A Revelation Invitation

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17-18 ESV)

My wife and I adopted our youngest child when she was two years-old. At her first overnight visit she cried herself to sleep. I held her. I rocked her. I sang to her. Nothing would console her. In her short life she had already lived in a half-dozen settings. Despite having visited with her a few times already, I was little more than a friendly stranger, one more adult taking her from a home where she had found a semblance of security and belonging. These unexpected and unwelcome circumstances with this alien family overwhelmed her with fear until she finally fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion. How I wished that my touch would have been comfort enough.

Had I been in John’s sandals when he experienced this glorious vision, would I have been overwhelmed with fear as he was? I have never seen anything like what John witnessed that day, never been in the presence of divine power in such a tangible way. Would I have fallen on my face in fear? Would I have laid at the feet of this awesome being as though dead? It’s an easy call: Yes.

Not so easy is to know whether I would have been comforted by Jesus’ touch? It’s a question I continually wrestle with in my Christian walk. In my mind I know that Scripture promises that I am saved by grace. But when coming before God in prayer, I may approach fearfully. While I strive to live righteously, I am also acutely aware of my shortcomings in view of God’s high standards. I’m never good enough. I fail way too often. For stretches I walk the narrow road only to slip up again in frustration and shame. I live with a nagging doubt about my standing before the great Judge. It’s not an acute fear that I’m about to die, but an aching fear like a chronic, low-grade fever that I can’t shake.

When he laid his right hand on John, Jesus assured his old friend as if to say, “John, don’t be afraid. It’s me.” Jesus knew all about John’s failings, his fears, justified or not, that he fell short of the righteousness of the one in whose presence he laid prostrate. That touch said, you are mine and I love you. Then he spoke to remind John of their relationship. Jesus is the living one who had died but lives forevermore, who holds the keys of Death and Hades. Jesus is all that for us! He knows how short we fall of his sinless example. He died that we might live despite our failings. He died to forgive the sins that we try to overcome through effort rather than rely on his blood to wash them away. He has removed our sins. They don’t complicate or harm our relationship with him now. They don’t separate us from God anymore. He no longer holds them against us. There is no place for fear. All that from his reassuring touch.

Son of man, I see your power, your splendor, your purity. I am unworthy to be called your brother/sister. Yet, I believe that is how you see me. You died, but now you live. You died for me that I might live. Grant me eternal life. I long for your loving touch that takes away my fear. Amen.