Title:  A Portrait of Jesus

Reading for December 25:  2-3 John; Jude; Revelation 1-3

...and in the midst of the lampstands 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 white wool, like snow. 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.
Revelation 1:13-16

I've always said that the Bible doesn't tell us what Jesus looked like. While that's true there is this highly figurative picture of Jesus in Revelation. This picture is a little startling. 

In most of the artists' rendering of Jesus he looks very pale and frail. That's hardly the way he is described by John here. He's got flaming eyes! When Jesus speaks it's like the roar of Niagara Falls! There's a sharp two edged sword coming out of his mouth! And you can't look directly at his face because it is as bright as the noon day sun!

This is not a flimsy flannel board version of Jesus. There's nothing soft or mushy about him. Everything about this vision communicates strength and power. 

And we need to think of Jesus in this way. Our Lord is not a wimp. He's big enough to handle our most difficult problems. He's strong enough to carry our heaviest loads. He's bigger than our greatest enemies. 

Father, we bow down to our faces before the first and the last, the living one, who died and is alive forevermore, who holds the keys of Death and Hades! Praise be to your mighty name and to the Lamb who has conquered all of our enemies!