Revelation 19:11-14

Last time we glimpsed the marriage supper of the Lamb and broke down the ketubah. We concluded with what the church longs and prepares for — keeping our robes pure and white, ready for the day the Groom comes to gather his bride. The next section shows the other thing the church deeply longs for: the revealing of Jesus the Conqueror.¶

First in humbleness, now in glory¶

The first time Jesus came, he came in complete humbleness. As my daughter Olive asked, if Jesus is God and all-powerful, why was he born in a dirty place where animals stay, in a manger? One reason is that he could relate to all men, being like one of the lowest of them (Philippians 2:5-8). But this confused the Jews, who were under harsh Roman rule, waiting for their Messiah to conquer and free them — because of prophecies like Isaiah 9:6-7 and 11:1-4. They did not understand (or chose not to) that Isaiah 53 would be fulfilled as well: "he was despised and rejected... pierced for our transgressions" (Isaiah 53:2-5). Interestingly, the rabbis long ago omitted Isaiah 53 from the public haftarah readings, stopping at 52:12 and resuming at 54, to avoid controversy about the Messiah. So the first time, Jesus came as a humble man who served, suffered, and died. But now we see him coming in glory as a warrior, with his army behind him.¶

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. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.

Revelation 19:11-13 (ESV)¶

Fire is all-consuming, refining, and reveals the purity of a thing (1 Corinthians 3:13). The many crowns represent his ultimate, perfect authority (Matthew 28:18) — he alone is the just Judge who sees everything perfectly. When we realize how wicked our sin is, we will understand how just and right God's judgments are, and how amazing his grace is. His robe dipped in blood recalls Joseph, whose brothers dipped his robe in goat's blood (Genesis 37) — they thought they had gotten rid of him, only to find him alive in a king's palace, able to destroy them with a word; so the rulers of this world thought they had prevailed, but are now confronted with the living King. But "dipped" also means sprinkled — pointing to the consecration of Aaron, sprinkled with blood (Leviticus 8:30) — representing Christ's authority as priest.¶

His army — the church¶

And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.

Revelation 19:14 (ESV)¶

I love that Christ brings the church along in his war against the enemy — to participate in, and witness, his final work. The heavenly armies don't actually do anything; they simply follow Christ to witness what he does. Christ doesn't need them, but brings them anyway. It reminds me of young David before Goliath, the armies of Israel behind him — David didn't need the army; he defeated the Philistine on his own, but his work made the whole army of Israel victorious. We get our glory and strength from the work of Christ; though we are his army, we stand behind our King as he defeats our enemies for us.¶