The Rider on a White Horse

We have become accustomed to portraying Jesus as some wimpy pacifist. I despise it (laughing). He is represented in most pulpits that way, and I am sorry, but that is just not Jesus. Yes, Jesus taught love, peace, and forgiveness, but there was an equally important side to Jesus.

Jesus was strong; He was also confrontational. In almost every encounter with the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus was aggressive to the point they sought to kill him. One of the best examples of this confrontation is found in Matthew 23:13-33. Jesus told them, “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

This passage is only one confrontation with the Pharisees. Jesus had many more, including calling them sons of the devil. Now remember, these were the elite Jews, priests, and scribes. They had money and power, and Jesus really laid into them. That is not a pacifist nor a weakling.

While in the temple, Jesus formed a whip and chased the merchants and money changers from the temple. In Matthew 21:12-13, Matthew wrote, "Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. "It is written," he said to them, "'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it 'a den of robbers."

One of my favorite reformed pastors, Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892), wrote an entire book called "The Power of Christ the Warrior." In this, Spurgeon dissected much scripture reflecting Christ's warrior side, and it was an excellent reference to this side of Christ.

I think one of the most important portrayals of Christ as a Warrior is in Revelation, the rider on a white horse and the armies with him:

"Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS."

I love this passage. I love it because it gives us assurances that no matter how low this world gets or how much control Satan has in this society, Christ will return to collect the righteous and punish the evil. He is faithful and true and judges the nations cutting down those who worship the beast.

Brothers and Sisters, Jesus is no wimp. Jesus is no pacifist. Jesus came to divide, and He will rule over all creation, and we, the elect of God will be gathered to Him. Jesus is a Warrior, a Warrior King.

Worship and praise the Lamb who will come again in glory and wrath. The Word of God who became flesh and walked among us. The rider on the white horse, Jesus Christ.