Sunday LinkUp – Revelation 1:4b-8

SECOND READING

SPECIAL MUSIC

MAIN MESSAGE (by way of interactive sermon)

Text:  Revelation 1:4b-8

⁴ John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace  from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.   

What do you understand by the “Grace and peace” that John is passing on?

• He sends them grace, and this means all the undeserved gifts of the wondrous love of God. He sends them peace, which R. C. Charles finely describes as “the harmony restored between God and man through Christ.” But there are two extra-ordinary things in this greeting. (Barclay)

What do you understand by the “seven Spirits” that are mentioned?

• These seven Spirits are mentioned more than once in the Revelation (Rev. 3:1; Rev. 4:5; Rev. 5:6). Three main explanations have been offered of them.
• (ii) The second explanation connects them with the famous passage in Isa.11:2; as the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament, has it: “The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety; by this spirit he shall be filled with the fear of God.” This passage is the basis of the great conception of the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit.
• Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire And lighten with celestial fire; Thou the anointing Spirit art, Who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart.
• The Spirit, as Beatus said, is one in name but sevenfold in virtues. If we think of the sevenfold gift of the Spirit, it is not difficult to think of the Spirit as seven Spirits, each giving great gifts to men. So it is suggested that the conception of the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit gave rise to the idea of the seven Spirits before the throne of God.  (Barclay)

What are the three things we note about who Jesus Christ is?

1.  He is the witness on whom we can rely.  It is a favourite idea of the Fourth Gospel that Jesus is a witness of the truth of God. Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen” (Jn.3:11). Jesus said to Pilate: “For this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth” (Jn.18:37). A witness is essentially a person who speaks from first-hand knowledge. That is why Jesus is God’s witness. He is uniquely the person with first-hand knowledge about God.
2.  He is the first-born of the dead.  The word for first-born is prototokos (GSN4416). It can have two meanings.    (a) It can mean literally first-born. If it is used in this sense, the reference must be to the Resurrection. Through his Resurrection Jesus gained a victory over death, which all who believe in him may share. (b) Since the first-born was the son who inherited his father’s honour and power, prototokos (GSN4416) comes to mean one with power and honour, one who occupies the first place, a prince among men. When Paul speaks of Jesus as the first-born of all creation (Col.1:15), he means that to him the first place of honour and glory belongs. If we take the word in this sense — and probably we should — it means that Jesus is Lord of the dead as he is Lord of the living. There is no part of the universe, in this world or in the world to come, and nothing in life or in death of which Jesus Christ is not Lord.
3. He is the ruler of kings on earth.  There are two things to note here.  (a) This is a reminiscence of Ps.89:27: “I will make him the first-born, the highest of the kings of the earth.” That was always taken by Jewish scholars to be a description of the coming Messiah; and, therefore, to say that Jesus is the ruler of kings on earth is to claim that he is the Messiah.    (b) Swete very beautifully points out the connection between this title of Jesus and the temptation story.  In that story the devil took Jesus up into a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the earth and their glory and said: “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me” (Matt.4:8-9; Lk.4:6-7).  It was the devil’s claim that the kingdoms of the earth were delivered into his power (Lk.4:6); and it was his suggestion that, if Jesus would strike a bargain with him, he would give him a share in them. The amazing thing is that what the devil promised Jesus — and could never have given him — Jesus won for himself by the suffering of the Cross and the power of the Resurrection. Not compromise with evil, but the unswerving loyalty and the unfailing love which accepted the Cross brought Jesus his universal lordship.

To Him who ^[a] loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, ⁶ and has made us ^[b]kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen.   

• Notice how this passage is rendered in the NRSVue …
  • • John 18:5b-6  (NRSVue)  To him who loves us and freed^{[a] (washed)} us from our sins by his blood ⁶ and made us a kingdom, priests serving^[b] his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen.   
• Do you notice any differences?

From Barclay’s commentary …

Few passages set down with such splendour what Jesus did for men.

(i) He loves us and he set us free from our sins at the cost of his own blood. The King James Version is in error here. It reads: “Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” The words “to wash” and “to set free” are in Greek very alike. “To wash” is louein (GSN3068); “to set free” is luein (GSN3089); and they are pronounced exactly in the same way. But there is no doubt that the oldest and best Greek manuscripts read luein (GSN3089). Again “in his own blood” is a mistranslation. The word translated “in” is en (GSN1722) which, indeed, can mean “in”; but here it is a translation of the Hebrew word “be-” (the e is pronounced very short as in “the”), which means “at the price of.”

