12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, u dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. (Re 1:12–16)
Propaganda and Power
We can catch on quick that John is not writing non-fiction, nor is it a bedtime story. John turns around and the reader expects to meet a man, a Palestinian Jewish Rabbi. But NT Scholar, Scot McKnight tells us that Johns audience would have recognized John’s description of a man with glowing eyes, white hair, bronze feet and a face “like the sun” (1:16), as a reference to a colossal statue that once stood on the Island of Rhodes, a few hours journey east by Sea.
The Colossus of Rhodes was built out of the spoils of war, equipment left behind after a failed siege is the perfect medium out of which to build a symbol of your might. Listeners to Johns vision might picture what it must have been like to sail into port between the legs of a bronze statue of Helios, the sun god, shining in the sunlight. Who would the Rhodesians ever fear?
The colossus as a tool of propaganda was unmatched in the ancient world. From the Colossi of Memnon (two massive stone statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III) to the Biblical statue of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3), to the colossus of Constantine (which coincidentally has been recently reconstructed ), these mammoth statues were a wordless argument for why they ought not be threatened. It was a proclamation of strength and glory. The colossus of Johns vision is no different.
And yet, at the same time, he is very different.
Burning Eyes
Johns’ colossus is described as having white hair, a symbol of victory (which all these statues were). He has eyes “like blazing fire” (v14), a reference to judgement. He is inspecting, he is inspecting the churches. He will bring a critique to each of them, some good and some bad. And he has the right to judge the church, because the church is his own body, and he holds the churches – “the seven stars” – in his hand (v16).
But the terror of Johns statue does not come from his ability to the sword of violence against his enemies, and it does not come under threat of condemnation. The sword juts from his mouth; it is his word that cuts them so deep. They are about to hear judgement, but it does not come from a place of violent threat. Rather, it comes from the mouth of the divine and therefore is nothing to be feared.
Jesus wants to speak with them about the empire and about their relationship with it. He has investigated their hearts. Some are jealous of the opulence and power, some long for the status and honor of their Roman neighbors, some want a place at the seat of power, but all of them were struggling to hold on to a life of Christlike dissidence amid the evil empire they had found themselves in.
Do Not Be Afraid
In Johns own reaction we find what he really wants to say to the Christians: Do not be afraid!
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades (Rev 1:17-18).
Do not be afraid. Either of the empire, nor of God. God is for you, and the Empire is beneath him. Though you appear weak, you are not. For he himself appeared weak, but he has won the victory already. The loving and gracious judgement of Jesus is not something to fear, it is the great hope of the world to fall into the loving arms of Jesus. His judgement opens our eyes to what is possible; to restoration, strength and sure-footedness in an age of great instability.
Do not be afraid.