Tag Archives: Revelation 1

A Couple of Spiritual Lessons From Rev. 1:12-20 (Vision 6)

1. Why is the gracious, forgiving Jesus, who washed the feet of His disciples, portrayed in such a spectacular and frightening way in Revelation 1:12-16? While the appearance of Jesus frightened John to his core, fear was not the response Jesus desired (Rev. 1:17-18). Like an elementary-school teacher in the classroom, God sometimes has to earn our respect before we will take His graciousness seriously. But to truly know God is to love Him. The Father is just like Jesus (John 14:9).

2. When Jesus meets people where they are, how far is He willing to go? In coming to John as the First and the Last (Rev. 1:17), Jesus assumes a title claimed by Yahweh in the Old Testament (Isa. 44:6; 48:12). He is everything the Jews of His time were looking for. But there is more. Revelation 1:17-18 presents Jesus as the fulfillment of (Gentile) pagan longings as well. In Asia Minor there was a Greek goddess named Hekate who exhibited many similarities with the picture of Jesus here in Revelation 1:17-18. She was called the first and the last, the beginning and the end. She was the goddess of revelation. She held the keys to heaven and hell. She could travel to and from these realms and report what she experienced there. She was also known as “Saviour” and used angels to mediate her messages.

Jesus, therefore, offers the reader everything that the worshipers of Hekate were looking for. This is a surprising extension of the principle that God meets people where they are (see also 1 Cor 9:19-22). Revelation teaches us that Jesus loves us and meets us just where we are. And as we come to Jesus, He will also lead us to where we need to go.

Interpreting the Seven Messages to the Seven Churches (Vision 5)

The messages to the seven churches are not apocalyptic in style like Daniel 7 or Revelation 12. They are “prophetic letters.” They are more like the letters of Paul or Matthew 24 than they are like Daniel 2. So their primary message was for seven actual churches in Asia Minor, the ones that originally received them (Rev 1:4, 11). By extension, as one would for one of Paul’s letters, these messages have value for all those who read them (Rev 1:3; 2:7, 11, 17, 29, etc.).

There is, however, a case to be made to see these seven messages as prophetic of the condition of the church from the time of John to the Second Coming of Jesus. There are several evidences to support this. 1) There were, for example, more than seven churches in Asia Minor at the time John wrote. From the letters of Paul we know that there was a church at Colossae, only a few miles from Laodicea. The letters of Ignatius (a church leader who wrote around 110 AD) go to some of the churches mentioned in Revelation but also to the nearby cities of Magnesia and Tralles. So the choice of seven churches itself seems to have meaning above and beyond the immediate situation.

2) The spiritual conditions in those churches parallel the spiritual conditions of Christianity in different historical periods from the time of John until today. In other words, embedded in these messages to seven historical churches was a grand survey of the major developments of Christian history. The church began strong in the apostolic age (Ephesus), and then went through a period of persecution (Smyrna) followed by compromise and accommodation to the Roman world (Pergamum and Thyatira). The Reformation (latter part of Thyatira) was followed by the spiritually dry period of Protestant orthodoxy (Sardis) and then a second Reformation and worldwide missionary endeavor (Philadelphia). The church today seems relatively indifferent to the claims of Christ in the New Testament (Laodicea). So the broad themes of the seven church messages parallel the broad sweep of Christian history from John’s day to our time.

3) The message to Laodicea parallels John’s appeal to the last generation in Revelation 16:15. The appeal to the world at the time of the battle of Armageddon contains a combination of four major words found elsewhere in the Bible only in Revelation 3:17-18 (seeing, nakedness, shame and garments). So Laodicea is the recipient of God’s last gospel call, placing it in some sense at the end of Christian history in John’s mind.

4) A number of features of the message to Philadelphia seem to imply the nearness of Jesus’ return in way more dramatic that other references in the seven church messages. For example, “I am coming soon” in Revelation 3:11, echoes end-time uses of the same phrase in Revelation 11:14 and 22: 7, 12, 20. So the letter to Philadelphia seems to have special significance as Christians near the end of the era.

All four evidences support and extended meaning for the seven church messages in Revelation 2 and 3, a meaning that goes beyond the original situation and includes implications for the larger trend of Christian history.

