Bible Gem 2192 – That’s An Interesting Construction John (Revelation 1:4-6)

Yes, the Gems on Revelation are back. Finally I am at a place where I can continue the process of writing the Bible Gems on Revelation having recovered from a stroke with minimal damage and a detached retina a couple of weeks later. I have been chewing on this passage now for a while. A few things struck me while meditating. I noticed something interesting about the construction and then have been busting to tell you about it over the last weeks. I have laid it out above in a way to show you the connections. Did you notice the three occurences of <from>?

From the One who is, who always was, and who is still to come [God]

From the seven fold Spirit before His throne [Spirit]

From Jesus Christ . . . at which point John comes up with three relative clauses describing [Jesus].

• the faithful witness
• the first to rise from the dead
• the ruler of all the kings of the world

Notice too that it is all connected to a doxology.

All glory to to Him who loves us, freed us and made us a Kingdom of priests to and for God, the Father. The first Glory to Him is followed up by a repeat of “all glory and power to Him”. To whom does this pronoun refer? We might think it refers to God the Father. But that is not John’s purpose. He has skilfully constructed this in such a way as to make his point clear. Firstly, notice two things he has done here. Normally we have the construction “He who was and who is and who is to come“. But what we actually have here is: <is>, <was> and <is to come>.

Secondly, notice that he has sandwiched the Holy Spirit between God and Jesus. [God <Holy Spirit> Jesus]. That too is interesting because we expect God, Jesus and Holy Spirit in that order. In this case he leaves Jesus until last, a very Greek / Hebrew thing to do in order to place the emphasis on the last mentioned. Notice also John has changed the tense of the verb to “loves” rather than “loved”. The commentators have wasted a lot of ink on this feature. Some have complained that it is grammatically and syntactically incorrect. That is, the present tense followed by the past tense seems odd. Some early scribes were disturbed by this feature and even dared to change the tense to past in accord “with loved and freed us”. I believe John was highlighting the nature and degree to which Christ loves us on-goingly.

John’s use of “glory to him” in both Revelation 1:5 and 6 directs our attention pointedly to Jesus. Which is typical of John in his Gospel. Why would he not do the same in Revelation when the focus is clearly on Jesus. The other feature of John’s writing which holds my attention is something I have drawn your attention to in Gem 2190. Because so much time has passed between this Gem and 2190, I would suggest you go back and re-read Gem 2190 again. In that Gem I drew your attention to the fact that John has a multiplicity of references to Christ throughout the book. I find it fascinating that he repeats many of them again in Chapters Two and Three, his letter to the seven churches which will be our next focus. Be sure to pay attention to how John repeats many of the same descriptive elements of Christ in Chapters Two and Three. I have a hunch there is more to this than meets the eye.

There is one more feature I want to comment on before I close this resurrected Gem of the Revelation series. The three relative clauses which describe Jesus Christ in verse 1:5 are highly significant. Yes He is the One who is the faithful witness, the first to rise from the dead and the ruler of all the kings of the world. So how are those three descriptions of significance to the churches of Revelation and even more so to us in this day and age? Think of the circumstances those in the First Century found themselves in and then reflect on the significance to us in these days. I am thinking not only of the connections found in Revelation but also the connections to Hebrews which I gemmed before this series. The writer of Hebrews makes much of the significance of witnesses as I have developed already. Hebrews 11 and the list of witnesses coupled with the cloud of witnesses mentioned at the beginning of Hebrews 12 come to mind. Consider how John begins Revelation with comment about himself as a witness and expands the significance of Christ as the ultimate faithful witness. If Jesus, the ultimate witness is the One who led John around and pointed out what he should see, take note of and remember, then John’s witness too is rock solid.

By extension, if Jesus was the first to rise from the dead then ponder the significance for the faithful in the first century and those still alive when He returns. Allow me to pluck a classic quote from John’s Gospel.

Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”

John 11:25-26

Just ponder on the significance of that to people who risked death at the hands of the Romans for daring to claim Jesus as LORD when Roman emperors demanded to be worshipped as a god. While the emperor / king demanded such allegiance by the threat of death, John reminds the believers that Jesus is the ruler of all the kings of the world. Do you see how significant this is in the context in which these followers of Christ found themselves? If you don’t yet, you soon will when we begin to look at the seven churches to whom this letter was written.

In the next Gem I will spend time looking at the other references to Christ found in Chapter 1, many of which John repeats in the specific preamble address to each church. After that we will begin an in-depth-look at the seven churches, the recipients of this letter.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge cloud of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race of life . . . fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Hebrews 12:1-2

Don’t be concerned for this momentary life here on earth; fix your eyes on the Life of the Age to Come: Life as God originally intended it.

Ian

Take your cue from John. Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the first to rise from the dead, the ruler of all the kings of the world. If you are “in Christ” you are headed for Eternal Life no matter what this world may throw at you.

Ian

If Jesus said it, that settles it.

Ian