is operative, here.  I’ll explain it momentarily.

Now, when you “see” Jesus, what Jesus do YOU see?  Do you see a baby in a manger, a carpenter’s assistant, a twelve-year-old boy questioning the Jewish scholars in the Temple, a young man whose mother asked him (before his time) to solve a problem with the lack of wine at a wedding feast in Cana, a man coming to John the Baptist to be baptized, a healer of diseases, a preacher to 5000 on the side of a mountain, a form walking on water at night, an individual being transfigured into a brilliant image, a shamed convict being crucified, a corpse being wrapped in a shroud and laid in a tomb, a resurrected man whose hands, feet, and sides show the crucifixion wounds?  Or do you see the “lion from the tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5:3) or the “lamb that had been slain” (Revelation 5:6)?  Now, morph your picture of Jesus into what John, in chapter 1 of Revelation, is “seeing”?   John seems to borrow some descriptions from Daniel 10:5-6:

⁵ I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. ⁶ His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.

Note the following, for example, from John:

1.      Whereas Daniel says, “a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist,” John says: “someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest” (1:13).

2.      Whereas Daniel says, “his eyes like flaming torches,” John says: “his eyes were like blazing fire” (1:14).  Jesus also introduces himself in the letter to the Church at Thyatira with these words about fiery eyes (2:18).

3.      Whereas Daniel says, “his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze,” John says: “His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace” (1:15).  Jesus also introduces himself in the letter to the Church at Thyatira with these words (2:18).

4.      Whereas Daniel says, “his voice like the sound of a multitude,” John says: “his voice was like the sound of rushing water” (1:15)

5.      Whereas Daniel says, “his face like lightning,” John says: “His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance” (1:16).  Matthew 17:2 describes Jesus’ face as “shining as the sun” at the time of his Transfiguration.  See also Mark 9:3 and Luke 9:29. Jesus’ facial morph at the time of his “Transfiguration” (the common English translation of the Greek term “metaMORPHosis”) looked identical to the vision John saw of his face.

To Daniel’s description of the Son of Man, John in Revelation borrows the following element from (Daniel 7:9 NIV): “the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool.”  John, however, in Revelation 1:14, says concerning the Son of man: “The hair on his head was white like wool.”  Thus, John describes Jesus in language that Daniel had formerly used to describe God Himself (the Ancient of Days) whom Daniel states in 7:13 is subsequently joined by “one like the Son of man [who] came with the clouds of heaven . . . to the Ancient of Days” (KJV).

Furthermore, John adds the following descriptions of Jesus’ scene and “artifacts”:

1.      He stands “among” the “seven golden lampstands” (1:12-13).  Jesus also introduces himself in the letter to the Church at Ephesus with these words (2:1).  Jesus explains the meaning of the lampstands in verse 20: “The mystery of the . . . seven golden lampstands is this: The . . . seven lampstands are the seven churches.”

2.      “In his right hand he held seven stars” (1:16).  Jesus also introduces himself in the letter to the Church at Sardis with these words (3:1). Jesus also introduces himself in the letter to the Church at Thyatira with these words (2:18), further commenting that these seven stars are (?) the seven spirits of God.  Jesus explains the meaning of the lampstands in verse 20: “The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand . . . is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.”  Hence, we have the equation: 7 stars = 7 spirits = 7 angels.  Jesus holds stars/spirits/angels in his right hand.  I will explain further how synecdoche is operative in these stars=spirits=angels at the end of this blogpost.

3.      “Coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword” (1:16).  Jesus also introduces himself in the letter to the Church at Pergamum with these words (2:12).  See Hebrews 4:12 to see that the Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword.  See Ephesians 6:17 to see that our spiritual armor should include the sword of the Spirit (the Spirit being the Word of God).

John also adds the following self-identifications from Jesus:

1.      “I am the First and the Last” (1:17).  Jesus also introduces himself in the letter to the Church at Smyrna with these words (2:8). Jesus introduces himself in the letter to the Church at Laodicea with words identifying himself as the “beginning of the creation of God” (3:15).  In Revelation 22:13, “beginning” is equated with “First”: “first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

2.      “I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!” (1:18).  Jesus also introduces himself in the letter to the Church at Smyrna with these words (2:8).

3.      “I hold the keys of death and Hades” (1:18).  Jesus introduces himself in the letter to the Church at Philadelphia with words about a “key”—this time, specifically, he is holding the “key of David” (3:7).  See Isaiah 20:20-22 to understand that the key represents the ability to open and close things.  Jesus can open the doors of death and he can open doors of opportunity for the Church at Philadelphia.

So, which Jesus do YOU see?

The trope synecdoche (primarily, the sense in which the part represents the whole, and vice versa) is essential in order to understand this.  Synecdoche is of great significance in interpreting Revelation in other areas, as well.  According to classical use of synecdoche, each part of a whole represents (or stands for) the whole, or for that matter, it represents (or stands for) any other part.  So, when we sing the old song, “Beautiful, beautiful brown eyes,” we mean that the “brown eyes” part represents the entire/whole woman, but it also represents the other parts of that woman—her hair, arms, legs, smile, etc.  Likewise, if I refer to someone as “giggles,” I refer to the entire person who has a tendency to giggle.  If Tevya in the song “Sunrise, Sunset” from the musical Fiddler on the Roof asks, “Is this the little girl I carried?”, he is referring to a young woman on her wedding day.  In other words, specific parts of our lives represent and are interchangeable with other parts of our life, and thence with our singular identity as a whole.  THIS is synecdoche.

