Revelation 1:10-17 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, (11) saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last," and, "What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." (12) Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lamp stands, (13) and in the midst of the seven lamp stands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. (14) His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; (15) His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; (16) He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. (17) And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.”
The above passage of scripture describes the Apostle John’s encounter with the Lord Jesus when he was in exile on the island of Patmos. Prior to this vision, our Lord Jesus had appeared to John and his fellow disciples on numerous occasions after His resurrection, and had conversed with and eaten meals together with them. In those visions, our Lord appeared to His disciples in His natural state, but on this occasion our Lord appeared to John displaying His glory. There was one other occasion when John had seen a limited display of our Lord’s glory, and that was on the mountain when our Lord was transfigured before Peter, James and himself (Luke 9:28-36). On this occasion however, when John was exposed to the full glory of the Lord, his physical response was immediate, in that he fell at the feet of Jesus in a trance. His words were that he fell at the feet of Jesus “as dead”. This had never happened to John before, because he had never been exposed to the full glory of the Lord Jesus before. But again we see that the reason John fell to the ground was simply because he was overcome by the power of the Lord’s presence, and not because His power either forced John or threw him to the ground against his will.
Michael E.B. Maher
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