(Prophetic, Powerful, Not Often Presented Real Person of Jesus Christ)
Could it be that the real personage of Jesus Christ is rather different, or even diametrically opposed to the imagery we most often are sent by popular culture – and even some churches? Infantilized, sissified, dead or dying? Easy to disregard?
Those who know him know the real Jesus is the sole creator of the universe, powerful beyond description, King of Kings. During his time on this earth, while his purpose was to provide himself as a sacrifice for humanity, nevertheless, some of this unimaginable power came out from time to time: the real Jesus was a fearless provocateur, a rabble-rouser, sharp-tongued, and often shocking.
Let’s start with the future and then turn to the past, because the evidence is of a whole cloth. Consider his promised return to Earth and appearance as a good place to start.
In the Book of Revelation, Jesus Christ appears not as a humble servant, but as the triumphant King of Kings and Lord of Lords to execute divine judgment upon His enemies.
Clothed in a robe dipped in blood and riding a white horse, He leads the armies of heaven to conquer the assembled forces of the beast, the false prophet, and the kings of the earth at the Battle of Armageddon.
Rather than relying on physical weaponry, Christ defeats the hostile nations with merely His spoken word; such is his power.
Employing here the colorful and metaphorical image of Revelation on his return, He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty, effortlessly overwhelming the opposition: the beast and the false prophet are captured and thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone, while the remainder of His adversaries are slain by the power of His word. Consider this power in our King, the opposite of the popular diminished, ineffectual, and irrelevant image our culture often gins up. The verses:
Revelation 14:19 – “So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes of the earth, and he threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.”
Revelation 14:20 – “And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.”
Revelation 19:15 – “From His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.”
A powerful image, this “iron scepter”: a gold scepter may be ceremonial, but an iron scepter is a working tool, yes, even a weapon:
Psalm 2:9 — “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
Revelation 2:27 — “And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.”
Revelation 12:5 — “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.”
Revelation 19:15 — “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron…”
An example of how this “iron rod” may be employed?
In Zechariah 14:16-19, the prophet details the consequences for any nation that refuses to go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and keep the Feast of Tabernacles. The time frame: Messiah’s 1,000-year reign. For those disobedient, divine judgment comes as drought—the Lord withholds rain from their lands, devastating their agriculture. Some, like Egypt, may also receive plagues. Ultimately, this enforcement establishes the absolute sovereignty of the King, making public worship and covenant celebration mandatory for all the earth’s remnant nations under threat of divine chastisement and crop failure.
He means business. Disregard Him at your peril is the message.
The realization of these images from Revelation (rod of iron, winepress, etc.) is yet future. They depict the real Jesus dispatching his power to put righteousness into the earth. It is a bracing and inspiring picture. He cannot nor will not be pushed off the side, disregarded. Nothing will stop Him from His purpose: Evil will be put down, righteousness established in all the earth.
To better apprehend the real Jesus Christ, consider history, as well as the future we see in Revelation. Consider some of His own words, while He was here the first time, 2,000 years ago. This is, in fact, exactly the same person talking in the gospels as the fearsome Warrior and King of Revelation. Throughout the four Gospels, Jesus made startling, disruptive, and culturally provocative statements. Pop culture leaves these out, and many pulpits as well. Here is a selection of some of His most startling words from His original sojourn on planet Earth:
- “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34).
Directly challenging the expectation of a unifying, peaceful Messianic age, Jesus warned that his message would divide family and friends. In Zen, this is called a Zen whack, a blow from the teacher meant to awaken the student. It is sudden, sharp and life-changing. The real Jesus often operated in this modus. Here’s another such:
- “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).
In a deeply family-centric honor society, demanding a devotion that made familial love look like “hatred” was surely jarring.
- “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53).
To a 1st-century Jewish audience bound by strict dietary laws that forbade consuming blood, this command sounded scandalous and led many followers to desert him.
- “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away… And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off” (Matthew 5:29-30).
Using radical hyperbole, Jesus emphasized the extreme discipline needed to avoid moral failure.
- “Let the dead bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:22).
Proper burial of a parent was considered one of the highest religious duties in Judaism, making Jesus’ brush-off to a grieving son seem shocking and extraordinarily callous.
- “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58).
By applying the divine, sacred name of God (I AM) to himself, Jesus committed what his listeners viewed as outright blasphemy. In response, they picked up stones to kill him.
- “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs” (Matthew 15:26).
“Dogs?” Wouldn’t calling someone a dog be “hurtful?” This quote is surely remarkable, especially in a politically correct, woke age, when sports teams must be renamed to avoid offending native Americans formerly known as Indians (e.g., Bureau of Indian Affairs), many of whom are oblivious to the issue; historical statues taken down (Columbus, Confederate generals) to avoid even the hint of a slight of now designated oppressed or enslaved peoples.
When a Gentile Canaanite woman begged for help, Jesus used a harsh cultural slur for non-Jews, but the purpose was to test her faith before healing her daughter. Matthew 15:28: “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.”
- “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24).
In an era where wealth was viewed as a direct sign of divine favor, this statement shocked his disciples, who asked, “Who then can be saved?”
- “Leave her alone… You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me” (John 12:7-8).
Spoken when a woman (Mary or an unnamed woman; accounts vary) anointed him with expensive perfume; this declaration, prioritizing his own presence over Judas’ pretense of selling the perfume for the poor, seemed counterintuitive. Manifest respect for the present and everlasting Jesus more important than another donation for the transient poor? Yes, it was. Not egotistical, just a fact.
- “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:23).
Jesus declared that on the day of judgment, he would reject religious leaders and miracle-workers who performed grand deeds in his name without genuine heart transformation, i.e., repentance and connection with Him.
- “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you” (Matthew 21:31).