I have just delineated many “parts” of the “whole” that is Jesus:

1.       a baby in a manger,  

2.       a twelve-year-old boy questioning the Jewish scholars in the Temple,

3.       a young man whose mother asked him (before his time) to solve a problem with the lack of wine at a wedding feast in Cana,

4.       a man coming to John the Baptist to be baptized,

5.       a healer of diseases,

6.       a preacher to 5000 on the side of a mountain,

7.       a form walking on water at night,

8.       an individual being transfigured into a brilliant image,

9.       a shamed convict being crucified,

10.   a corpse being wrapped in a shroud and laid in a tomb,

11.   a resurrected man whose hands, feet, and sides show the crucifixion wounds,

12.    the “lion from the tribe of Judah,

13.    the “lamb that had been slain,

14.   “someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest” (1:13),

15.   “eyes . . .  like blazing fire” (1:14), 

16.   “feet . . .  like bronze glowing in a furnace” (1:15), 

17.   “voice . . . like the sound of rushing water” (1:15),

18.    “face . . .  like the sun shining in all its brilliance” (1:16)

19.   “hair . . .  white like wool,” 

20.   standing “among” the “seven golden lampstands” (1:12-13),

21.   “In his right hand [holding] seven stars” (1:16), 

22.   “a sharp, double-edged sword” “coming out of his mouth” (1:16). 

23.   “the First and the Last” (1:17),

24.   Having been “dead, and now . . . alive for ever and ever!” (1:18),

25.   holding “the keys of death and Hades” (1:18). 

 

We are not expected to recognize Jesus by his physical traits.  I write in my book Revelation:  The Human Drama (p. 64):

The Gospels provide virtually no physical attributes of Jesus whatsoever.  There is no clue concerning his height, weight, relative handsomeness, color or length of hair, etc.  Whatever exceptional physical feats he accomplishes (walking on water, healing, calming storms) are attributed in no way to his physical attributes.

According to Hugo Odeberg’s analysis of The Fourth Gospel, those who have been “born again” are those who can “see” certain things when they look at (any part of) Jesus:

Most importantly, they can “see” the “glory of God” in Jesus.  Odeberg (p. 36) says concerning John 1:51, in explaining the “angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man”:  “they will see the connexion being brought about between the celestial appearance, the Glory, δόξα [DOXA], of Christ, and his appearance in the flesh.”  John 1:14 states: “we beheld [= saw] his glory, the glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  John 2:11 states that the changing of water into wine in Cana “manifested his glory; and his disciples believed on him.”  When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, John 11:4 states: “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified thereby.”  In John 11:40, Jesus says to Lazarus’s sister Martha: “Said I not unto thee that if thou believedst, thou shouldest see the glory of God?”  In John 12:39-41, Jesus explains Isaiah’s prophecy about the Jews seeing-and-yet-not-seeing: “These things said Isaiah, because he saw his glory; and he spake of him [Jesus].” John 17:1-5 (NIV) records Jesus’ prayer:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. ² For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³ Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. ⁴ I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ⁵ And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”

John 17:20-24 (NIV) records Jesus’ prayer for those who believe in him, that they also will share his and God’s glory:

²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

²⁴ “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”

So, we may ask, in the same way we “see” ourselves and our parents, etc., in our children, do YOU see the likeness (glory) of God in Jesus, from his miraculous birth to his miraculous signs and wonders to his transfiguration to his (greatest love) crucifixion for the world to his resurrection, ascension, and his glorification at the right hand of God?  We’ll “see” more of the attributes of Jesus as we continue.  Given his last prayer that I mentioned, can others see his glory (the glory of God) in YOU?  In the various parts of your life?  As Jesus is in God, are you in Him, that we may be brought to complete unity?

In other words, are you a PART of the WHOLE that is Jesus and God?  Is there synecdoche that can be detected in your life?

Regarding the stars=spirits=angels, I write in my book Revelation:  The Human Drama (p. 72):

Even if John is not to be viewed as consciously and deliberately using a synecdochic art, by the time John wrote, synecdoche was an explicit trope used by rhetoricians.  It may have been either an intuitive or a deliberate form of language use for John.  Certainly, Jews of John's time thought of God's word (a linguistic, not "physical" concept) from a synecdochic perspective.

     G. F. Moore links the terms of Caird's conundrum of the "seven stars" together quite easily.  In his chapter entitled, "The Word of God.  The Spirit," Moore states, "God's will is made known or effectuated in the world not only through personal agents (angels), but directly by his word or by his spirit" (emphases mine).  Here all three terms of Caird's puzzle fit neatly together.  If the seven stars represent "angels," then "angels" are a part of the whole.  If the stars "represent" "spirits of God," then spirits are a part of the whole.  If "the spirit" is "say[ing]" things to the churches, then what "the spirit says" (or in other words, the word) is a part of the whole.

Now, before I conclude this post, I have a little housekeeping to do.  First, I have already explained Revelation 1:19 (NIV): “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is NOW and what will take place later” in my post Apocalyptic?  #5. Please refer back. Second, I have already explained which John I take to be the “author” of Revelation in my post Apocalyptic?  #10. Please refer back.  Third, I have already explained what we know about the seven churches in my post Apocalyptic?  #10. Please refer back.  Fourth, concerning John’s supposed banishment to Patmos by Domitian, I have already stated that I don’t believe John was writing at the time of Domitian, and furthermore, Adela Yarbro Collins (55-56) points out: “Commentators have disagreed about whether this tradition of John's banishment is reliable historical information or a legendary motif inspired by Rev. 1:9.”  I believe it is the latter.  Nevertheless, John was on the Isle of Patmos when he wrote, whether or not he was banished there.  Finally, I take the clause, “On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit,” to mean that John was receiving a vision concerning the “Day of the Lord,” something we will discuss later.  Interpreting “The Lord’s Day” as a reference to Sunday is anachronistic.  No one prior to 69 A.D. had used the expression that way.