Vision of Christ
Revelation 1:9-16
Rev. Brian Bill
January 17-18, 2026
A man gets on a bus with three young children. Immediately the kids start running up and down the aisle, bumping into passengers, knocking things over, and spilling into people’s space. Everyone on the bus becomes irritated.
Finally, someone blurts out, “Why can’t he keep those bratty kids under control?” The man looks up slowly and quietly responds, “Their mother just died about twenty minutes ago. I honestly don’t know what to do with them.”
The bus falls silent. And then something changes.
The same people who were annoyed moments before begin comforting the children, offering hugs and kindness. Nothing about the children changed. What changed was what everyone now knew to be true.
When we don’t have the full picture, we often misjudge what we see.
Have you ever had a first impression of someone that turned out to be wrong, or at least incomplete? You’re not alone because we size people up almost instantly. According to Psychology Today, first impressions can form in just one-tenth of a second, and some researchers say within seven seconds we’ve already decided whether we like someone.
Many of us grew up with a certain picture of Jesus as gentle, soft-spoken, always smiling kindly, holding a lamb on His shoulders or surrounded by little children.
After all, Jesus did say, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart…” (Matthew 11:28-29). But if that’s our only impression, we’ve missed so much.
That’s exactly what’s happening when John wrote Revelation. Many people in the first-century church thought they knew Jesus. They knew Him as the suffering servant, the crucified teacher, the humble rabbi. All of that was true, but it was not the whole picture.
In the middle of suffering and exile, John had a new vision of Christ, not of a different Jesus, but the same Jesus fully revealed: risen, radiant, reigning, and relational.
That leads to our main idea for today: A right vision of the risen Savior transforms how we view suffering.
Please turn to Revelation 1:9-16: “I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, ‘Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.’ 12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 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. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 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.”
This passage begins with John identifying with the church’s shared suffering (vv. 9–11) and quickly turns our eyes to the supreme Savior who stands among His churches (vv. 12–16). We move from the path of suffering we’re called to walk to the Savior we’re called to worship.
Our Shared Suffering
1. Partnership in suffering. John quickly identifies himself as a fellow sufferer with fellow saints in the first part of verse 9: “I, John, your brother and partner…” John doesn’t refer to himself as an exalted apostle or even a prominent pastor but focuses instead on his family of faith and the fellowship they have together. The word “brother” means, “from the same womb” and “partner” is the idea of sharing something in common. As Paul taught in Philippians 1, we are fellow partakers of grace, and fellow partners in the gospel. John is saying: “I’m one of you and I’m with you.”
As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are partners who participate in “…the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus…” In Greek, there is only one article, meaning that all three are part of our reality. The word “tribulation” is different from the coming “great tribulation” (7:14), and literally means, “to squeeze, press, or crush.” We shouldn’t be surprised by suffering because Jesus said in John 16:33, “In the world you will have tribulation.” Acts 14:22 makes this promise, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom.”
If you are in the kingdom, you are not promised health and wealth, but trials and tribulations according to 2 Timothy 3:12: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” It’s a package deal. Today, more than 388 million Christians live in nations with high levels of persecution or discrimination for their faith. To learn more, I recommend a book Beth and I just finished called, Defying Jihad by Esther Ahmad.
2. Patience when suffering. We’re to face persecution and problems with “patient endurance,” which means, “to remain under with hope.” Believers are exhorted to persevere throughout the Book of Revelation as this phrase is used a total of seven times. According to the second half of verse 9, John had been exiled to the island of Patmos “on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” The island of Patmos was like an Alcatraz Island in the Roman Empire. It served as a 25 square mile penal colony where prisoners were relegated to work in the marble quarries. John was a prisoner because he wouldn’t stop preaching and proclaiming the gospel of Jesus.
