Jesus will always meet us at the place He send us

Revelation 1:9-16

I am not sure that’s what is taking place with John, but He is on the island of Patmos, it is six-miles wide and ten-miles long, it’s terrain is rocky and barren, and a place where the Roman emperor Domitian (A.D. 81-96) banished criminals; and Christianity was a criminal offense.

It was on a Sunday that Jesus spoke from behind John in a loud voice these words; “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.” We know that the Lord’s Day is one of the traditional Christian names for Sunday, the first day of the Judaeo-Christian seven-day week, observed by most Christians as the memorial of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.   John knew the voice, but he was in Patmos, not his beloved Ephesus and so he turns to see the one who is speaking, and this is what he saw: “seven golden lamp stands, and in the midst of lamp stands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.  The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as show.  His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.  In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.” 

It is of the utmost importance to say that I am not a scholar, not even close, but it is of significance that the word seven is used throughout this book.  Seven is the number of perfection and is used throughout the Scriptures; and do you recall the account of Peter, James and John when Jesus was transfigured before them; we have this account in Matthew 17:2, “His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” 

I can only imagine what it would be like to be face to face with the one who died in my place, knowing He is Creator God; John fell at his feet as though dead, and yet after Jesus touched him he stood and gave the account above.  My wife asked me to read this quote from “The Beloved Disciple” by Beth Moore, and it speaks volumes; “Next we take a turn with the apostle John that he couldn’t have expected.  We can be quite sure he never sketched Patmos on his personal itinerary.  I wonder what the old man felt as he was shipped like a criminal from his loved ones in Ephesus to a remote, unfriendly island in the Aegean Sea.  He had no idea what awaited him.  God’s ways are so peculiar at times.  The greatest privilege of John’s life waited for him in the gravest circumstances.  Have you ever noticed how Christ suddenly seems to reveal Himself to us in the places that seem most remote?  Our brief overview of the study of Revelation will remind us afresh that Jesus will never send us anywhere He will not meet us.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice