Revelation 1:16
And he had in his right hand seven stars and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
John says that Jesus had in His right hand seven stars, and out of His mouth went a sharp two edged sword. But again, we must not miss the poetry here. This is not John describing Jesus in some grotesque way, as though He opens His mouth to smile and a giant sword comes sliding out. That is not the picture.
The sword speaks of the Word He speaks.
That is the idea.
His voice carries truth. His speech cuts cleanly. His Word discerns. His Word divides what is real from what is false, what is flesh from what is spirit, what is pretense from what is genuine. And yet the Word that comes from Him is not merely harsh truth. It is full of grace and truth, just as John 1:14 says.
I like that, because that is exactly how Jesus speaks. He does not flatter, and He does not lie. He does not fog things up or leave us in darkness. His Word cuts. But it cuts to heal. It cuts to expose. It cuts to deliver. It cuts away what destroys us.
A surgeon’s knife is sharp, but when used rightly, it is mercy in metal. So too the Word of the Lord. It is two edged because it reaches where nothing else can reach. It goes deep enough to uncover what we hide even from ourselves.
And still, it is the Word of the One who is full of grace.
That matters. Because if all we had were truth without grace, we would be crushed. And if all we had were grace without truth, we would remain unchanged. But in Jesus, grace and truth come together perfectly. His Word is sharp, but His heart is good.
Then John says, his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
What a beautiful phrase.
This reaches back in feel to the blessing of Numbers 6, where the prayer is:
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee
The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
So the shining face of Jesus here is not meant merely to overwhelm. It points to graciousness. It points to peace. It points to favor shining forth.
Think about that. The same Lord whose Word cuts with perfect truth is the Lord whose face shines with grace. The same One who exposes is the One who blesses. The same One who speaks with piercing clarity is the One whose countenance brings peace.
That is our Lord.
He does not come to His people with a dark face.
He does not look on us with cold disgust.
His face shines.
And when the sun shines in its strength, everything else is pushed back. Shadows flee. Darkness loses its hold. Cold begins to give way. That is what the countenance of Jesus does. His face brings light, and with that light comes graciousness and peace.
Beloved, we need both parts of this verse. We need the sword from His mouth, because we need truth. We need His shining countenance, because we need grace. We need to be cut free from lies, and we need to be steadied by the peace of His face.
John sees all of that in one vision. A Lord whose Word is sharp, and whose face is radiant. A Lord who speaks truth, and shines peace. A Lord who is strong enough to expose us, and gracious enough to bless us.
That is not a contradiction. That is glory.