Faithful on Fridays Blog

Any good study includes a bit of historical background to help set the stage for the entire subject; let’s begin there.

What was happening in the world (lower story), the Roman Empire, causing God to give His servant John a series of visions to reveal His Plan for the end of time (upper story)? First of all, we know that after Jesus ascended back into heaven (some twenty years later) a vicious, even crazed emperor named Nero rose to power who ruled by raw fear. His own fears and suspicions drove him to execute his mother and wife without any proof of guilt and that same mindset became focused against Christians, a small community of people who were very different from his Roman world. He couldn’t understand their customs and traditions and felt threatened by their worship of one God and King: the promised Jewish Messiah. 

That was unacceptable to Nero since he insisted to be worshipped alone; his recourse was the fear of terrorizing punishment for those who wouldn’t obey his laws. He rid the empire of Peter and Paul’s voice declaring the gospel by execution and eventually had eleven of the original Twelve eliminated by various means of torture and death. Those deterrents, he hoped, would provide the fear necessary to silence any other voices. 

If that wasn’t enough another emperor arose named Domitian who took emperor-worship even further. Increasing persecution to unbelievable levels the environment for Christians became hopeless; that’s where the Apostle John enters the drama.

You remember John, brother of James, who were the ‘sons of thunder’? Jesus rightly named them knowing their voices would thunder across the Roman Empire. Herod had James executed early for his thunderous voice and yet John was protected and ended up being the last living apostle of the original Twelve. Even though Nero tried to have him martyred by boiling him in oil (historians record) John wouldn’t die. God had other plans for him and that drove Nero even more crazy. 

John was the disciple ‘who Jesus loved’ and was entrusted with His mother but also had witnessed the Transfiguration when Jesus was supernaturally changed right in front of the Elite Three: Peter, James, and John. That supercharged experience was only a foretaste of what God had planned for this apostle when he spent about 18 months as an exile on the Isle of Patmos. That’s where this mystifying and yet literal drama begins. 

Many commentators have written about the Book of Revelation over the centuries agreeing on little but there’s always harmony regarding one truth: Jesus Christ is the Victor! When those believers of the first century read John’s letter as he described his Spirit experience they found hope in the midst of their hopelessness. The theme that runs through this book is that even when we can’t see Him … He’s there. Victory is coming and His dominion will again rule; we will eventually be back in the Garden where we first began. That’s a promise.