Jesus is Coming

A. Introduction

This is a forest of redwood trees in Northern California.

And this is a forest of redwood trees in Northern California:

And this is a forest of redwood trees in Northern California:

And this is a Redwood tree in Northern California:

We showed these pictures at the end of our Revelation workshop on Sunday to talk about different ways of reading the Bible. Any ordinary Christian can read the Bible these ways: from a great height, a little closer, a stroll among the trees, and a close-up look at individual trees themselves.

But sometimes, we need to see the Bible this way:

Did you know that those giant redwoods, some of the biggest living things on the planet, have roots that only go 6-10 feet deep? But they interlock with one another and help each other stand. It's really cool, and it a parable for another sermon, but part of the point for today is that this is also an important way to read the Bible. To go really deep and dig in.

This is the kind of reading where we need help. Where we talk about Greek and Hebrew words and get into stuff that might not occur to us if we were just reading the Bible on our own.

But never forget that the goal of reading the Bible this way is not to make you think, "Wow, I should never read the Bible on my own because how could I ever see that for myself?"

The point is so that you, on your own, can step back and look at this:

Or this:

...and see what you see there with greater appreciation and wonder.

Today is a day that we're going to dig in deep. We're not going to preach the whole book of Revelation this way. But especially at the beginning, it's important for us to dig in so that we can see the rest of the book with the right kind of appreciation.

Our passage today is two verses, and most of our time will be spent on a single verse: “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen” (Revelation 1:7).

Many people read this verse as speaking about the return of Christ, when he comes back to earth the way He left. And before we go any further I want to say that I believe that will happen, based on what the word of God says to us.

B. Daniel 7:13-14

But I'm not sure that's all that this passage is telling us. I think there's a bunch below the surface here. And to see that, we need to go back. We need to go back to a couple of key Old Testament passages that this verse draws from. The first is Daniel 7:13: ““I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him” (Daniel 7:13).

We need some context, though. The chapter begins with Daniel seeing a terrifying vision of four great beasts who come up out of the sea. The fourth beast has ten horns, one of which stands out from the others in disturbing ways. We find out later on, in verse 17, that “‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth’” (Daniel 7:17). We read about how the prominent horn on the last beast made war against the saints and prevailed over them.

And then we read in verse 9: ““As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened” (Daniel 7:9–10).

And as the Ancient of Days—who is God—sits in judgement, the fourth beast is destroyed, and the other have their dominion taken away from them.

So don't miss what's happening here. God is the king, and what He decides in heaven takes place on earth. He sits in judgement, and the earthly kings—fierce and powerful and wild and destructive as they are—are over. There is no battle, just a courtroom. The Lord reigns over the kings of the earth with effortless sovereignty.

And then we get to verse 13. "And behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man. We need to start with the clouds part, because this is important. In the Old Testament, riding on the clouds is something that only God does.

Psalm 104:3 says, “…he makes the clouds his chariot…” Isaiah 19:1 says “Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt…” Psalm 18 and Jeremiah 4 use similar language. The clouds are a sign of God's power and authority and often judgement on his enemies.

So this son of man is a striking figure because on the one hand he looks like a human—he is "like a son of man," and he is distinguished from the Ancient of Days, but on the other hand he does what only God can do. And after the enemies of God's people have been destroyed—don't forget that—he receives a kingdom and glory that lasts forever, and the whole earth serves him.

This puts Daniel 7 in an end-times setting: God's enemies are destroyed, and God's appointed ruler—who is both like a man and like God—receives a kingdom and reigns forever.

So hang on to that. This is a very important part of understanding what's going on in Revelation 1:7.

C. Zechariah 12

There's a second Old Testament passage mentioned in Revelation 1:7, and it comes from Zechariah 12. We looked at a few passages in Zechariah last Sunday evening, because it's a book that does a lot to help us understand Revelation and how Revelation works.

