The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Chapter 1)
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Submitted by JStaller on Wed, 2008-09-24 05:29.
Alright. Here we go--the first chapter of Revelation. Highly charged imagery, dense Jewish symbolism, intense cultural and religious pressure, and a rich history of literature collide, producing (in my opinion) the greatest spiritual vision in the Christian experience. If you can enter into this vision, you will see Christ.
The Angel of Jesus (Revelation 1.1c)
And he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
The angel mentioned here is not a just a generic angel, but a very specific and tremendously important angel that has been active in the formation of the Christian religion as we know it today, a messenger of great import. We know, too, that this angel or messenger is one under the active authority of Jesus—this is the angel belonging to Jesus that Jesus has sent to his servant John, as the full verse suggests, and as the Revelator reconfirms at the close of his work:
Revelation 22.16a I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.
This is Jesus Christ’s Revelation, given to him by God, which he showed to his servants would soon happen, which he communicated and revealed to his servant John, through his messenger. This is an important distinction; we today tend to think of angels as shining or glowing figures with wings, or as disembodied, transparent faces suddenly manifested midair with booming voices. But the word angel means, in Hebrew, literally "messenger." There is no linguistic difference between "angel" of God and "messenger" of Saul--the same exact word is used.
Why is this important? Because, while the Revelator describes to us a fantastic angel in flame and smoke, he is not only describing a disembodied heavenly being--that angel represents the messenger of Jesus. As we move forward, just ask yourself--do we know anyone or anything that, in the world today, somehow represents Jesus, that is perpetuating the message of Jesus, that is sharing the gospel even today in the same way that Jesus shared it? Is there anyone telling the world today that they should repent, because the kingdom of God is at hand? Because any person or entity filling that role could be properly called the messenger of Jesus.
Just food for thought, for the time being.
Justin Staller - Moderator
justinstaller@yahoo.com
Search the scriptures--for in them ye think ye have eternal life: They are they which testify of me--and ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. (John 5.39-40)