John’s Own Outline of Revelation (Vision 4)

The author of Revelation often embeds clues about the organization and key ideas of the book in the transition texts. One of those transition texts is Revelation 1:19. In this text he lays out the plan of the whole book. It begins, “Write, therefore, what you have seen” (my translation). This sentence parallels verse 11, “Write what you see.” Verse 11 is present tense and verse 19 is past tense (Greek aorist indicative). This means the entire vision of Revelation was seen by John between the command in verse 11 and the command in verse 19. Having seen the vision, he is told to write it out and begins that process in verse 19.

What has John seen? Two things: “The things which are” and “the things which are about to happen after these things” (Rev. 1:19, my translation). So the book of Revelation will include both things current at the time of the seven churches, and things which were yet to come from their perspective. One part of John’s vision focuses particularly on the time in which John lived, and one part focuses on events that will follow after John’s time. For our purposes, the key question is, How do we know when John is addressing his time and place and when he is addressing the things which would happen after his day?

In Revelation 4:1 (my translation) Jesus says to John, “Come up here, and I will show you the things which these things must happen after.” This is a nearly exact parallel to Revelation 1:19. So beginning with Revelation 4:1, the rest of Revelation focuses primarily on John’s future. While there are flashbacks to the cross (Rev 5:6; 12:11), to the enthronement of Jesus (Rev. 5:6-14), and even events before creation (Rev. 12:4), the primary focus from chapter four to the end of the book on is events future from John’s day.

What, then, are “the things which are” in Revelation 1:19? Evidently, everything between 1:19 and 4:1, namely the messages to the seven churches. While the seven messages have powerful implications for the whole Christian era, their primary focus is on the situation of those seven churches, and on the messages that Jesus brings to them. Unlike most of the book of Revelation, the messages to the seven churches are not an apocalyptic prediction of future events, they read more like the letters of Paul or Matthew 24. As such they are applicable directly to the original readers and also to readers throughout the Christian era (see Rev. 1:3). As such, they can also be applied to the various eras of church history, with which they fit fairly well.

Careful attention to Revelation 1:19 shows how key texts of Revelation can help readers see the structure in John’s mind and in the mind of the One who gave him the vision.

Jesus Meets the Churches Where They Are (Vision 3)

Jesus appears on the scene of Revelation in spectacular fashion (Rev. 1:12-20). The same Jesus is in close relationship with the seven churches (1:20). He knows each of them intimately (Rev. 2:2, 9, 13, 19; 3:1, 8, 15). And He introduces Himself to each church with one, two or three characteristics from the earlier vision.

The message to Ephesus (Rev. 2:1), for example, describes Jesus as the one who holds the seven stars in His hand (Rev. 1:20) and walks among the seven golden lampstands (1:12-13). In the message to Smyrna (2:8), Jesus is the first and the last, the one who died came to life (1:17-18). In the letter to Pergamum, He approaches with a sharp, two-edged sword (1:16). So it goes throughout the seven church letters.

Here’s the interesting thing. Jesus presents Himself differently to each of the seven churches. No two churches get the same picture of Jesus. Each church gets only a portion of the many characteristics in chapter one. He knows each church intimately and on that basis meets each church where they are. No individual church, therefore, has the full picture of Jesus. He is able to adapt to each church’s particular needs and circumstances. And if no church and no Christian has the full picture of Jesus, then we all have reason to be humble. We are all learners. And we all have something to teach each other.

There is a corollary to this observation. If one were to ask which of the seven churches has the RIGHT picture of Jesus, how would you answer? It is a trick question. It is Jesus who presents Himself to each church. Each church has a true or right picture of Jesus. That means that there is more than one RIGHT way to think. Each of the churches knows something right about Jesus, but they all need each other in order to have the full picture.

This doesn’t mean that all pictures of Jesus or God are right. There is such a thing as a wrong picture, a deceptive picture of Jesus. But just because two people disagree about Jesus doesn’t by itself prove that one or both of them are wrong. They may simply be seeing from a different angle or their perception of truth is limited by their training and experience up to that point.