3. Purpose through suffering. Even though John couldn’t worship with other believers, he set aside special time on Sundays according to verse 10: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day…” The phrase “in the Spirit,” means he was transported into the spiritual realm, like we read in 17:3: “And he carried me away in the Spirit…”
The “Lord’s day” is a reference to Sunday, which had become the day believers gathered to worship as we see in Acts 20:7: “On the first day of the week when we were gathered together to break bread…” Even in tough circumstances, John kept track of the days of the week and set aside special time to worship the Lord on the first day of the week. When I hear the phrase, “Lord’s day,” I think of Beth’s dad who always referred to Sundays this way. He would often ask, “How was your Lord’s day?”
Because of his suffering, John was in a place and in the right position to hear from the Lord: “…and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.” The word “loud” is “megas” in Greek and makes me think of Psalm 18:13: “The Lord also thundered in the heavens.” As we will see in Revelation, a loud voice or sound indicates the seriousness of what is about to be revealed. One commentator writes, “This was calculated to call in every wandering thought, to fix his attention, and solemnize his whole frame.” The trumpet sound was unavoidable, unignorable, and inescapable.
In the Old Testament, trumpets were blown for warfare, for worship, and to coronate a king. In the New Testament, trumpets were sounded to herald the Day of the Lord, as in Matthew 24:31: “And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Revelation 8:6 says, “Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.”
In verse 11, John is told, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” This is the first of twelve commands John is given to write things down. Moses was told something similar in Exodus 17:14: “Write this as a memorial in a book.”
John had to be constantly reminded to write everything down because he was so undone by what he was seeing and hearing. After recording Revelation, he was to send it to the seven churches in Asia Minor because Jesus had special messages for these assemblies.
A right vision of the risen Savior transforms how we view suffering.
Our Supreme Savior
It’s often said that we don’t have a physical description of what Jesus looked like in the Bible. When He is portrayed, He is frequently depicted as looking like most of us, forgetting that He was a Jewish man from the Middle East. Isaiah prophesied that when the Messiah came, “he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.” (Isaiah 53:2).
If we had met Jesus on a street in first-century Judea, He would have been wearing dusty sandals and a simple robe, with hands calloused from years of carpentry. We might have walked right past the Savior of the world without giving Him a second glance.
John, along with Peter and James, were given a preview of the glorified Christ at the Transfiguration. And here, in Revelation 1:12–16, we will see how the apostle John searches for words to capture what Christ looked like in His radiant glory. Let’s explore this passage together so we can move beyond our inadequate first impressions and behold Jesus as He truly is. I should caution you that you may break out into worship.
1. His presence. We see this in verse 12: “Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands…” The loud voice like a trumpet was “behind” John in verse 10 and when he turned around, he saw “seven golden lampstands.”
There are various lampstands mentioned in the Bible.
• Moses constructed a seven-branched golden lampstand for the Holy Place in the tabernacle. Its purpose was to give light inside God’s dwelling place (Exodus 37:17-24).
• Solomon expanded the imagery by placing ten gold lampstands in the temple, five on each side of the sanctuary (1 Kings 7:49).
• Zechariah saw a vision of a seven-branched golden lampstand, fed continuously by oil from two olive trees, requiring no human maintenance (Zechariah 4:10).
• Here John sees seven free standing individual golden lampstands, upon which a common portable oil lamp would be placed.
Revelation 1:20 interprets this symbol for us: “…and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” John MacArthur writes, “The lampstands are golden because gold is the most precious metal, and the church is the most beautiful and valuable entity on earth.” After all, Jesus purchased the church with His own blood. John 8:12 says Jesus is the light of the world and our job is to lift Him up high and not hide this light from those in darkness. Every church is to shine the light of Christ to the world around them. I think of all the gospel preaching churches in the Quad Cities alone and smiled when Word of Life sent us another $1,000 to be used for Celebrate Recovery.
We don’t produce the light; we simply display it. Way to go, Team Edgewood, for shining the light at Rock Island Academy in December by donating blankets and pillows to the students. I encourage you to watch the latest 4G podcast in which I interviewed Jamie Ruberg and Rachel Brooks, two Edgewood members, who teach special ed and helped lead this project. According to their estimates, well over 300 pillows and blankets were given by Edgewood! This has made a significant impact on students and staff.
