The Powerful and Tender Hand of God
Ask the Pastor with J.D. Greear
Audio By Carbonatix
By J.D. Greear, Crosswalk.com
We don’t think about veils much these days, unless we’re going to a wedding. But that’s a helpful image when considering the power and glory of Jesus.
In his first coming, Jesus’ incredible power and glory were veiled. They were still 100% there, and every now and then, people got stunning glimpses of it. Like when Jesus spoke to a hurricane and the wind and waves died down immediately, as if they were an unruly toddler he was scolding. Or when he spoke to legions of demons and they instantly obeyed, crying out with fear in his presence and pleading for mercy. Or when the soldiers and Judas came to take Jesus off to be crucified, and they said, “Which one of you is Jesus?” and Jesus said, “I AM,” and just saying that name, the name of God, made them all stagger backwards and fall to the ground.
Or here’s one I read about recently: Think about how much raw power it would take to generate the matter in the food necessary to feed the 5,000 by multiplying the loaves and fish. Remember, Jesus created all that food out of thin air. I read one scientist trying to calculate the power needed to do that. He assumed each person ate about eight ounces of food, and then, using Einstein’s famous matter-to-energy formula (E = mc2), he concluded that the amount of energy necessary to create that much matter out of nothing would be equivalent to all the electrical power available on earth working at 100 percent output for four years straight. (I had the same answer, too, so I’m glad he got it right.) And Jesus does it without even breaking a sweat.
So, truth be told, that power was always there. But it was veiled, hidden, and only partially revealed in key moments.
All of that, however, changes in the book of Revelation. “Revelation” literally means “unveiling,” and it’s an apt title, since John’s vision shows Jesus’ power in all its strength. The question is, “Why?”
Answer: So that John, his body still scarred and blistered with oil burns, exiled in Patmos, could know that Jesus is in charge of everything. So that would have the confidence to know that his story, so bleak at the moment, would end quite well indeed, just like Jesus had promised. As Jesus says in Revelation 1:17, “Fear not, I am the first and the last.” It’s Jesus’ way of saying, “John, if I’m standing there at the beginning and standing there at the end, you can be sure that I’m in charge of everything here in the middle too.”
Revelation 1:17 also includes an important detail: “He [that is, Jesus] laid his right hand on me.” Keep in mind that just a verse prior, Jesus was described as holding “seven stars” in his hand. The one with the power of a star in his hand touches you? How can you even survive that?
Interestingly, in Daniel 10, God appeared to Daniel in a way strikingly similar to this. Daniel passed out, just like John did, but Daniel records that an angel touched him to revive him and told him not to be afraid. God couldn’t touch Daniel directly, or his holiness would have killed him. But here, John deviates from the Daniel script. God touches John directly, and it doesn’t kill him. How? Well, this hand of God is now nail-scarred. In verse 18, Jesus says, “I am the living one. I died and behold I am alive forevermore.” All the wrath that God had against sin was put into Jesus, so there was no more wrath left for John. Nothing left to threaten him. The full measure of penalty for John’s sin had been removed; all that remained was unbroken, unchallenged acceptance and love.
If you’re a Muslim or a Buddhist, this is what you most yearn for from God—the knowledge that he’s totally for you and has no wrath over any sin, ever, to hold against you. But you don’t feel like you can know God that way because you know that you’ve sinned. Me too! But the gospel is that Jesus took the full punishment for that sin so that you can stand without fear in his presence. He can literally touch you—you can literally stand before his face—and you won’t die. Stand in wonder, my friend: The hand of God has both the power of seven stars in it and is nail-scarred at the same time. That means it is fully in control of all things, and yet full of only tenderness and love for you.
Jesus continues “... and [in my hands] I have the keys of Death and Hades [or “hell”].” These nail-scarred hands now hold the keys of Death and Hell. What’s the significance of holding the keys? Well, the one who holds the keys holds the power, right?
