Wrestling with Revelation 1:1-20

Wrestling with Revelation

Round One: Revelation 1:1-20

“About this book of Revelation, I leave everyone free to hold their own ideas.”

Martin Luther

First Impressions

1. Pray.
2. Read Revelation 1:1-20 twice slowly, using different translations and noting significant variations.
3. Initial questions:

·         To whom is this letter written?

·         In a word or phrase, how would you characterize the tone or mood of this passage?

·         As the passage was read, which phrase(s) or verse(s) caused you to pause or stop as the passage was read? Paraphrase this phrase or verse. 

Dwelling in the Text

1. Why do you think you paused or stopped where you did?
2. What parts of this “unveiling” (the Greek word translated “revelation” in 1:1 means “unveiling”) are the clearest or make the most sense to you? Explain.
3. What parts of this “unveiling” are less clear or make the least sense to you? Explain.

The Text in Context

1. Wrestling with Revelation 1:1-3:

·         John writes that something “must soon take place” (1:1) and that “the time is near” (1:3). What “time” does John have in mind—the time when the world will end? the time when the Roman Empire and its persecution of Christians will end? some other time? Does John tell us in this passage?

·         Read Mark 13:32-33 and put it in conversation with Revelation 1:3.

·         Biblical scholars differ on what is in view in Revelation 1:3. James Efird writes, “What [John] is describing symbolically is a new age for God’s people with the persecution removed.”[1] Eugene Boring thinks John did have in view the end of the world and was simply wrong: “The error should not continue…. A reverent agnosticism concerning ‘times and seasons’ is the more abiding biblical view (Mark 13:32; Acts 1:6-11).”[2] Which of these readings do you find more compelling? Why?

2. Wrestling with Revelation 1:4 (see also 22:21):

·         Read Galatians 1:1-2 and 6:18, putting them in conversation with Revelation 1:4 and 22:21.

·         John indicates that what he is writing is a letter “to the seven churches that are in Asia” (1:4). Why might it be important to keep this fact in mind as we read Revelation?

·         “The significance of this is that, as with all epistles, there is an occasional…aspect to Revelation. It was occasioned at least in part by the needs of the specific churches to which it is addressed.”[3] If our specific situation differs from that of the seven churches to whom John writes, then will all of Revelation remain relevant to us? Explain.

3. Wrestling with Revelation 1:5-7, 12-18:

·         “There is one sufficient reason for me not to think highly of [Revelation]—Christ is not taught or known in it…. I stick to the books which give me Christ clearly and purely.”[4] These are the words of Martin Luther. Do you think Luther’s assessment is accurate? What can be learned about Christ in Revelation 1:5-7, 12-18?

·         Read John 11:20-27 and put it in conversation with Revelation 1:5-7, 12-18.

---

[1] James Efird, How to Interpret the Bible (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1984), 88.

[2] M. Eugene Boring, Revelation (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1989), 73.

[3] Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003), 253.

[4] Harry O. Maier, Apocalypse Recalled: The Book of Revelation after Christendom (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002), 1.