Revelation

December 19, 2019

The Apocalypse, otherwise known as the Revelation of St. John, is one of the most parodied and least-understood books of the Bible, beginning with its English title. It isn’t the Revelation of John, but of Jesus Christ, as the first sentence indicates: “The revelation of Jesus Christ.” The ‘of’ signifies that it is both from and about Jesus Christ, and is the only writing in the Bible that attaches a blessing to the reading, hearing, and keeping of its words (v. 3). 

People often shie away from reading this letter with its fantastic imagery and symbolism. “I can’t understand it,” they say, forgetting that the blessing attached to it says nothing about understanding it. 

The story begins by setting everything in context. It was written to Christians who were experiencing persecution. When John speaks of dragons and Jezebel, of anti-Christ and the False Prophet, his readers would nod their heads and murmur, “Yes, we’ve seen them. We bear the scars to prove it.” Revelation speaks of last days, but it was written primarily to those first Christians in those last days, not to those of us who have come on the scene lately. And though the trials depicted in these pages are real and severe, they aren’t described to scare us, but to encourage us. 

In the middle of the Civil War, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem that we sing at Christmastime—“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” The carnage of that war had impacted him directly, and as he wrote, 

“And in despair I bowed my head;

"There is no peace on earth," I said; 

"For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

His next verse echoes the Revelation:

“Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; 

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men." 

John pulls back the curtain of human history to reveal Jesus Christ behind the scenes, the victorious Lamb that was slain, seated at the right hand of the Father and coming in great glory for his own. As if to emphasize the certainty of his authority, in the opening verses, he is described as the One “who is, who was, and”—not as we might expect—“Who will be,” but “Who is to come.” The implication is clear. The glorious Son of God was before time and is now, but to say “he will be” is to imply that he changes, that he can become something other than who he is and was. Jesus Christ can never be described as One who “will be.” He was, and is, and is to come.” 

In a world gone mad, this is our hope. We don’t pin our hopes on who is in office, on how the Supreme Court decides this or that issue, on whether we win or lose the culture war. Our hope is in Jesus Christ, “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8)—and who is coming again. I am thankful for this strange, hope-filled book of Revelation, for it reveals Jesus Christ as he is today—exalted and glorified and coming again Lord of heaven and earth!