What Jesus did, as John sees it, is that he freed us from our sins at the cost of his own blood. This is exactly what he says later on when he speaks of those who were ransomed for God by the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 5:9). It is exactly what Paul meant when he spoke of us being redeemed from the curse of the Law (Gal.3:13); and when he spoke of redeeming those who were under the Law (Gal.4:5). In both cases the word used is exagorazein (GSN1805), which means to buy out from, to pay the price of buying a person or a thing out of the possession of him who holds that person or thing in his power.

This is a very interesting and important correction of the King James Version. It is made in all the newer translations and it means that the well-worn phrases which speak of being “washed in the blood of the Lamb” have little scriptural authority. These phrases convey a staggering picture; and it must come to many with a certain relief to know that what John said was that we are set free from our sins at the cost of the blood, that is, at the cost of the life of Jesus Christ.

There is another very significant thing here. We must carefully note the tenses of the verbs. John says that Jesus loves us and set us free. Loves is the present tense and it means that the love of God in Christ Jesus is something which is continuous. Set us free is the past tense, the Greek aorist, which tells of one act completed in the past and it means that in the one act of the Cross our liberation from sin was achieved. That is to say, what happened on the Cross was one availing act in time which was an expression of the continuous love of God.

(ii) Jesus made us a kingdom, priests to God. That is a quotation of Exo.19:6: “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.” Jesus has done two things for US.

(a) He has given us royalty. Through him we may become the true sons of God; and, if we are sons of the King of kings, we are of lineage than which there can be none more royal.

(b) He made us priests. The point is this. Under the old way, only the priest had the right of access to God. When a Jew entered the Temple, he could pass through the Court of the Gentiles, the Court of the Women, the Court of the Israelites–but there he must stop; into the Court of the Priests he could not go; no nearer the Holy of Holies could he come. In the vision of the great days to come Isaiah said: “You shall be called the priests of the Lord” (Isa.61:6). In that day every one of the people would be a priest and have access to God. That is what John means; because of what Jesus Christ did access to the presence of God is now open to every man. There is a priesthood of all believers. We can come boldly to the throne of grace (Heb.4:16), because for us there is a new and living way into the presence of God (Heb.10:19-22).

⁷ Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.  Even so, Amen.   

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,  the Beginning and the End,” says the  Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”    

Here is a tremendous description of the God in whom we trust and whom we adore.

(i) He is alpha and omega. Alpha (GSN0001) is the first letter and omega (GSN5598) the last of the Greek alphabet; and the phrase alpha (GSN0001) to omega (GSN5598) indicates completeness. The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet is aleph and the last is tau; and the Jews used the same kind of expression. The Rabbis said that Adam transgressed the Law and Abraham kept it from aleph to tau. They said that God had blessed Israel from aleph to tau. This expression indicates that God is absolutely complete: he has in himself what H. B. Swete called “the boundless life which embraces all and transcends all.”

(ii) God is he who is and who was and who is to come. That is to say, he is the Eternal. He was before time began; he is now; and he will be when time ends. He has been the God of all who have trusted in him; he is the God in whom at this present moment we can put our trust; and there can be no event and no time in the future which can separate us from him.

Nor death nor life, nor earth nor hell, nor time’s destroying sway, Can e’er efface us from his heart, or make his love decay.

Each future period that will bless, as it has bless’d the past; He lov’d us from the first of time, He loves us to the last.

(iii) God is the Almighty. The word for Almighty is pantokrator (GSN3841) which describes the one who has dominion over all things.

The suggestive fact is that this word occurs in the New Testament seven times. Once it occurs in 2Cor.6:18, in a quotation from the Old Testament, and all the six other instances are in the Revelation. This word is distinctive of John. Think of the circumstances in which he was writing. The embattled might of Rome had risen up to crush the Christian Church. No empire had ever been able to withstand Rome; what possible chance against Rome had “the panting, huddled flock whose crime was Christ”? Humanly speaking the Christian Church had none; but if men thought that, they had left the most important factor of all out of the reckoning–God the pantokrator (GSN3841), in the grip of whose hand were all things.

It is this word which in the Greek Old Testament describes the Lord of Sabaoth, the Lord of hosts (Am.9:5; Hos.12:5). It is this word which John uses in the tremendous text: “The Lord our God the Almighty reigns” (Rev. 19:6). If men are in the hands of a God like that, nothing can pluck them away. If behind the Christian Church there is a God like that, so long as she the Church is true to her Lord, nothing can destroy her.  (Barclay)

My times are in thy hand: I’ll always trust in thee; And, after death, at thy right hand I shall for ever be.  (Barclay)

CONCLUSION

This is the same statement made at the beginning of our chosen text today.  So, everything in between is bookended with this statement that the Lord God is eternal and stands as ruler even over time.  There is no king or earthly ruler or any other thing in all creation that could possibly rival that claim.  So, we are left to conclude the year with the invitation to once again turn to the one who is turned toward us in Jesus Christ.

