Of all things, I have been drawn of
late to study John’s Revelation. The book has scared me since my early
Sunday School days, and every time I’ve read it since—even Peterson’s The Message—it strikes me as bizarre,
ungracious and brutal. This time,
I have been reading it with Darrell Johnson’s help (Discipleship on the Edge)
and at last the utter Christ-centeredness that you would expect from John
shines through. Darrell has done a
fantastic service to believers everywhere. Note what Jesus says of himself to the seven churches. Each affirmation is so profoundly
personal to each particular struggle of the individual church. Each is strong, simple, and so much
bigger than our Western minds.
Jesus is the center of all creation, always has been and always will be. One day we will all see it.
“The One who holds the seven stars in
His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands” (2:1).
“The first and the last, who was dead,
and has come to life” (2:8).
“The One who has the sharp two-edged
sword” (2:12).
“The Son of God, who has eyes like a
flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze” (2:18).
“He who has the seven Spirits of God
and the seven stars” (3:1)
“He who is holy, who is true, who has
the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one
opens” (3:7).
“The Amen, the faithful and true
Witness, the Beginning [arche, source
and meaning] of the creation of God” (3:14).
The seven stars represent the whole of
creation. The seven spirits
represent the complete anointing of Jesus in the Spirit. He is the one and only person in Biblical history who received
the Holy Spirit as an abiding, immeasurable gift. The seven lampstands represent the whole church.
Take some time and reflect on what we
are being told about Jesus here. The
One who is at the center of the cosmos and the church; the One who is the
source and meaning of all things, the One who died and rose again; the One
anointed with the Holy Spirit; the One who sees and discerns; the Truth; the
Father’s Son; the true witness; the One who opens doors than none can shut;
this One is in our midst. There is a reason that again and again John simply
says, “Look!” “Behold!” No doubt, we, like the individuals and
the churches in John’s day, face serious turmoil, especially in our darkness. John’s answer is to shine the light on
Jesus. He is where the buck
stops. Jesus is where all
pretentious arguments cease.
Before Him everyone will know that He knows that we know that He knows. Jesus has overcome. His victory is eating its way through
the (and our) darkness. Meantime: “In the world you have tribulation, but take
courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
