Sunday School Notes: Revelation 1:2-3

² who [i.e., John] bore witness to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ–as much as he saw. ³ Blessed [is] the one reading and those both hearing the words of prophecy and keeping the things written in it, for the time is near.

Last week I presented an overview of the first three verses of chapter 1, which I consider to be a kind of preface to the book. We also noted how verse one seems to present a pattern of transmission that is echoed in John’s Gospel: God the Father reveals to the Son, the Son reveals to John, and John bears witness to the church. In John’s Gospel, Jesus does what he sees the Father doing, and if you’ve seen Jesus, you’ve seen the Father. The verb for “bore witness” is martureô in the Greek, from which we get the word “martyr.” When we think of martyrs, we often think of people who lay down their life for what they believe. This meaning certainly has relevance for John’s time, but the emphasis of the word is not so much on dying for the faith, but on being a witness. We’ll see this word, in both verb and noun forms, frequently in Revelation. Indeed, it’s in verse 2 twice, with John bearing witness to the word of God and the testimony (Greek: marturia) of Christ.

Much of our discussion this week centered around points raised by verse 3. First, we noted that this is the first of seven “makarisms,” or beatitudes. The term “makarism” is from the Greek word makarios, which we translate “blessed” or “happy.” It’s the word Jesus used in each of the beatitudes in Matthew 5. The fact that there are seven of these in Revelation shouldn’t surprise us. We shall see that the number seven plays a significant role in this book, and for good reason. Seven was considered the number of completion, totality, finality, and even perfection. This isn’t based on some pagan idea, but on the fact that in Genesis 2, God rested from His work of creation on the seventh day. The totality of all of God’s creative activity was accomplished in seven days, hence the number seven came to symbolize fullness, or completion.

John says that the “one who reads and those who hear” are blessed. It’s interesting that there is one reader, but multiple listeners. Some translations render this “Blessed is the one who reads aloud…” The word “aloud” isn’t in the Greek, but I think those translators are attempting to reflect the situation behind the blessing. During this time, whenever letters were sent to churches, since they had no means of making fast copies of the letter, someone would have stood in front of the church and read it aloud to everyone. It makes sense, therefore, that John would pronounce blessings on the one person reading the letter, and the multiple people listening to it as it is read to them.

Someone raised the question of literacy in the first century, and whether it’s possible the letter was read because most people couldn’t read. I question whether that was the case, largely because we have manuscript evidence that the Jewish and Christian communities of this period were reasonably literate. Among the manuscript discoveries dating from this time, we have shopping lists and receipts. The titulus above Jesus’ head on the cross was in three languages to be sure all the people could read the accusation against him. So it’s very possible that anyone in the Asian congregations that received this book could have read what it said. But for practical purposes, one person would have read it aloud so they could all hear what John had to say at the same time.

We also noted that John refers to “the words of prophecy,” meaning what he has written. We talked a few weeks ago about what kind of literature Revelation is, and said that it was a mix of apocalyptic, letter, and prophecy. As we shall see in verse 4, this book is set within a letter to churches in Asia Minor, and it contains revelations given in the form of apocalyptic visions. To understand where “prophecy” comes in, and how that’s different from “apocalypse,” we need to determine what “prophecy” is. A basic definition is that it is not so much fore-telling (i.e., telling what’s going to happen in the future, which is how we usually think of prophecy), but forth-telling–speaking the mind of God. That can, and often does, involve proclaiming what God intends to do in the future, but its primary purpose is to communicate the thoughts and intentions of God to men. If you look at the Old Testament prophets, this is what they do. Their speeches are full of warning, and upbraiding people for their lack of obedience, or their willful neglect of God’s Law and His ways. This points to an important element of prophecy that separates it from the apocalyptic vision: moral obligation. John’s visions may well have shown in pictorial symbols what is going to happen in the future, but they don’t convey any sense of moral requirement. But that undertone exists throughout, hinted here in verse 3, spelled out in the letters to the churches in chapters 2 and 3, and scattered throughout, as we shall see as we study.

The blessing is upon those who not only hear the words, but keep them. This echoes Jesus’ words in Luke 11:28, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep [it].” We also looked at John 12:47-48, and saw a parallel there too. The words of Christ were not meant to be heard and ignored; they were supposed to incite action. In John 12, Jesus says those who don’t do what he says won’t be judged at that time because he came to save, not judge. But those words will judge them, just as they are already judged because of their disobedience (John 3:17-18). However, I think we’ll see that at Jesus’ second coming, there will be judgment upon the ungodly and the disobedient.

Verse 3 ends with the tantalizing words, “for the time is short” or “the time is near” (Greek: ho gar kairos engus). How near is “near”? How short is “short”? I don’t expect us to answer that question in this verse. Maybe by the time we get to Revelation 22, we’ll have a better understanding. But what we mustn’t lose sight of is the urgency behind these words. Not only should John’s hearers take action, but they should do so now; we don’t have time to wait around. Notice that the verbs “hearing” and “keeping” are present tense, not future tense. Hearing the word and keeping it are things that should occupy our attention now, because the time is close at hand.

This phrase is somewhat like Jesus’ first proclamation in Mark’s Gospel, “the Kingdom of God has drawn near” (Mark 1:15). When Jesus came, he inaugurated the Kingdom of God–not only was it something to look forward to, but it was also a present reality in Christ. So I think there is a sense of immediacy to John’s warning that certainly applies to his audience at that time. But it also applies to us now: are we making our calling and election sure? Are we not just reading God’s word, but are we doing it, too?

In Matthew 23:37ff, Jesus predicts the fall of Jerusalem, and he does so not to scare people, or to show off his ability to predict the future, but to proclaim the judgment of God to the religious leaders, and to warn his disciples to be ready. Notice that he gives the parables of the Ten Virgins and the Talents in the same speech. Jesus didn’t warn them as if Jerusalem’s fall could be avoided; it was going to happen no matter what. I get the same sense with the things we’ll see later in Revelation. These are not things that can be avoided if we get our act together. They are things that are going to happen, no matter what. The question for us is, are we ready? Have we been good students of the Word, and good practitioners of the Word, such that when the final judgment falls, we are found in Him?

We’ll pick up with verse 4 next time.