December 20, 2019
The last book of the Bible gives us a laser-like focus on Jesus Christ. It’s not about terrible thing that are going to happen; it’s not about the antichrist or the devil, nor is it a roadmap for the last days. It is a revelation from and about Jesus Christ. If we forget that, we miss the most important thing about the book. The Bible begins in Genesis with God the Father speaking and the Spirit hovering over the waters, and it ends with Jesus Christ welcoming his people home. It is thoroughly Christological, which means he is the center of it all.
Revelation begins by telling us who Jesus Christ is. He is, was, and is to come. He is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, ruler over the kings of the earth (1:4-5). Later, he is described as the “Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End...the Almighty” (1:8). The word for “witness” is the word from which we get “martyr.” There were two types of Christians in New Testament times. Witnesses were those who gave their lives for the faith. Confessors suffered, were tortured, but survived. Here, Jesus is the faithful witness. He suffered and died without denying the faith.
Some have questioned the “firstborn” part. After all, didn’t Jesus raise people from the dead? Lazarus comes to mind. But Lazarus died again. Jesus is the only one so far to rise from death never to die again. He is the first, and as firstborn, has the right of inheritance. And what is his inheritance? To rule over the kings of the earth. This fifth verse echoes the second Psalm which declares, “The LORD has said to me, ‘you are my Son, Today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession” (vv.7-8). This is a prophecy and promise we would do well to remember when the political world is in turmoil.
After describing three characteristics of Jesus Christ, John gives us three things he did for us: He loved us, washed us from our sins, and made us a kingdom of priests to God the Father. That’s pretty impressive! We are loved, we’ve been cleansed from our sins, and have been made priests, i.e. intermediaries between God and man. He hints here at the significance of prayer in our lives. After all, how can we possibly intervene for others before God except by prayer? If ever we imagine our lives to be insignificant, this should erase any such thoughts. And if ever we feel the weight of guilt for what we’ve done or left undone, the fact that we’ve been washed (some manuscripts read “loosed,” there being in the Greek only one letter difference between the words ‘washed’ and ‘loosed.’) should allay any fears we have because it’s the blood of Christ that stands between us and our sins, however this word is translated. There are few things God describes as precious. The blood of his Son Jesus Christ stands at the top of that list. If the blood cannot cleanse and set us free, nothing can.
Tonight, I am grateful for this curious book of Revelation. It points me through Christ to the certainty of salvation and deliverance for all God’s people, including me. Thanks, indeed!
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