Sermon Text: Revelation 19:11–16
Date: June 1, 2025
Event: The Ascension of Our Lord (Observed), Year C
Revelation 19:11–16 (EHV)
I saw heaven standing open, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and he judges and makes war in righteousness. 12His eyes are like blazing flames, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him, which no one knows except he himself. 13He is also clothed in a garment that had been dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14The armies in heaven, which were clothed with white, clean, fine linen, were following him on white horses. 15Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will shepherd them with an iron staff. He himself is going to trample the winepress of the fierce anger of the Almighty God. 16On his garment and on his thigh this name is written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Behold, the Victor!
When the clock ticks down on the championship game, it’s not too hard to figure out who won and who lost, even if you don’t look at the score. The body language on both teams will make that clear. In one, you will see joy springing from out of a well of energy they didn’t know they had. In the other, you will see the weight of disappointment hang heavy.
This morning, we are celebrating Jesus’ ascension. His ascension into heaven, much like his resurrection, is all about his victory. He rose because he accomplished all he needed to do in his death—he won! He ascended into heaven because he accomplished all he needed to in his time walking this earth—he won! So while today may not have all of the trappings of our Easter Day celebrations, the message and the comfort are very related.
But as we noted last week in our distinctions between the concepts of “joy” and “happiness,” sometimes it doesn’t really feel like Jesus has won anything, or at least nothing that makes a difference to us today. In fact, Jesus’ ascension can even seem like a badthing. We can’t see him anymore. He promised not to leave us as orphans, but doesn’t it feel like that sometimes? We know he promises to be with us always to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20), but often it doesn’t feel true or real. We can often feel more like the team that lost the championship game rather than the team that won.
As we noted last week, though, our emotions are often a poor judge of reality. Just because I might feel abandoned by God doesn’t mean that I am. So sometimes, our emotional selves need a reality check. And that is what we have before us this morning. In our Second Reading, we have a vivid picture of the reality of Jesus’ victory portrayed for us in John’s Revelation.
Leading up to our reading, John had seen the enemies of God—both of the spiritual and earthly realms—flex their power in a way that would be alarming to those on the earth. But the outcome was never in question. God throws down his enemies. God is the victor, and it wasn’t even close.
What we have before us is almost a snapshot, a freeze-frame that might hit just at the end of the movie, showing the hero triumphant over all the adversity that had led up to that moment. We would do well to study the details of this image to understand better what has happened and thus what will happen.
I saw heaven standing open, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and he judges and makes war in righteousness. Because Revelation is largely made up of visions, it makes heavy use of picture language, so people, places, numbers, and even colors often have meaning beyond the surface level. The color white throughout Revelation is a symbol of purity. You know how brave you need to be to wear a white shirt to a spaghetti dinner—any fleck of red sauce is going to jump out to anyone’s eyes! So, too, in spiritual terms, the purity of white would very clearly show any stain of sin. A garment cleaned and bleached would differ significantly from the garment run through the muck. This rider on his white horse is a picture of purity. And, as we’ll see, a picture of victory over impurity.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the white horse and its rider in Revelation. Back in Chapter 6, we heard about what has come to be known as the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” A rider on a red horse comes and is given the authority to make war across the earth; a rider on a black horse brings famine, making food costs almost impossibly high; a rider on a pale green horse brings death of all sorts to the earth. But the first of the four horsemen is the rider on a white horse. John says, “A crown was given to [the rider on the white horse], and he went out conquering and to conquer” (Revelation 6:2). While the other horsemen are bringing calamities to the earth, this rider is different. His pure color and his conquering might are a vivid depiction of Jesus and his carrying out the gospel to the ends of the earth, one of the necessary things that has to happen before the end.
In chapter 19, we meet the rider on the white horse again, and the picture is even clearer. His name—Faithful and True—and his actions, making judgments and war in righteousness, show that this is not some self-centered, greedy warmonger. This is a King making judgments and war for the good of the people, to protect them from their enemies. And this is the explanation for the alarming appearance of his clothing: He is also clothed in a garment that had been dipped in blood. It’s not the rider’s blood, but as he walks among the now-calm battlefield, the blood of his enemies soaks into the hem of his robe. His enemies, ourenemies, have been vanquished.
His eyes are like blazing flames, and on his head are many crowns. These are divine images, especially the eyes. Our eyes need light to function. To see in a dark place, we need to bring a light source; otherwise, our eyes are useless. Not so for God. His eyes bring their own light—blazing flames—to see anything and everything, even the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts.
And finally, we have an identification of this rider beyond any debate: his name is the Word of God. John began his Gospel this way: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him everything was made, and without him not one thing was made that has been made. In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. The light is shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. … The Word became flesh and dwelled among us. We have seen his glory, the glory he has as the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. … For out of his fullness we have all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:1–5, 14, 16–17). This rider on the white horse, victorious, clothing dripping with the blood of his enemies, is none other than the Word of God himself—Jesus, our Savior.
And how does the Son of God rule? Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will shepherd them with an iron staff. With the word from his mouth and with a shepherd’s staff. The sword of his Word is perhaps best described by the writer to the Hebrews: The word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to the point of dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, even being able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart. And then the writer continues, reminding us how this victorious King with his flaming eyes rules his kingdom: And there is no creature hidden from him, but everything is uncovered and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we will give an account (Hebrews 4:12-13).
Let’s take a step away from the intense imagery of Revelation for just a moment and try to apply this to ourselves today. What does it mean that this rider on the white horse, the Word of God, who conquers all his enemies, now reigns? It is a vivid reminder of all that Jesus has done for us. Our spiritual enemies—sin, death, hell, and even Satan himself—lie decimated at his feet. Jesus’ cross didn’t look like this to our eyes, but here we see what was happening. Everything that stood against us and thus against him was obliterated there.
But we’ve already discussed this morning how that doesn’t always feel true. We suffer under the loads of disappointment and heartaches. Our sin continues to plague us, as does the sin of others. We battle health crises and have concerns for the future. We lose dear loved ones to death that feels all too inevitable and powerful, not at all like the conquered enemy that Jesus claims it to be.
We’re often led to despair or the assumption that Jesus has left us. After all, what more perfect image of abandonment could there be than Jesus rising into the sky, being hidden by the clouds, and then gone? And yet here we see that all of those feelings and assumptions are wrong. Jesus has not abandoned us; he rules all things for our eternal good, even if we can’t see it or understand it in the moment.
But remember what the angels said to the disciples as they squinted at the sky: “Men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking up into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Jesus is not gone, nor is he even permanently hidden from our eyes. Instead, this rule that seems invisible to us will come to an end. Jesus will return to bring a clear end to this sinful, fallen world and to bring us to himself in the perfection of eternal life.
We often feel like we’re on the losing side of this thing or that—or maybe everything! But the reality is that we are on the Victor’s side because he conquered all our spiritual enemies to rescue us for eternity. And so we can take that fear or depression or worry back to the cross, the empty tomb, the hillside with the disciples looking into the sky, and to the hill where the Rider on the white horse stands triumphant. This is the reality, no matter what our eyes can see, ears can hear, or our emotions can feel. Jesus has ascended because he won—sin, death, and hell are vanquished, and we will be with our God forever.
My dear brothers and sisters, behold the Victor! Behold your Victor! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria
Sermon prepared for Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (WELS), Belmont, CA (www.gdluth.org) by Pastor Timothy Shrimpton. All rights reserved. Contact pastor@gdluth.org for usage information.