I remember being at a nice hotel resort or something, and it was one of those places where the valet puts all the expensive cars up top. Somehow, they never keep my rented Jeep Cherokee up there when I throw them the keys and say, “Hey, bro, leave it up top.” But one of the cars they had up there was this beautiful Lamborghini—and I just had to go look at it. Veronica was with me, patiently indulging my “moment.” Then, as I’m peering into it—there’s nobody around, just me and her—the car suddenly starts. It took a solid week off my life, I’m sure. What had happened was the owner, watching me gawk at his car, had hit the remote start button. It was his way of saying, “Bro, you can look, but you’re not taking that anywhere. I got the keys.”
The one with the keys has the power. Jesus is saying here in Revelation, “The powers of the world may threaten you, John; they may boil you in oil and lock you up in isolation, but I hold the keys to all those things. These things are all my servants now, ultimately serving my purposes. And I’m weaving it all for your good, just like I’ve promised. I’m in charge, not them.”
In Ephesians 1, Paul says this in his own way. He says that “we have been predestined [established by God’s firm decision] according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” All things. All. Things. Meditate on that, Christian. There is not one stray molecule, not one stray cancer cell, not one stray child or spouse, that is not directed by Jesus according to the sovereign dictates of his counsel for your good and his glory.
I’m not saying that God is the one making bad things happen to you. He’s not. You see, we live in a fallen world, and the result is that a lot of people do a lot of terrible things to each other, and even the earth itself brings calamities and misfortune upon us. God is not the one doing these things to us directly. What I am saying is that Jesus promises that none of those things are outside his control, and he promises to commandeer every single one as a part of his perfect purposes in your life. He’s using even the pain, the tragedy, and the persecution as part of his good plan.
Like John, you may feel like you are in the middle of a tribulation. Jesus doesn’t usually show up with either answers or relief. I can’t promise you that tomorrow it all goes away. But I can promise you this: John’s vision of Jesus assures you that there is a purpose, whether you see it or not, and that Jesus will not fail to fulfill it. That’s the vision Jesus gives us in the midst of tribulation. He is the sovereign one standing in the Holy Place with the stars in one palm and the keys to death and hell in the other. He was there at the beginning, and he’s the one standing at the end—and because he’s the one standing at the end, I can be sure he has a plan in the present.
A few years ago, I had a friend say to me, “Hey, I’m watching this great show—have you ever heard of it? It’s called ‘24.’” And I’m like, “Bro, where were you for the entire decade of the 2000s?” That was all we talked about! I told my friend about the time Veronica and I had taken the whole third and fourth seasons with us on a weekend beach retreat. I’m not sure we ever made it to the beach; we just binge-watched the show.
I vividly remember that at the end of one of the seasons—I think it was season 3—Jack Bauer, the main hero, dies! Like, dies. Or at least, you think he does. It certainly looks like he does. And I’m like, “Wait a minute ...” cause I’ve got the box of the fourth season here in my hands, and Jack’s face is on the box! Something doesn’t add up! Something sinister is afoot. So I kept watching the show, because even though it looks like Jack is dead, his face is still on the box, so I think everything is gonna be alright. (Spoiler: Jack was, in fact, still alive.)
Similarly, in the book of Revelation, John pulls back the veil and says, “His face is still on the box of the final season! I know that for now it may look like the bad guys are in charge, but they are not the ones writing the script. Let the powers of earth do what they want; they’re not writing the script. His face is still on the box.”
Whenever I’m discouraged or I feel overwhelmed, I can look at the first chapter of Revelation and say, “His face is still on the box! He wins!” Take heart, Christian, Jesus wins.
J.D. Greear is the pastor of The Summit Church, in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. He hosts Summit Life, a 30-minute daily radio broadcast and weekly TV program as well as the Ask the Pastor podcast. Pastor J.D. Greear has authored many books, most notably Gospel, Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart, and Gaining by Losing.
Pastor J.D. completed his Ph.D. in Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Chick-fil-A, serves as a Council member for The Gospel Coalition, and recently served as the 62nd president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Pastor J.D. and his wife Veronica are raising four awesome kids.
"Editor's Note: Pastor JD Greear's "Ask the Pastor" column regularly appears at Christianity.com, providing biblical, relatable, and reliable answers to your everyday questions about faith and life. Email him your questions at [email protected]."
