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Have you ever seen Jesus? Have you ever encountered the risen Christ? The Bible tells us that Mary did. And so did Peter. And John. Doubting Thomas saw Jesus. Cleopas and his wife met Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Fifteen years later, Paul of Tarsus met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Just last week a dear friend shared with me a story of when she, as a little girl, saw Jesus. 

The sad thing about it was that she wasn’t sure how I’d receive her testimony, as if seeing Jesus was weird or unusual or unbelievable. Visions of Jesus aren’t crazy at all. Throughout the history of the church the risen Jesus has had a habit of showing up, revealing himself to his followers in very real and personal ways. That’s what we’re going to talk about today. By the time we’re done, I hope that the idea of visions is less weird, that you are freer to share your own stories and listen to others, AND that, even if you have never seen a vision of Jesus, well, “blessed are those who have never seen and yet believe.”

Revelation 1:4-18

John,

To the seven churches in the province of Asia:

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds,”
    and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
    and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”
So shall it be! Amen.

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

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, 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.

17 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. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!