Revelation 1:13 says, “And in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man…” As John begins to describe Christ, he sees that He is in the middle of the lampstands, reminding us that He is present with His churches. He’s not far off, but rather is right here, right now, among our church. Nancy Guthrie writes: “He chooses to be in and among His imperfect people who follow and serve Him in imperfect ways.” I’m reminded of what Jesus said at the end of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:20: “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
The title “son of man” is Jesus’ favorite self-designation, used 81 times in the Gospels, which is a reference to His humanity and deity. I’m sure John thought of Daniel 7:13-14 which refers to the coming Messiah: “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”
Note that Jesus is in the middle of His churches. He is watching and He is working. Revelation 2:1 says He “walks among the seven golden lampstands.” This brings comfort and accountability because He knows the situation and circumstances in each church.
Here’s an observation. In verses 13–15, the word “like” is used six times. It’s as if John knows that what he is seeing exceeds the limits of human language, so he resorts to similes to describe the indescribable. This is not unique to John. I often read the opening chapters of Ezekiel on Sunday mornings to prepare myself to preach. Ezekiel strains to put words to a vision that overwhelms his vocabulary. He sees “the likeness of a throne,” “the appearance of fire,” and glory “like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud.” When he runs out of words, he collapses in worship. When the vision ends, the only adequate response is not explanation, but adoration: “When I saw it, I fell on my face.” John’s response is recorded in Revelation 1:17: “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead.”
Revelation 1 invites us to do more than analyze Christ; it calls us to be undone by Him, to move beyond first impressions of casual familiarity to behold the risen, radiant, reigning Lord of glory. We need to see Him as He really is, not whatever inadequate picture we may have stored in our minds.
2. His priesthood. The end of verse 13 says Jesus is “clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.” In that culture, the dignity of a person was reflected in the clothing they wore. The word translated “robe” was most frequently used to describe the robe worn by the high priest, who would also put a sash made with golden threads around his chest. Notice the sash Jesus was wearing was all gold! This signifies that Jesus is our great high priest who intercedes on our behalf (Hebrews 7:25).
Just as the high priest in the Old Testament carefully inspected, trimmed, and tended the lamps in the tabernacle (Leviticus 24:1-4; Exodus 30:7-8), Jesus walks among His churches as He examines, corrects, and cares for each assembly to make sure they continue to burn brightly before a watching world.
3. His power. His power is described in verses 14-15: “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.” The word “white” refers to “purity and bright shining.” No doubt John flashed back to the Transfiguration in Mark 9:3: “And his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.” White hair in that culture spoke of glory and dignity (see Proverbs 16:31). Spurgeon writes, “When we see in the picture his head and his hair white as snow, we understand the antiquity of his reign.”
Eyes “like a flame of fire” remind us He sees everything and judges accordingly. This refers to His penetrating insight and omniscient intelligence. One author writes, “Jesus doesn’t look at us; He looks into us. And if we are willing to hold His gaze, He will burn away what is meaningless and frivolous and contaminating.” Feet “like burnished bronze” points back to the bronze altar of sacrifice in Exodus 27:1-2, reminding us that Jesus stands in unshakable strength and stability because His sacrificial work is finished and the judgment we deserve has been fully satisfied by His blood.
His “voice was like the roar of many waters,” which describes His majesty and might. His voice was louder than the waves that continually crashed against the rocks of Patmos. Revelation 19:6 says, “Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.’” One person writes, “There are some voices in our lives for which we sometimes wish we had a volume-adjustment knob so we could turn down the level of intensity. But this is a voice we don’t want to adjust downward.”