Directed at the devout religious leaders, Jesus inverted the societal moral hierarchy by placing social outcasts and corrupt officials ahead of the pious.
- “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also” (Matthew 5:39).
In an honor-shame culture governed by strict retaliation (“an eye for an eye”), advocating nonviolent non-cooperation was viewed as an absurd 180-degree turn. Incomprehensible and impossible without the Holy Spirit.
- “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).
A similarly radical directive to extend genuine love to military oppressors (such as the Roman army) and personal foes. Again, incomprehensible and impossible without the Holy Spirit.
- “You brood of vipers! How can you who are evil say anything good?” (Matthew 12:34).
Jesus openly insulted the premier religious authorities of his day, comparing them to venomous snakes.
- “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
An exclusive, unyielding claim to be the sole path to God.
- “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2:19).
Referring cryptically to his own body, this claim sounded like a sacrilegious threat against Herod’s expanded (second) Temple. Herod the Great (c. 72 BC – 4 BC) was the King of Judea appointed by the Roman Senate. Herod was Jewish but installed by the occupying Romans. Herod was also known for the fortress of Masada and the port city of Caesarea Maritima. Ruthless and paranoid, it was Herod who ordered the “Massacre of the Innocents” in Bethlehem following the birth of Jesus.
Matthew 2:16 (KJV): “Then Herod, when he had called the wise men secretly, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.”
- “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8).
Claiming authority over the sacred Sabbath law—a cornerstone of Jewish identity—was viewed as an outrageous assertion of divine supremacy, i.e., blasphemy.
- “Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?” (Luke 5:23).
Similarly, claiming the authority to forgive sins—something reserved for God alone—he again provoked charges of blasphemy from the Pharisees.
- “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25).
A paradoxical claim that self-preservation leads to ultimate destruction, while self-sacrifice brings true life.
- “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48).
An impossibly high moral standard that set the baseline for righteousness far beyond mere rule-following. Yet Jesus himself would make a way.
Those 20 bold, brash, provocative quotes were all taken from the Gospels. Here are 10 more equally or even more provocative, shocking, or intense declarations attributed directly to God in the Old Testament (i.e., the LORD, Yahweh) and to the glorified Jesus Christ in the Book of Revelation. The common themes: power, consequence, majesty, a Being not to be trifled with:
- “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit [vomit] you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16).
Addressing the church in Laodicea, Christ uses vivid, visceral language to express deep revulsion for religious apathy and self-complacency. Some, not all, religious scholars consider Laodicea an apostate church. This language – vomit — supports that assertion.
- “I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh during the stress of the siege…” (Jeremiah 19:9).
In a grim warning to Jerusalem regarding incoming judgment, God says he will create an unspeakable horror.
- “I will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when panic strikes you…” (Proverbs 1:26).
The long-suffering God, soliciting human allegiance, is found laughing here, mocking human disaster. Echoed in Psalm 2:4, God warns that those who persistently spurn counsel will find no pity when ruin inevitably arrives. Compare these with Romans 1, where God turns over to damnation those reprobates, those who have sealed their minds and hearts against Him. When was the last time you heard the word “damnation,” in or out of church? It is nearly archaic, like Chaucer’s Old English, yet remains just as much in force.
- “I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things” (Isaiah 45:7).
How many consider that God himself actually creates calamity? Very, very few. Yet he says it of himself. There is a saying to the effect, when someone tells you who they are, believe them. So here it is that God asserts absolute sovereignty over both peace and calamity; nothing falls outside His supreme authority.
- “Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth” (Revelation 2:16).
Christ threatens direct, aggressive warfare against unrepentant members of His own church in Pergamum using His divine word of judgment. Said to the angel of the church in Pergamos.
- “I will tear them to pieces like a lion, like a leopard I will lurk by the path… like a bear robbed of her cubs, I will attack them” (Hosea 13:7–8).
To depict the fierceness of His coming judgment on Israel’s idolatry, God compares Himself to relentless, predatory wild beasts. No one thinks of God as a wild beast. This is a startling metaphor.
- “Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation… and I will strike her children dead” (Revelation 2:22-23).
Warning the church in Thyatira about the false prophetess “Jezebel,” Christ promises severe physical judgment and death for those who entice His servants into corruption. No one thinks of God as a bringer of disease or death, yet that is what the text says here.
- “I will spread dung on your faces, the dung of your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it” (Malachi 2:3).
A remarkable rebuke: God delivers an unforgettably disgusting threat to corrupt, hypocritical priests, declaring that He will defile their faces with the offal of the very sacrifices they offered insincerely.
- “You shall pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens of the LORD” (Lamentations 3:66).
An angry God, an angry Jesus Christ. Reflecting the raw, unvarnished cry for divine vengeance against oppressive enemies, this passage showcases God’s role as the ultimate, terrifying judge of national wickedness.
- “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him” (Psalm 2:12).
Our society has lost entirely the ability to fear God, to fear his wrath, which the Bible says is the beginning of wisdom. Psychologists agree fear is bad; we are to only hold warm, wonderful feelings. Yet:
- Proverbs 9:10 — “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”
- Psalm 111:10 — “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his cmmandments: his praise endureth for ever.”
And:
- Proverbs 1:7 — “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
- Job 28:28 — “And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”
Wrath or Reward?
But those who trust in him are blessed. Now and forever. It is to them that he shows love, kindness, graciousness – throughout eternity. He brings rewards, and at his right hand are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16.11). The last words of Revelation, chapter 22:
“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (vv 12:21).
The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Both past and prophecy show us who Jesus really is. The real Jesus is hiding in plain sight, in his own words, and in the Word.
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John A. Sarkett wrote After Armageddon, Strangest Stories in the Bible, and a number of other books. He contributes to these pages.