We are invited to once again place our trust in the Lord who is faithful to us from beginning to end.  This is our Lord God who is Almighty indeed.

CLOSING SONG

CLOSING PRAYER

Lectionary Notes

He is Coming

Revelation 1:4-8 NRSV

Today marks the last day of the Christian calendar before we start over with Advent. For a while now, we have been journeying through the season known as “Ordinary Time” or simply “The Season after Pentecost.” Today, that season comes to an end with a special day called Reign of Christ Sunday or Christ the King Sunday. Our passage for the day will take up that theme. Our whole journey from Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, to Pentecost and everything in between, arrives at today’s crowning conclusion: Jesus is king.

For our text today, the lectionary does not disappoint in its choice of a passage that unabashedly proclaims the authority and reign of one who is King of kings and Lord of lords. However, we will only be getting our feet wet in today’s text as it serves as part of the introductory remarks to open the book of Revelation. Not only that, but the portion we are assigned is the author’s greetings to the readers that takes the form of a prayer. So, in a way, we are ending the year by barely beginning this theme of Jesus’ kingly rule. But perhaps that sets the tone as we begin Advent and a new cycle of the Christian calendar. We should take today’s passage as a reminder that all our passages going forward, as well as the conclusion of this year should be read in light of the reigning King Jesus. We may only touch on this theme today, but we will have a whole new year to unpack who this king is and what he has done for us in establishing his kingdom. But for today, let’s get started with this regal theme imbedded in John’s address to his readers.

John to the seven churches that are in Asia: (Revelation 1:4a NRSVUE)

We begin with the author identifying himself to those he is writing — the seven selected churches that are in Asia Minor. There is little question about who the author is and who his intended audience is. But what may escape our attention is the context under which this letter was being written. John had been exiled to the island of Patmos. As the disciple who wrote the Gospel of John, he is now a much older and weathered disciple who has been banished to this remote and forgettable rock surrounded by the sea. He is here alone, removed from the usual fellowship of brothers and sisters he once enjoyed. No more singing praises in worship with those who shared his faith, hope, and love. Now, John’s only companions are the cold grey stones of an island carrying out Caesar’s decree of banishment. His only greeting comes as crashing waves and the occasional feathered friend who has ventured off course. It is here that John writes his apocalyptic message to the seven churches in Asia.

If you remember previous messages from Hebrews, which we heard from the book of Hebrews, the confidence we are given in Christ frees our tongue to declare the truth, the reality, regardless of the cost it may bring to us. In this letter, we are seeing a disciple who had done just that. John has not been cast away on Patmos because he was some unruly criminal. His only crime was speaking the truth. Somewhere along the way, those in power of the monstrous beast known as the Roman Empire had grown fearful of John’s message. His message was about some “king of the Jews” that had somehow gathered a following, even though they had this king crucified and put to death. If there is one thing empires of power fear, it is any threat to their power. John and his message of Jesus and his soon coming kingdom was such a threat. Power brokers must always keep control of the running narrative that insures their power. The gospel was certainly a narrative that did not fit the mold. So, John needed to be banished, and he was. But is that not a hidden testimony that the King, whom John spoke of as alive and reigning, is truly alive and reigning?

The very attempt to snuff out the gospel message by banishing John to Patmos became the means of producing this very book that we are reading today. In fact, the book of Revelation is one of the most blatant critiques of the powers of this present evil age, including the many empires that have come and gone, like Rome. John’s use of apocalyptic devices freed his pen to employ the images around him to unleash a barrage of empire crushing insight along with an unapologetic declaration of their demise. It seems like Rome’s attempt to silence and censor John had the opposite result. But we shouldn’t be surprised because John is declaring the Word of God as the one who gets and is the last word. So, if you choose to read further into John’s wonderful book of Revelation, keep in mind the staggering pronouncements that are being made under the nose of Caesar, statements that could cost you your life in the worse way. However, John is not intimidated or deterred. His age is renewed by the Spirit who empowers him. He writes on.

