"Suddenly Frodo noticed a strange-looking weather-beaten man, sitting in the shadows near the wall . . . His legs were stretched out before him showing high boots that fitted him well, but had seen much wear and were now caked with mud. A travel-stained cloak of heavy dark-green cloth was drawn close about him, and in spite of the heat of the room he wore a hood that overshadowed his face; but the gleam of his eyes could be seen as he watched the hobbits . . . 'Who is that?' Frodo asked Mr. Butterbur . . . 'I don't rightly know. He's one of those wandering folk--Rangers we call them . . . he's known around here as Strider . . . As Frodo drew near he threw back his hood, showing a shaggy head of dark hair flecked with grey, and in a pale stern face, a pair of keen grey eyes" (Tolkien. The Fellowship of the Ring. New York: Ballantine, 1965. 214-215).
"He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering, like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised and we esteemed Him not" (Isaiah 53:1-3); "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head" (Luke 9:58).
"All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king." (Tolkien 231)
"When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of Man is?' They replied, 'Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' 'But what about you?' He asked. 'Who do you say I am?' Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.' Jesus replied, 'Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven . . . For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father's glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom" (Matt 16:13-17, 27-28).
"Then Frodo came forward and took the crown from Faramir and bore it to Gandalf; and Aragorn [Strider] knelt, and Gandalf set the White Crown upon his head, and said: 'Now come the days of the King, and may they be blessed while the thrones of the Valar endure!' But when Aragorn arose all that beheld him gazed in silence, for it seemed to them that he was revealed to them now for the first time. Tall as the sea-kings of old, he stood above all that were near; ancient of days he seemed and yet in the flower of manhood; and wisdom sat upon his brow, and strength and healing were in his hands, and a light was about him. And then Faramir cried: 'Behold the King!' And in that moment all the trumpets were blown, and the King Elessar went forth and came to the barrier, and Hurin of the Keys thrust it back; and amid the music of harp and of viol and of flute and the singing of clear voices the King passed through the flower-laden streets, and came to the Citadel, and entered in; and the banner of the Tree and the Stars was unfurled upon the topmost tower, and the reign of King Elessar began, of which many songs have told. In his time the City was made more fair than it had ever been, even in the days of its first glory; and it was filled with trees and with fountains, and its gates were wrought of mithril and steel, and its streets were paved with white marble; and the Folk of the mountain labored in it, and the Folk of the Wood rejoiced to come there; and all was healed and made good, and the houses were filled with men and women and the laughter of children, and no window was blind nor any courtyard empty; and after the ending of the Third Age of the world into the new age it preserved the memory and the glory of the years that were gone" (Tolkien. The Return of the King. New York: Ballantine, 1965. 304).
21:3 And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them, `and be' their God:
21:4 and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away.
21:5 And he that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he saith, Write: for these words are faithful and true.
21:6 And he said unto me, They are come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
21:8 But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part `shall be' in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.
21:9 And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were laden with the seven last plagues; and he spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb.
21:10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
21:11 having the glory of God: her light was like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal:
21:12 having a wall great and high; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written thereon, which are `the names' of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
21:13 on the east were three gates; and on the north three gates; and on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
21:15 And he that spake with me had for a measure a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
21:16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length thereof is as great as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs: the length and the breadth and the height thereof are equal.
21:17 And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits, `according to' the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
21:18 And the building of the wall thereof was jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto pure glass.
21:19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
21:20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.
21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the several gates was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple thereof.
21:23 And the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof `is' the Lamb.
21:24 And the nations shall walk amidst the light thereof: and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it.
21:25 And the gates thereof shall in no wise be shut by day (for there shall be no night there):
21:26 and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it:
21:27 and there shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean, or he that maketh an abomination and a lie: but only they that are written in the Lamb's book of life.
22:1 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,
22:2 in the midst of the street thereof. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve `manner of' fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
22:3 And there shall be no curse any more: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and his servants shall serve him;
22:4 and they shall see his face; and his name `shall be' on their foreheads.
22:5 And there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
Glory be to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords who influences all of our existence, including the writers of literature. Thank You that Your truth can be told in so many ways. With a heart full of anticipation I await Your great and glorious return, my God and my King, Jesus Christ. Amen
25:31 "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
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