4. His protection. The first phrase of verse 16 is gripping to me as a pastor: “In his right hand he held seven stars…” The “right hand” in the Bible represents a position of strength and sovereign position. It’s also the hand where a person would hold what is precious to him. Danny Akin writes, “What is in His hand is His possession and has His protection.” I’m reminded of what Jesus said in John 10:28: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
The idea that Jesus is holding “seven stars” is startling. This could be an indirect way of saying Jesus is stronger than the Emperor who minted a coin showing him holding seven stars. Thankfully we’re given the interpretation in Revelation 1:20: “…the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.” Some commentators believe there are angels who have a specific relationship to the church. However, nowhere else in the Bible does it say that angels are involved with the leadership of the church. Since the word for “angels” is “messengers,” others suggest this could refer to the pastors of these churches.
This was jarring to me this week because I find the thought both comforting and convicting. While I love being a pastor, it is also a weighty responsibility before the Lord. I’m glad I’m being protected by the right hand of Jesus, but I’m always unsettled when I hear of pastors who fall morally.
A week or so ago, after hearing about another well-known Christian leader who flamed out, I received an email from an Edgewood member: “I’m reminded again how important it is to pray for you and the other staff. So today I am praying that you love Him as you ought to love; your heart the altar and His love the flame.”
A week ago, at our Keep Believing Ministries board meeting, I shared the names of eight pastors and ministry leaders and asked what they have in common. Each of them had tremendous gifts and influence, and each of them committed a sin which disqualified them from ministry. It behooves us to be on guard and to take heed to our holiness. We ended the meeting with a time of prayer for purity and protection for Pastor Ray. I shared this same devotional with the Edgewood ministry staff this week. Would you commit to pray for your pastors and ministry leaders?
John continues his description of Jesus: “a two-edged sword comes from his mouth.” This referred to a long, heavy sword that was razor sharp on both sides. God’s Word cuts and cures, and it hurts and heals as we read in Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” There is no way to handle this weapon without cutting yourself. One theologian said it well, “If your God never disagrees with you, you might just be worshiping an idealized version of yourself.”
5. His praiseworthiness. Verse 16 ends with a focus on the face of Jesus which “was like the sun shining in full strength.” This speaks of His illuminating brilliance and majestic holiness and would have again taken John back to the Transfiguration in Matthew 17:2: “And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun…” Just as we can’t stare down the sun, we can’t stare down God’s Son. Martin Lloyd-Jones writes, “The one thing that matters is that we see Jesus.” Robert Murray M’Cheyne said it well, “For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ.”
I trust God has used this passage to grow your picture of Jesus and that this impression of Christ will equip you to face the trials and tribulations of life because a right vision of the risen Savior transforms how we view suffering.
For decades, Scott Adams built a reputation on intelligence, skepticism, and public dismissal of Christianity. His impression of Christ was not only inadequate, but often veered into open mockery. As the creator of Dilbert, he became a cultural icon whose commentary often positioned faith as outdated, irrational, or unnecessary. Belief in Jesus was something he openly questioned and, at times, ridiculed.
But life has a way of stripping away illusions and exposing wrong impressions.
Someone posted these words this week:
“As Adams’ health declined and mortality stopped being theoretical, the conversation changed because…death is not an argument; it is an appointment. Near the end of his life, Adams reportedly turned toward Jesus…critics may scoff. Skeptics may minimize. But history is filled with men and women who mocked God publicly and met Him privately when time ran out. Grace does not require a lifetime of perfect belief; it requires repentance before the door closes, even at the eleventh hour.”
In a final message prepared before his passing and shared by his ex-wife, Scott Adams declared: “I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior, and I look forward to spending an eternity with him.”
He had previously announced his intent to convert in early January, saying he hoped he was “still qualified for entry” into Heaven. His initial impression of Jesus was incorrect. He was skeptical and sarcastic toward Christ and toward Christians until the Lord softened Him.
Will you turn to Christ before the door closes?
Gospel Invitation and Prayer
Let’s end the preaching time the same way we did last weekend. Please stand. I’ll read the first part of Revelation 22:20 and I’ll ask you to read the second part loudly. We’ll conclude by reading verse 21 together.
Pastor: He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.”
People: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Everyone: The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