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. (Revelation 1:4b-5a NRSVUE)

John wastes no time in making King Jesus central to his letter. Unlike the “peace” promised by Rome, and insured by its military might, Jesus is the one who brings grace and lasting peace as he is the one who was here far before Rome was even an idea. He is the one in charge even during Rome’s height of power, and he will be here long after Rome settles into the dust of its collapse. On top of that, John writes some fighting words that would send some Roman rulers into fits of rage if they knew what was being written. Specifically, John gives us three descriptions of Jesus that put in question any authority in Rome that would pretend to be his rival.

First, Jesus is “the faithful witness.” With the word “witness” carrying the meaning of “martyr,” we have the double understanding that Jesus is the faithful one who gave his life to reveal the heart of the Father and reconcile us to him. This would be an encouragement to those who were experiencing persecution at the hands of the Romans and to those who were being martyred. Jesus was the “faithful” witness, because all things that he heard of the Father he faithfully communicated to his disciples. And he faithfully taught the way of God in truth.

Second, Jesus is “the firstborn of the dead.” By Jesus’ resurrection, he has become the first who has risen from death, sharing his victory so others can as well. Here again, this can serve as a particular jab at the Roman cross that aimed to kill Jesus. The worst that Rome could throw at Jesus had no lasting effect. Jesus went right through it all the way to the throne.

Third, and this is the most obvious affront to the Roman rulers, Jesus is “the ruler of the kings of the earth.” That’s a serious note for the theme of our day and a serious offense to any kings who see themselves as answering to no one. No matter how unruly, arrogant, and self-serving a ruler may become, they are still accountable to the true King. No ruler escapes this reality.

Now that John has given us some descriptions of who Jesus is, he will now tell us a few things about what he has done.

To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5b-6 NRSVUE)

First, it is noted that Jesus “loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood.” If Jesus is truly the King of kings and Lord of lords, it is certainly good news to know that this king actually loves us and demonstrates that love by giving himself for us. Here is a king very unlike any king we have ever witnessed in our world. Most kings will parade the propaganda that they only do what is in their subjects’ best interest, but history has shown otherwise. The rulers like we saw in the Roman Empire cared only for their own power and advancement, and they will readily throw you off a cliff if you threaten their pursuit of self-exaltation. This doesn’t mean all rulers are evil or commit even close to this kind of abuse. But thank God there is a king who rules over the good and bad rulers alike. And praise God that Jesus is more for us than we are for ourselves. He will pay any price to gain our freedom, even from our self-imprisonment.

Second, he has not only freed us from our fallen state, but he has also elevated us to the status of “priests serving his God and Father.” Jesus is a king who does not mind sharing with us all things. As our Ordinary Time journey in the book of Hebrews made clear, Jesus is our high priest who leads us into worship. Jesus brings us into the throne room to share in worshiping his Father by the Spirit.

Now John will make the proclamation that will be of great encouragement and hope for those who place their trust in King Jesus. At the same time, it will cause a time of wailing for those who do not want to give up their own illusions of power and control.

Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. So it is to be. Amen. (Revelation 1:7 NRSVUE)

This King of kings is coming back. And it will not be a private return, as “every eye will see him,” and John adds, “even those who pierced him.” It seems he wants to be clear that the Empire’s participation in Jesus’ crucifixion will not go unaccounted for. In short, those who have rejected the Lord will wail on account of seeing that Jesus was the true King all along. They will wail for the foolishness of not placing their trust in him. This points to the opportunity to place our trust in him now. John has boldly proclaimed who Jesus is as the true and soon coming King. More importantly, he has told us that this King is not like the kings we dread in our times. He is good and he is for us more than we are for ourselves. But there is no room for us to be king of ourselves and be in the room where Jesus rules. And there is no room where he doesn’t rule. So, as we come to the end of this cycle in the liturgical year, we are reminded that all is well when we put our trust in King Jesus. He is coming, and we will not be disappointed.

Now that the prayer has concluded with an “Amen”, the Lord God makes a proclamation of his own:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. (Revelation 1:8 NRSVUE)

This is the same statement made at the beginning of our chosen text today.  So, everything in between is bookended with this statement that the Lord God is eternal and stands as ruler even over time.  There is no king or earthly ruler or any other thing in all creation that could possibly rival that claim.  So, we are left to conclude the year with the invitation to once again turn to the one who is turned toward us in Jesus Christ.  We are invited to once again place our trust in the Lord who is faithful to us from beginning to end.  This is our Lord God who is Almighty indeed.

Call to action: As we end the liturgical year and face the beginning of another, it’s a good week to spend time in prayer asking God to reveal to us those areas where we lack trust so they can be healed, and to help us trust him as the one and only King of kings and Lord of lords.