Revelation 19:11–12
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a
white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in
righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many
diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.
Every era
has its problems when it comes to knowing Jesus. One of ours is this: Having
lost all confidence in the noble, the heroic, even the consistently good, we
have come to celebrate the neurotic. Really. The heroes of our novels and
movies are antiheroes, broken characters riddled with addiction and self-doubt.
In fact, doubt — masquerading as humility — has become a condition for
acceptance in our times. People of strong conviction and bold claims are
suspect. We fear them. They might be a terrorist, or a Christian. Skepticism
has become a virtue.
This has
quietly shaped a popular version of Jesus as a man not so much heroic as
humanitarian, not a warrior operating behind enemy lines but just a humble man
trying to do good in a hurting world. A man stuck in his personal Gethsemane.
If he is doubting and uncertain, we feel better about ourselves. Now yes, yes —
Jesus had his dark night of the soul. He didn’t live there, nor did he stay
there. It was an abyss through which he passed. Through which he was able to
pass, because of something much deeper within him.
When
Jesus returns mounted on a white horse, army by his side, to end this horrific
age and usher in the next, he is called by a name we haven’t hear in the
Gospels. That name is Faithful and True. By that point in the story, it’s what he
deserves to be called, and it’s what the world needs to be assured of too.
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