The Joy of the Revelation of John II

II. A First Look – Visions of Jesus

When one begins to read this book carefully, it becomes evident that with respect to some of the content, you are reading about the same thing from different perspectives, or vantage points if you will. We must realize that this book is not written as something to be understood in linear or chronological fashion. Apocalyptic writers were not primarily concerned with that. We do well also to keep in mind, that these are visions given from God. God is beyond space and time, so what is told is not bound by those limitations. Remembering that, we can ate least begin our study by looking at these visions and group them according to subject.

The first vision is of Jesus. There are numerous references to Jesus in the book but they generally fall into three images. The first is right in chapter 1 verse 12 where he is described as one ‘like a Son of Man.’ Now, this was a title used in the writings of the intertestamental years and earlier to refer to The Messiah, whom all Israel longed for.  Indeed, it was then a title Jesus applied to himself (Matthew 8:20, 98:6 etc.).

The second vision we have of Jesus is of The Lamb (Rev. 5:6, and two dozen more references, ending in 22:3). He is the one who, because of his obedience to death, rewarded by resurrection to a seat at God’s right hand, is the one worthy of opening the seven seals on a scroll God gave an angel to open to reveal what must come hereafter (5:1-7). We can see the Lamb begin to be seen differently than just this meek and mild obedient sacrificial animal though. Beginning in 6:15-16 we read of “the kings of the earth and the magnates and the generals and the rich and powerful” being so afraid that they are “hiding in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,” crying for “the mountains and rocks [to] ‘fall on us and hide us from the face of the… wrath of the Lamb.” The Lamb is moving from the way Christ generally presented himself on earth to show another side of the Son of Man. 

The third vision is then one of Jesus whom I call The Victor. Indeed, the first victorious battle was won with Jesus’ death, wherein Jesus defeated death and the power of evil. However, in common parlance, we could say there was still considerable “mopping up” to do. The first reference to some of this is in 17:12-14, where it states the ten kings there described will unite with “the beast” to make war on the Lamb [but] the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings. The most vivid description of Jesus seen in this light is in 19:1-16, where he appears in heaven, riding a white steed, armed with a sword, “with which to strike down the nations, and… rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, ‘King of kings and Lord of lords.’” 

Now, we can immediately say two things about this. First, whatever else might catch our attention, and too many are distracted by the details, this is a book about Jesus Christ, who is at once the Son of Man, the Lamb and Lord of lords and King of kings. He is the beginning and the end of the book, let alone of all existence, as he says of himself right at the start: “I am the alpha and the omega.” Those are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, in which Revelation is written, and simply mean the beginning and the end, and everything in between. As we say nowadays, “From A to Z.”

Second, there is a wonderful and meaningful progression in these images of our Lord and Saviour. He is first of all The Messiah (Hebrew), the Christ (Greek), the ‘anointed one.’ He is the one Israel, and indeed all mankind, were waiting for. He is the one written about all through the Old Testament from Genesis, the first book, to Malachi, the last. He is the embodiment and fulfilment of the covenant first spoken of with Adam and Eve. He is the one who had come to earth as the Son of Man, fully human, but still fully God, mere decades before Revelation was written, and who had given new life to many. 

This brings us to the second image. Jesus accomplished his initial purposes as The Messiah by dying for us. In some mysterious way, his death erased the consequences of man’s straying from his Maker and God’s purposes for us. He was the ultimate sacrificial Lamb. No more need daily and yearly sacrifices be made for sins, for atonement. No more do we need human and imperfect prophets and priests to mediate between us and God. Jesus is now our fully effective divine mediator prophet and priest. In the ensuing resurrection, he completed the defeat of the forces of evil that had been unleashed by mankind’s self-centred choices. However, as we know, we still live in an era where evil is present and active. As Jesus himself taught, The Kingdom of Heaven is ‘at hand,’ but it is not yet totally here, we are not yet entirely within it. We live in what sometimes is called the age of grace, but in apocalyptic terms can also be called the end times. This is because, in apocalyptic understanding, this entire period of time between Jesus’ ascension to heaven and his promised return, was understood by The Early Church as simply a period of time which must pass before Christ returns. The focus was Christ’s return, not this present age. 

In the third image then, Jesus is seen as making his defeat of Satan, the forces of evil, final. In apocalyptic terms, he defeats Satan and casts him and those who, by their failure to chose Life, into ‘hell’ forever. Here the Messiah, come to earth as a mere human Son of Man, to die as a weak Lamb, becomes The Victor his followers, all those who have put their hope in him, have been waiting for. Here we can see emerging the picture that gives Jesus' suffering followers, those under persecution and restraint, living in hard times, hope; a hope that can lead to joy in the confidence that our Lord is indeed Lord of lords and King of kings and all those persecuting powers' day is doomed.