Many church fights are grounded in the perception that there is only ONE right way to think. If that is true and I am right, then you must be wrong! But when godly people study the Word and listen to the Spirit, they come to a perception of the truth. It may be limited and expressed in their own language and culture, but it expresses a facet of truth that others need to hear. Witnessing should not be limited to outsiders, we all need to hear one another to learn and to grow. When you realize that there is more than one right way to think, it makes you more open to the work of the Spirit in others.

The Lord’s Day (Vision 2)

The introductory vision of Revelation (Rev. 1:12-18) centers on a glorious picture of Jesus. He is the Son of Man (1:13), the one who died and is alive forevermore (1:18). Based on Daniel 10:5-6 and a number of other OT texts, this vision portrays the kind of Jesus who was seen only at the Transfiguration during His earthly ministry. The characteristics of Jesus in the vision are repeated throughout the seven messages of chapters two and three. The vision is like the stage backdrop to the first act of a play. The envelope of verses 11 and 19 make it clear that John received the vision of the entire book between those two verses.

In addition to the vision of Jesus (1:12-18) this section of Revelation also addresses the location and time when John received the vision (1:9-11). John received the vision on “the Lord’s Day.” That phrase has received a lot of attention from scholars of Revelation.

The most popular view of Revelation 1:10 among commentators is that the “Lord’s Day” of Revelation 1:10 is Sunday, the first day of the week. The strength of this view is that later Church Fathers used the phrase with reference to Sunday, and the Latin equivalent, dominus dies, became one of the names for Sunday in the Latin Church. But all clear references to Sunday as “the Lord’s Day” are much later than Revelation and thus cannot serve as evidence for the meaning when John wrote.

The best explanation for the Lord’s Day in Revelation 1:10 is that John was referring to the seventh-day Sabbath. While the exact phrase “the Lord’s Day” (kuriakê hemêra) is never used elsewhere in the New Testament or in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, many strong equivalents refer to the seventh-day Sabbath. The seventh day is “a Sabbath to the Lord (kuriô) your God” (Exod 20:10; Deut 5:14). “The Lord” (kurios) often refers to the seventh day as “my Sabbath” (ta sabbata mou– Exod 31:12-13; Lev 19:3, 30; 26:2; Isa 56:4-6; Ezek 20:12-13, 16, 20-21, 24; 22:3-8; 23:36-38; 44:12-24). In the Hebrew of Isaiah 58:13 Yahweh calls the Sabbath “My holy day.” And finally, all three Synoptic Gospels (Matt 12:8; Mark 2:27-28; Luke 6:5) quote Jesus as saying “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath (kurios tou sabbatou). It would be strange, therefore, if John used the phrase “the Lord’s Day” for any other day of the week than the one we call Saturday.

A Vision of Christ (Vision 1)

Introduction: Revelation 1:9-20 provides the backdrop for the messages to the seven churches in chapters two and three. Aspects of the glorious vision of Christ provide the unique setting for each of the seven messages. Jesus knows each of the seven churches and meets them where they are.

At least three important themes emerge from a careful look at this opening vision:
1. The Identity of the Lord’s Day in Revelation 1:10. The Sabbath is the most likely option for John’s understanding of the Lord’s Day.
2. Jesus Meets the Churches Where They Are. Jesus approaches each of the seven churches with different characteristics drawn from the introductory vision (Rev. 1:9-20).
3. John’s Basic Outline of Revelation (based on Revelation 1:19). In Revelation 1:19 John summarizes the whole vision as concerning the things which are and the things which will happen after these things. Revelation 4:1 shows that much of Revelation focuses on John’s future.

Looking at the vision as a whole, it is fascinating to see that Jesus is presented in 1:12-16 in a rather frightening manner. John reacts to this presentation in a predictable way, falling down in front of Jesus like a dead man (1:17). But Jesus offers a gracious and comforting response to John in 1:17-18. This vision fits a biblical pattern in which God sometimes “raises His voice” to get our attention or to impress on us His power and glorious being. But after we are suitably humbled by the presence of a powerful God, He can approach us in the way He truly wishes, with gracious kindness. God is infinitely powerful, but He is also infinitely gracious. That means He is powerful enough to accomplish His purpose and meet our need, yet we don’t need to be afraid of Him. He longs for us to receive Him as a friend (John 15:13).