Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Revelation 1
- Secondary Reading: Psalms 38
Key Verse
Revelation 1:11 — “Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.”
Devotional Thought
It is the first day of April, and much of the world is busy with pranks and foolishness, but here in Revelation 1 we are given something utterly serious and utterly hopeful: a revelation of Jesus Christ. John is on Patmos, an exile “for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” He is a real man in a real place, cut off from the churches he loves, and yet on the Lord’s day he is “in the Spirit,” and he hears behind him a voice like a trumpet. What he turns to see is not a vague spiritual impression but a Person — one like unto the Son of man, robed to the foot, girt with a golden girdle, hair white as wool, eyes like flame, feet like burnished brass, voice like many waters, holding seven stars in his right hand, a two-edged sword proceeding from his mouth, his countenance like the sun in its strength. John falls at his feet as dead. That is the only sane response to such holiness.
But notice what happens next. The same hand that holds the stars is laid on the fallen apostle, and the same voice that shook him with its power says, “Fear not.” Here is the heart of the passage for us today: the exalted Christ is not distant from his people. He walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, which are the churches. He is not merely above them, ruling from far off; he is among them, tending them, holding their angels in his hand. He is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the living One who was dead and is alive for evermore, and he holds the keys of hell and of death. Whatever we face — exile, tribulation, the patience of Jesus Christ, as John puts it — we face it with a Lord who has already conquered the last enemy.
Psalm 38 read alongside this chapter is striking. There David cries out under the weight of his own sin: “mine iniquities are gone over mine head,” his wounds stink, his friends stand aloof, his enemies plot. He is broken and feeble and his light is gone. That is what sin does, and it is what a fallen world does. But the same psalm ends, “Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.” And Revelation 1 answers that cry with a name: Jesus Christ, “who loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father.”
So what does this ask of us on an ordinary Wednesday in April? It asks us to turn and look. To stop treating Christ as an abstraction or a doctrine and to see him as John saw him — glorious, holy, near. It asks us to hear his “Fear not” and to rise from our fear. And it asks us to live as those who have been washed, made kings and priests, waiting for the day when he comes with clouds and every eye shall see him. Even so, Amen.
Reflection
- John fell at Christ’s feet as dead, yet the Lord laid his right hand on him and said, “Fear not.” When you consider the majesty of the risen Christ described here, does your daily life reflect awe at who he is — and comfort that he is near his churches?
- Psalm 38 confesses sin openly and looks to God for help; Revelation 1 declares that Jesus “washed us from our sins in his own blood.” Is there sin you are still carrying as a heavy burden instead of bringing it to the One who holds the keys of hell and of death?
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, Alpha and Omega, first and last, we bow before you this day. You are the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, the Prince of the kings of the earth, and you have loved us and washed us from our sins in your own blood. We confess that we have often lived as though you were far off, forgetting that you walk among your churches and hold your servants in your hand. Lay your right hand upon us, as you did upon John, and speak your “Fear not” to our fearful hearts. Make us faithful, patient, and full of hope until the day you come with clouds and every eye shall see you. To you be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Psalm Verse
Psalms 38:1 — “O lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.”