Zechariah 12 is a passage that describes the future salvation of the people of God. Verse 7: ““And the Lord will give salvation to the tents of Judah first” (Zechariah 12:7). Verse 8: “On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem” (Zechariah 12:8). Verse 9: “And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem” (Zechariah 12:9).

But there's a question here, right? I thought that the people of Judah were in major sin? Zechariah 11 is all about how doomed the flock of God is. But 12:10 tells us the answer: ““And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy." God is going to give the people repentance. They are going to plea for mercy. And this is going to show up as sadness over their sins.

As verse 10 goes on to say, "so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10).

It's very interesting that there is both a "me" and a "him" here when the Lord talks about the one the people have pierced. "They look on me, on whim who they have pierced, they shall mourn for him." Once again, we see a figure who is both identified with and somehow distinct from God, who experiences what God experiences.

Verses 11-14 go on to describe the mourning of the people of Israel by their various tribes. And if we're still uncertain of what kind of mourning this is, verse 1 of the next chapter tells us: ““On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness” (Zechariah 13:1).

So we're seeing here, this is the mourning of repentance, the mourning of feeling sad for your sin as you ask God to forgive you and cleanse you from your sin. And verse 2 says, ““And on that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more. And also I will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness” (Zechariah 13:2).

So God is going to restore His people, and this will happen by giving them the grace of repentance, to turn from their sin and beg for mercy and receive forgiveness and cleansing from God.

D. Bringing them Together

And John brings these two passages together in a really beautiful way in today's passage. "Behold, He is coming with the clouds."

We don't need to ask "Where is he coming to," because Daniel 7 has told us. He's coming to His Father in Heaven, the ancient of days, to receive a kingdom that will last forever.

See, this is the big surprise of this passage. I don't think that this passage is talking about Jesus' second coming to earth. Now please hear carefully. I'm not saying that I don't believe Jesus is coming a second time to earth. Of course I believe that. My whole life is hanging on that hope. And Revelation gets us there.

But I don't think that's the best way to understand Revelation 1:7. Looking at how John is quoting Daniel 7, the most straightforward way to understand this verse is to understand it the same way as Daniel meant it. Jesus is coming to His father.

We can get tripped up on the word "coming," because in English, to say someone is "coming" tends to mean that they are coming here, to where we are. But in Greek, this word that John uses, erchomai, can mean "went" or "enter" or "reach a point." It's the word used in the Greek Old Testament in Daniel 7:13 for Jesus coming to His father to receive the eternal kingdom.

And that's what He did after He died and rose again and ascended to His father. On the basis of His victorious death and resurrection, Jesus could already proclaim to His disciples, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matt 28:18). But something very important happened when he ascended to heaven.

Acts 2 talks about this—how Jesus was "exalted to the right hand of God" and sat down at His father's right hand, and in a sense that was necessary for Him to fulfill the words of Psalm 110 and fully be considered Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36).

So in His ascension, He has come to His father on the clouds, like Daniel 7 says, and received an eternal kingdom.

And every eye will see him, even those who pieced him. This is echoing Zechariah 12:10, when they look on Him who they pieced. And they wail—which is the same word for "mourn" from Zechariah 12. But it's not just Israel now. It's all the tribes of the earth, a phrase that's used in the Old Testament to speak of the Gentile nations.

God's salvation plan has grown to include all of the nations, not just Israel, and this is not a change of plans: this was always the plan. It was always the plan for Abraham's offspring to bring blessing to the nations.

And the nations are seeing Jesus through the preaching of the gospel. As Paul wrote to the Galatians, “It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified” (Galatians 3:1). They didn't have pictures or watch a movie. In the preaching of the gospel, they truly saw Jesus with their hearts (see also John 6:40).

And this is a reality that was in full swing when John wrote these words 1900 years ago.

So here's what I'm suggesting: Revelation 1:7 is not talking about future events. It is describing present events, and that was true when these words were first written. "Coming on the clouds of heaven" is not about the future but the present reality of the exalted Jesus who has received from His father all authority in heaven and on earth.

