Finding The Real Jesus - Eyes Like A Flame Of Fire.

Finding The Real Jesus - Eyes Like A Flame Of Fire

And His eyes were like a flame of fire. —Revelation 1:14 (describing John’s vision of the glorified Christ).

They say that the eyes are a window to the soul. We all know what that means. If you really want to know someone’s heart, look them straight in the eye. That thought is based on something Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 6:22

“The eye is the lamp of the body...”

That’s where the idea comes from but that’s not really what Jesus said, is it? He didn’t say that eyes are windows. He said they are lamps. Lamps work differently. They pierce the darkness, illuminating things.

The eyes that John saw, in Revelation 1:14, are not windows. They are flames of fire. They are there to penetrate and to reveal the hearts of men and women.

Remember at the Last Supper when Peter professed his undying love to Jesus? Jesus told Peter that his love wouldn’t even last through the night, which Peter vehemently denied.

Matthew 26:34

“Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ Peter said to Him, ‘Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.’

Within hours, Jesus was arrested and Peter fled. As the night drew on, Jesus was accused, put on trial, mocked and scourged. The crowd began to turn against Him as Peter watched on from a distance. Three times that night he was accused of being on of Jesus’ disciples. Then this happened:

Luke 22:60-62

“Peter said, ‘Man, I do not know what you are talking about.’ Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter ... and he went out and wept bitterly.”

When Jesus turned His gaze upon Peter, His eyes weren’t windows, were they? No, they were flames of fire that pierced the very soul of Peter. That’s what the eyes of God do. They are flames that illuminate our hearts. They pierce the darkness that is in our hearts in such a way that our sin becomes evident even to ourselves.

The eyes of flaming fire that John saw are the penetrating, cleansing, sin-revealing eyes of a holy and just God. They are there to prepare His people for what is coming next.