Is this an accurate picture of Christ in Revelation/Apocalypse

Discussion in 'Faith, Devotion & Formation' started by anglican74, Aug 21, 2021.

  1. anglican74

    anglican74 Well-Known Member Anglican

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    I’ve found this while going through podcasts, and it is a remarkably sharp depiction of Jesus.. In the book of Revelation/Apocalypse did he really have fire in his eyes, a sword coming out of his mouth, and other ferocious aspects

    71E4AAB5-4EAE-4F63-9E33-16269E3D307E.jpeg
     
  2. Rexlion

    Rexlion Well-Known Member

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    I don't take those descriptives as fully literal, but as the best John could put into words the awesomeness of Jesus' visage and His raw power and majesty as it smote John's senses. John was not "seeing" not with his eyes but with a spiritual perception the likes of which he'd never experienced (and no living mortal brain is prepared to process). I don't think a man-made illustration could ever do justice to the heavenly reality.
     
  3. anglican74

    anglican74 Well-Known Member Anglican

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    I am sure it is figurative but just it’s pretty ferocious imagery for the hippie jesus we are told about by the modern instructors of religion..
     
  4. Invictus

    Invictus Well-Known Member

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    What he saw may very well have been symbolic, but the description itself seems to be literal and straightforward. No doubt a frightening experience.
     
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  5. Shane R

    Shane R Well-Known Member

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    You will see a lot of images like that rendered in the medium of wood cuts in antique Bibles. Probably the most famous are those of Albrecht Dürer. For those artists, the task was to render the scenes as close to the text as feasible.
     
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  6. ZachT

    ZachT Well-Known Member

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    and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force. ~ Revelation 1.13-16
    Probably the only thing I would change is the colour of his face, and make it clearer there is a blade on the other side of the sword's pommel. His face should be blindingly bright, so white that it's difficult to look at. They probably avoided that description too strictly so the eyes and mouth were more visible.
     
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  7. Tiffy

    Tiffy Well-Known Member

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    It is the pommel that is in his mouth surely. The sharp two edged sword is the Word and wisdom of God which emanates from His mouth and cuts both ways, to slay wicked ignorance and to quench rebellion and strife. I think the sun shining with full force is quite a bright face already. I wouldn't advise looking into it to curiously observe, criticise or interrogate it, especially through a telescope or binoculars, the Pharisees tried it and became seriously blinded by it. Matt.23:16, Matt.23:24. The seven stars are the seven churches, whatever their condition, they are his to hold. They symblically represent ALL chuches, in which Christ is present in their midst whenever they meet together because Christ is within each disciple in them.
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    Last edited: Aug 22, 2021
  8. ZachT

    ZachT Well-Known Member

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    I think we all understand, including (I would hope) the illustrator, that the description is figurative.
     
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  9. Tiffy

    Tiffy Well-Known Member

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    Well it can hardly be literal, can it? There are some things that are better not illustrated. Lev.26:1.

    "Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God."

    I would include in this cartoon 'images' of Christ/God/The Trinity, as well Mr. Chick.
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    Last edited: Aug 22, 2021
  10. Rexlion

    Rexlion Well-Known Member

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    Might as well leave out Mr. Chick, he's been deceased for a while now.

    Besides, I think most of his illustrations depicting a representation of God were done in good taste. For example:
    [​IMG]
     
  11. anglican74

    anglican74 Well-Known Member Anglican

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    very interesting insights, thank you every body.. Now the question I have is why we don't hear about this kind of jesus? The jesus with fire in his eyes and a sword coming out of his mouth is not exactly an ally to the rainbow gender agenda sweeping western culture.. He seems more akin to the God who dealt with sodom and gomorrah

    I guess I answered my own question of why we're not told of this kind of jesus
     
  12. ZachT

    ZachT Well-Known Member

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    Because this is not the Jesus of the Gospel, this is Christ of the Second Coming, so we don't know how this Christ will behave, it's all metaphor, poetic prophecy and symbolism. The figurative speech doesn't ensure he will be violent or aggressive, or exclusionary. It can be read many ways.

    Remember the prophecies of the Old Testament was that the Messiah would be a powerful warrior-king, who would conquer the enemies of Israel. He was to remove abominations and exterminate idolaters. He was to build a kingdom, to which everyone would bend the knee, and all would live under the yoke of the Kingdom (presumed to be Israel). Nations would be obedient to him. He was to have an army, who he would set out against his enemies, and they would engage in holy battle and be victorious.

    That conjures imagery of a very different Jesus to the one we got. But with hindsight we see all of it was true, it just turns out Jesus didn't do battle in the way we expected. So don't be too quick to jump to the conclusion that just because Jesus will have eyes burning with passion and a sword to cut down wicked that he'll be doing it without mercy, or that he'll be focusing on who you think are the wicked. Jesus broke bread with tax collectors, adulterers, the most reviled sinners of his time, and saved his real fury for the pharisees who said it was evil to heal the sick on the Sabbath, or the rich who defiled his temple. Jesus exterminated idolaters with love and mercy, and where there was blood it was his blood, not the blood of the wicked.
     
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  13. Tiffy

    Tiffy Well-Known Member

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    And according to scripture Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Heb.13:8. I wonder how that fits with the conquering King, slaying the wicked and imposing his iron rod subjugation regime, that the 'Pharisees' of the ancient and modern world find so appealing. Seems like a very 'changed' Jesus Christ to the one who drove money changers from the court of the Gentiles, healed on the Sabbath, and ate and drank with sinners, to me. A violent and repressive image as ever unchanging as that of the Pharisaic imaginations that so eagerly and perennially conjure it up. Such imaginations seem incapable of contemplating the possibility that love and life can eventually conquer hate and death, without being forced to resort to violence.
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