So Much

Revelation 1:1-3

¹The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

²who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

³Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

After a brief introduction on Thursday, we begin our study of Revelation in earnest today. And right away I confess that I am swimming in the details. There is just so much here to marvel over and think about. First, let’s address an interesting idea about the order in which John wrote his 5 books of the New Testament. There is a great deal of speculation that he wrote the Revelation first and there more than a few clues as to why that idea bears merit. I first heard this idea almost 20 years ago at a women's conference and while I was intrigued, I didn’t know if there was any good reason to believe it. Then Dr. Brighton exposes the same thought in his commentary.

“Could the fact that John in Revelation gives to the reader a description of Christ in his transfigured glory be the reason why he does not have an account of the transfiguration in his gospel? The same may be said for the absence of any account of the ascension in his gospel, since there is in Revelation 5 a beautiful description of Jesus’ ascension, but as seen and understood from heaven’s viewpoint. If this might be the explanation for the absence of any report of these important events in John’s gospel, then perhaps John wrote the gospel after Revelation. The scenario might be this: first John experienced and wrote Revelation and then, after meditating on it, he undertook to write a gospel as an introduction for Revelation. Whether the above conjecture is true or not there is a strong probability that after he had written both the gospel and Revelation, John saw that they went together and thus were two parts of one work.”

Brighton, L. A. _©1999. Revelation (p. 23). St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House.

Just something to mull over as you read Revelation. Perspective is a powerful thing. Now onto some details about these opening verses.

Verse 1: This “revelation” both comes from Jesus and is about Jesus. Keeping Christ at the center of Revelation will keep our focus in the right place at all times. It is a loss of that focus that may drag us into a false understanding of what we are reading.

           These things are shown to His “servants” through His “servant" John. The word here is actually slave or bondservant. We have discussed bondservants in the past. They are those slaves who choose to stay and serve their masters even though they could be free. They recognize they are serving someone who loves and values them. Their lives are sworn to their masters. This is how John sees himself and his readers.

           The flow of verse 1 goes from the Father, to the Son, via an angel through John, to us.

Verse 2: This is a first person eye witness of the end times. God will give John visions of the end. He will actually hear from Jesus Christ about all of these things and will relate them to us as a witness. This isn’t hear-say or conjecture. It is an eye witness account.

Verse 3: There are seven blessings listed throughout the Revelation. The first one is mentioned already in verse 3 for those who read (hear) and keep these words. In that keeping are the concepts of “cherishing, receiving in faith, obeying, and living by” these words. (Dr. Brighton) This is serious stuff and deserves our attention, our mediation, and our willingness to be transformed by what we read.

           Finally, there is a sense of urgency about this book because “the time is near.” John believes that the Second Coming of Christ is in the immediate future. And so it is. We do not know when God will part the clouds and Jesus will return. All of us should sense that urgency every single day and look expectantly for His return. No, it hasn’t happened in 2,000 years. But God’s timing and mine are not the same. He is not bound by something as trivial as time. So it is not with anxiety that we wait but confident expectation (there’s that hope again.)

As we embark upon this study may you experience the blessings that are promised to those who would take the time to read these words and let them into their lives. We will in all likelihood go very slowly through Revelation but it promises to be a great ride.