Deeper Reflection
At Patmos, John had an encounter with God that was similar to Daniel’s (Dan 10:4-9). The awesome appearance of the persons revealed were similarly beyond description. Like Daniel, John also described the appearance of the “one like a son of man” (v.13) by way of comparison – “like” (vv.14-16). However, there is a major difference between the two visionary experiences. Daniel met a heavenly being representing God, but John met the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And Christ is Himself God. Christ is “I am the first and the last” (v.17) as God is “I am the Alpha and the Omega” (Rev 1:8). Both Daniel and John were greatly overwhelmed in their encounter with God (v.17; Dan 10:8-9).John knew Jesus as the God-man of Galilee, and was following and walking with Him so closely, that he could intimately “lean back on Jesus’ bosom” and known as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (Jn 21:20). Even then, John “saw” Jesus’ “glory” (Jn 1:14). But when John met this same Jesus at Patmos, he “fell at His feet like a dead man” (v.17). We are to know and walk with the Lord Jesus at two levels. We walk with Jesus of the Gospels with personal closeness and with Jesus of Revelation in His transcendent glory. The overwhelming visible encounters with God like Daniel and John’s are not a norm. But God does give us overwhelming encounters with Him in meeting us in His Word. When Jesus was opening the Scriptures to two disciples and revealed Himself from Scripture, “our hearts were burning within us” (Lk 24:25-27, 31-32).