The hidden king

By Tyler Tankersley

Recently on Facebook, I saw a video that warmed my heart. It was of a teenage boy who had been born color blind. His family had surprised him with EnChroma glasses (they allow folks who are color blind to see colors). When they handed him the glasses, he nervously opened the package and then placed the glasses on his eyes. He immediately gasped and looked all around. As tears rolled down his cheeks, he turned to his Mom and asked, "Is this how the world looks? It's beautiful."

Reading apocalyptic literature in the Bible is supposed to bring forth that kind of response in us. Unfortunately, too many folks read into prophetic and apocalyptic literature a kind of crystal-ball prediction of the future. That's not how to read these texts and to do so is a gross misunderstanding.

The Greek word apokalypsis has nothing to do with the future. Instead, it means "something hidden that is now revealed." Apocalyptic literature is meant to be a pair of glasses that we put on and realize that this is really how the world is supposed to look.

Take Daniel 7, for example. In this chapter, the prophet sees a vision of four beasts who rise from the sea: a lion (v. 4), a bear (v. 5), a leopard (v. 6), and then a ten-horned monster (v. 7-8). These beasts are not predictions of modern-day nations but were symbols of nations that had ransacked the Israelites: the lion is Babylon, the bear is the Medes, the leopard is Persia, and the fourth beast is the Greeks. Each of these nations thought they were the most dominant and powerful force at work in the world.

But then, a fifth being appears: "I saw one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him" (Daniel 7:13-14). The point of the passage was that even though these nationalistic beasts were stomping, raging, and trying to puff themselves up, the reality was that God was really the one in control.

For those of us who are Christians, we recognize that one of Jesus' most frequent ways of referring to himself was as the "Son of Man." That title comes from this passage in Daniel. It is easy to look at the world and lose hope; we see despair, pain, and sadness. But, for Christians, we put on our glasses and we see a hidden reality that is revealed: Jesus Christ is the Lord of Lord and the King of Kings (see Revelation 5).

Believing that is not about some kind of ignorant optimism or wide-eyed naivete. Believing that is about realizing if we choose to follow Jesus then we are called to live out that kingdom of God in the here and now. We do that by being ambassadors of Christ's reconciling love (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). It's about praying those lines from The Lord's Prayer: "Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).