E. Matthew 10, 24 & 26

We see confirmation of this in Matthew's gospel. In Matthew 10, which we looked at about four years ago, Jesus said “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes” (Matthew 10:23).

A lot of people say "See, Jesus was wrong about the timing of his coming." No, Jesus is speaking about His Daniel 7 coming here. His coming to His father after He was resurrected and ascended back to Heaven. And this did happen in the lifetime of the disciples.

Similarly, Mathew 24 says “... then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30).

Notice how that verse, just like Revelation 1:7, brings together Zechariah 12 and Daniel 7. And if we understand that this is talking about Jesus' coming to His Father to receive a kingdom, we're not surprised to hear him say just a few verses later, “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34).

Now that might raise a lot of questions for you, because Matthew 24 is very commonly understood as being all about the return of Jesus at the end of the age. And rather than preach a whole other sermon about it, I wrote up an article which is set to go live on our website at 12:00 noon today. ebcnipawin.ca, right on the front page. It walks through Matthew 24 and shows how Jesus quotes from the Old Testament and how the chapter actually makes so much sense if we take Jesus' words seriously that everything up to verse 31 happened within the lifetime of the people he was speaking to.

Again, I don't want to take more time on this. It's all going to be on the blog today; check it out, and if you have questions, please send me a note and we can talk.

There's one more place in Matthew where we see Daniel 7 come up that we don't want to miss. During His trial, after He was arrested, “…the high priest said to him, ‘I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven’” (Matthew 26:63–64).

Do you hear the Daniel 7 reference? And he tells the high priest that from now on he would see this happening. And we know that the high priest would see plenty of signs and evidence that Jesus had been enthroned at His Father's right hand. The final sign of this was the destruction of the temple 40 or so years after Jesus' death and resurrection. And the article I wrote talks a bit more about that.

But taken all together, these passages from Matthew shows us that Jesus understood He would come on the clouds of heaven within the lifetime of the people who listened to him. He wasn't wrong. If we take Daniel 7 in a straightforward way, all of this is true.

F. Other "Comings"

But that is probably not everything we can say. In the book of Revelation, Jesus doesn't just come to His Father to receive a kingdom. He also comes to us in various ways.

To the church in Ephesus, he says, “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent” (Revelation 2:5).

To the church in Pergamum, he says, “Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth” (Revelation 2:16).

Jesus comes to His churches in judgement when they rebel against him.

Similarly, this language is used of the return of Jesus at the end of the age. Revelation 16:15: “(“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!’)” And at the end of the book: “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!’ (Revelation 22:20).

In those settings, this word "come" does speak about His soon return.

And all of this is connected. See, Jesus has come to His Father and received the kingdom. He is enthroned as Lord of all. And so He has the power and authority to come and be present with His churches and judge those who stray. And having come to His father to receive the kingdom, He will come again to earth to rule, here, over this territory.

That's probably a part of why John uses the present tense for "Is coming." He doesn't just say "He came on the clouds," as if it happened. He presents it as a reality to be experienced, and probably as a process that includes the past, present, and future. He has come, is coming, and will come.

G. Why Does This Matter?

Now I wonder if some of you are maybe a bit confused here, and are wondering, "If Jesus is coming again to earth, then couldn't that just be what verse 7 is talking about? Why are you trying to confuse us, Chris?"

And the answer is that I'm not trying to confuse you. I think this is really important. And let's talk about a few reasons why.

1. This Helps us Put the Story Together

First, this matters because it helps us put the story together. It helps us understand that his coming to earth can happens, and can only happen, because of his coming to heaven. In other words, Jesus can come again to earth to reign here because He first came to His father to receive the eternal kingdom.

It's like the parable Jesus told of the nobleman who "went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return" (Luke 19:12).

Jesus couldn't have just died, risen again, and began to reign. His ascension really matters. His heavenly enthronement really matters.

2. It Helps Us Appreciate the Present Ministry of Jesus

I don't think we think about this often enough. I suspect that for many Christians, Jesus is either a figure from the past, or a person they look forward to in the future, but in the present something seems a little missing.

