An aging John reflects back his years spent continuing the movement that Jesus started 60 years ago. As a young man, John followed Jesus in person. After Jesus rose from the grave and ascended into heaven, John took part in cultivating communities devoted to faith in Jesus as part of the kingdom. He saw the political and social resistance to Jesus intensify.
John studied the sacred scriptures recognizing his best friend and king in prophecies delivered from heaven to his people at an age long ago.
He can see the messages from the past are playing out in his lifetime as the mysteries of the future take form in front of him, swirling into a singular vision.
John can see the spiritual reality as clearly as the physical realities around us.
From this vision a lone figure emerges, his old friend Jesus stands before him in full majesty and titanic stature.
This week we’re reading about four visionary pictures of Jesus in full spiritual glory.
The first sighting of Jesus he appears before his friend John. His eyes blaze like fire, his feet glow like molten metal. He is larger than life. With his hand he can touch stars.
By his clothes you can tell that he is a priest: mediator between heaven and earth by his reach there is no doubt he could touch heaven itself. Jesus literally stands as a bridge between heaven and earth.
The second sighting of Jesus takes place in the throne room of God where all the great wonders and marvelous works of God have been assembled. Nothing in all the cosmos is worthy to break the seals on the scroll containing God’s proclamation. Finally God’s crowning achievement enters the throne room for he alone is worthy to release God’s scroll. Jesus enters in the form of bloody sacrificial lamb. He is worthy because of the sacrifice he made: his death on the cross.
The third sighting of Jesus takes place after a violent resistance sweeps the earth and everything in it. All forces political, spiritual, cosmic and mundane are caught up in a resistance to God’s authority as the Kingdom that Jesus established expands around the earth. On the field of a final battle all the forces of evil have assembled. Jesus single handedly throws them down. With the last resistance to his Kingdom finally conquered the earth becomes a paradise a true slice of heaven.
Finally Jesus appears in the vision of another prophet: Daniel, from a time hundreds of years before Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem. Daniel has a glimpse of Jesus in the throne room of “the ancient of days” - a title for God. In the throne room are gathered magnificent specimen from all parts of creation bowing before God in appreciation. Then in human form, Jesus enters the throne room as God bestows upon him all power in heaven and earth.
Jesus was executed as a criminal and a traitor. That should have been the end of the story but instead it’s the beginning of a revolution.
It appeared that Jesus’s movement had failed. He was arrested a traitor and sentenced to death. His followers were hiding for fear of their lives. His enemies physical, spiritual and political were congratulating themselves. They threw everything they had at Jesus and defeated him. Jesus took the failure and upped the ante. He invited death to unleash his full power at him. Defeated, broken and dead, they laid Jesus’ body in a tomb covered by a boulder and guarded by Rome’s finest.
Three days late Jesus rose from the grave like it was an afternoon nap. His enemies were undone. They had thrown everything they had at him. Jesus is unstoppable. He conquered death itself.
With this victory Jesus offers a promise: there is nothing you face as his follower that Jesus can’t defeat. Take comfort in that. And remember be sure you are on his side in all things because in the end no one who opposes Jesus will stand.
Jesus’ death and sacrifice turned into victory isn’t just a one-time fluke of the natural order. His sacrifice stands as the new model of victory for us to follow.
Jesus called his followers to “take up your cross.” Everything we do for ourselves will someday be undone. Only what’s sacrificed for Jesus will stand eternally. God ensures this victory.
All other organizations stand for the benefit of its own members and causes. Citizens of Jesus’ Kingdom are expected to sacrifice what they have for the benefit of those who are not members.
Can you imagine living in a society where everyone lives to see others advance and prosper? Where all citizens look for ways to lift each other up? And every hardship is another opportunity to prove God’s faithfulness. With gratitude we say to God, “not mine will but your will be done.”
Behind the scenes note: this sacrificial society works based on a principal of water overflowing a cup. We learn to see how God’s blessing like water is continuously pouring into us far beyond our needs. We become convinced that he supplies more than we need and the extra we can give generously to others around us. In all situations we can be content with what God gives us and pass the extras on to others.
Jesus was a King yet he came to serve. His idea of leadership is humbly serving others, not being waited on and pampered by our power. Following in his footsteps we will be serving the people on the fringes of our lives this week. Remember acquaintances could be anyone you encounter and a good rule of thumb is anyone within 50 of a place you spend money including the cashier. This may require creativity as many of these people know you only on a first name basis. Time to come up with your own suggestions:
Look for ways to serve but leave the choice in their hands. As always use your best judgment.
Last week we began identifying themes and circles of influence in your life. Just like scriptures, our lives tell a story of how awesome God is. By identifying the themes of God’s work so far we can extrapolate to what God is doing with our lives and build a life vision statement for the road ahead. This statement can be a helpful guide as we face choices in life that move us towards fulfilling our life’s purpose.
This week we put it all together.
What vision do you have for your circle of influence based on the trends that God has done in your life?
I am trusting God to use my ___________________________________________________
to ________________________________________________________________________
in my _____________________________________________________________________
resulting in ________________________________________________________________
If you have any questions contact your facilitator ahead of time.