As we’ve never seen Him before (Rev 19:11-16)
By Lizzie Oldfield
Revelation 19:11-16 gives the most spectacular, intense description of Jesus. Even trying to imagine Him in this way blows my mind. We’re so used to thinking about Jesus, the Jewish man in sandals, as our friend who we catch up with over a coffee and tell our deepest inmost thoughts and feelings to. But this passage captures the victorious moment when Jesus returns to Earth in a blaze of glory as the righteous judge, making war and crushing the enemy, ready to establish His reign, with the hosts of heaven riding on white horses behind Him! This is Jesus as we’ve never seen Him before!
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”
Revelation 19:11-16
To fully understand the beauty and power of this moment, let’s look back at Jesus’ first coming. When He first came, he did so in the most vulnerable state. He came as a helpless baby, brought forth by his mother though the bloody mess of childbirth, completely dependent on others. There was no party or fanfare to welcome him as he entered this world, only the bleating of farmyard animals that occupied the same dirty, smelly stable where He was born. 33 years later Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey (Zech 9:9) hardly the way that you would picture a conquering king and messiah entering the city – coming as a humble servant, ready to fulfil the will of the Father, even unto death. Through His submission and obedience to death Jesus conquered the grave and God exalted Him, gave Him the name greater than any other, and gave Him the earth to rule as his reward (Phil 2: 5-10)
From here we can revisit those verses in Revelation 19 which tells us about the epic return of Jesus at His second coming, and it couldn’t be more different! This time He is coming in all His righteousness and power to judge and wage war against His enemies and the kingdom of darkness so that He may take hold of His inheritance. He is coming dressed and armed for battle, ready to overthrow evil and establish the dominion and authority across the earth he has been granted by the Father (Mat 28:18).
When He returns Jesus will be faithful to avenge the injustices and wrongs of this world – the brokenness, immorality, persecution, exploitation – the things that grieve our hearts grieve His more. Nothing is hidden from His sight and He will be true to His promise to set things right.
As His followers, this is what our hearts should be burning and longing for – to see Jesus return in all of His glory, fully unveiled, ready to receive the reward of His suffering. We should look to the day when Jesus will come, not as the suffering servant, but as the conquering Lord and righteous judge who comes to bring justice and destroy the kingdom of darkness as He establishes His dominion on the earth.
Often in our own personal longing to see justice poured out it can be easy to want to assume the role of judge ourselves, to seek action and punishment against the wrongs we see - but that part is reserved for Jesus and Jesus alone. We couldn’t do it even if we tried! Instead, we can pray that Jesus will hasten the day when he comes as the perfect, holy, righteous judge to establish his perfect justice across the earth. We can trust and take heart that He has overcome the world (John 16:33), and the day is coming when we will see it.
As we meditate on this passage this month, I believe there’s an invitation to receive a greater revelation of who Jesus is, in his facets of love, tenderness, power, authority, righteousness, justice…bridegroom, king, and judge. Jesus open our eyes to see you more fully than we ever have before!