Revelation 1:7, properly understood, helps us appreciate the present ministry of Jesus. Jesus is presently, currently, actively reigning at His Father's right hand.

And like we've seen, He is not idle. He has come to His father. He comes to us. We're going to see this more in the next weeks—how the Lord Jesus is active among His churches.

Right now, around the world, eyes are being opened to who Jesus is. People are seeing Him. People are mourning for their sins and receiving the grace of repentance and forgiveness. And this is happening because Jesus is coming on the clouds—which is to say Jesus is enthroned above and is working out His will here on earth below through His spirit and through His bride.

Ephesians 4 makes this point. Jesus ascended to His father and gave gifts to His church, like apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, so that the body of Christ builds itself up in love.

We do not have an idle Saviour. Jesus is not bored. He is an active king. Aslan is on the move.

Jesus is working today around the world through His body to bring the nations to Himself. Jesus is at work in the islands of Indonesia and the inner cities of India and the suburbs of Indiana.

As the old gospel song said, "I serve a Risen saviour, He's in the world today." Or, as John said, "Behold, He is coming on the clouds, and every eye will see him."

3. It Helps Us See The Victory

Third, and this is just beautiful, this helps us see the victory that we already have in Christ. Think about Daniel chapter 7, and how these great kings and empires are presented as powerful beasts who trample on the saints of God, and how—after they are defeated—the Son of Man comes and receives His eternal kingdom. And He has no competitors.

Revelation is going to tell us about some more beasts—empires, kings, beasts and dragons who make war on the saints of God.

But the book begins by telling us that Jesus is coming on the clouds. In other words, the battle is already won. He has already received His eternal kingdom. The king of all time is already reigning.

So if any other beasts show up, their doom is sealed before they even get started.

"Jesus is coming on the clouds" means that we know how this is going to end before it even gets started.

And maybe we're so used to that idea that we need to soak in that for a moment longer. Can you imagine if every new kingdom or empire or ruler that arose against Jesus was a real challenger to him? If we sat there wondering, "Man, I wonder how this is going to turn out? I wonder if Jesus is going to be able to deal with this challenge?"

Actually, we do act like that sometimes, don't we. "Oh man, people have figured out a new way to rebel against God. Cue panic mode. What's He going to do this time?"

But Revelation 1:7 tells us, before it tells us anything else, that the king of all kings whose kingdom will never end—He is already in session. So do your worst, kings of the earth. You are destined to break like waves against the rock of Christ who is not worn down by your raging one little bit.

Revelation 1:7 is important because it tells us that the king has already won. It helps us see the victory.

H. The Eternal God

And that truth is reflected beautifully in verse 8, which we'll briefly consider as we come to a close this morning.

““I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty’” (Revelation 1:8).

Notice how these words are the bookend to verse 4. And they don't just bookend verse 4, closing off the greeting, they show us that this book is not just about God, it is from God.

Note what the Lord says: He's the first and the last. In other words, nobody will beat him or outlast Him. He doesn't depend on anybody else for existence. He is, He was, and He is to come.

And He is the all-mighty. Think of what that word means "almighty" means. It's one of the words where the parts actually do tell us about what it means. "All mighty." All powerful.

The God who revealed this word of prophecy to John has unlimited resources. The God who has given a kingdom to His son has zero deficiencies. The God who reigns is never up for re-election, and can never be taken out by rival authorities. He is going to run out of time or power.

So, small and persecuted church, keep following Jesus. So, frightened Christian, keep your eyes on Jesus. So, brother or sister who is tempted by the power of the world to put your trust in kings or princes or insurance policies or relationships or anything else to give you stability or safety—don't stop trusting your Father.

The ancient of Days reigns. He is. He has given an eternal kingdom to the Son of Man. The Lord reigns and these are the realities upon which our universe hangs, far more real than whatever your newsfeed might be telling you at the moment.

The victory of our Lord is not and never will be in question.

Jesus is coming.