Rev 1:9–11 – How do you view Jesus?
Notes
Transcript
1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
What we think of Jesus will determine if we jump into his arms trusting him or not. Revelation shows us that Jesus is completely worthy of our trust
Because of who Jesus is, we must not allow anything to crowd out our first love for God (cf. 2:4). We must love God first so that we can rise to love him forever.
Because of who Jesus is, we can face suffering, imprisonment, testing, and tribulation without fear. Because of the resurrection of Jesus, we can be faithful unto death (cf. 2:10). The resurrection of Jesus guarantees that though we suffer we will not be crushed, though we are tested we will not fail, though we face tribulation we will be preserved, though we die we will rise.
Because of who Jesus is, we do not worship idols and we do not engage in sexual immorality (cf. 2:14, 20). The resurrection of Jesus guarantees that our God will provide for us, so we need no idols, and the resurrection of Jesus provides an intimacy with our Lord Christ, so we have what people seek when they engage in sexual immorality.
Because of who Jesus is, we can be risen from death and made alive (cf. 3:1, 2). The power of his indestructible life has broken the back of death itself.
Because of who Jesus is, he can put before us an open door that no one can shut, keep us through trials that come upon us, and call us to hold fast so that no one seizes our crown (cf. 3:8–11). Jesus has triumphed. Not even death stopped him. So nothing can stop his church.
Because of who Jesus is, lukewarmness is not tolerated. We are offered gold that we might be rich, garments to clothe our nakedness, and anointing for our eyes that we might see (cf. 3:15–18).
Everything that I have just mentioned is empowered by the resurrection of Jesus, and all these things are found in the letters to the seven churches in chapters 2, 3. Jesus describes himself at the beginning of each of the seven letters. He describes his own risen glory. Jesus does not describe himself using things he did before he was crucified. He describes himself as the risen Lord.
Jesus appeared to John in risen glory, and then as he addressed the seven churches he described his own risen majesty. This is very important: the risen Christ commands his churches to obedience.
We need to love God first and not be lukewarm. We need to be faithful unto death and go through the open door of gospel proclamation Jesus sets before us. We need to reject false teaching, refuse idolatry, and flee sexual immorality.
The royal majesty of the risen King fires our hearts with passion, holds us faithful through flame and sword, and compels us to herald the good news of his salvation, for he has freed us from our sins by his blood.
In 1:9–20 the risen Christ appears to John to commission him to write this prophecy of Revelation. John sees Jesus in the full splendor of his majesty. John has been exiled to the island of Patmos because of his testimony to Jesus, and he writes to churches facing tribulation and persecution. The message that Jesus communicates through John is that they are to endure faithfully, and that message is made compelling by the glory of the risen Christ.
The risen Christ in glory calls for obedience from his churches. The incomparable glory of the risen Christ motivates John’s audience to heed what John has been commissioned to write. The matchless splendor of Heaven’s King attracts the attention and compels the obedience of the churches John addresses.
We have not finished chapter 1 of Revelation yet, but so far we have seen that this is a Revelation of Jesus Christ, given to us by the apostle John who received it from an angel, who was sent by Jesus and God the Father. V3 showed us that there is a blessing for those who read, hear, and keep what is written in this book.
Then last time we studied v 4-8 where John gives his greeting which is not a normal greeting, but it is full of Jesus followed by a doxology to Jesus, the warning that Jesus is coming and the confirmation from God the Father that all of this is true and certain. The world laughs and scorns, but God says I am the Alpha and the Omega, this is true and is coming to pass.
Then the second section of chapter 1 is v9 through 20 where John has a vision of the risen Christ. In this passage Jesus reveals his authority, and then on the basis of that authority he will address the seven churches in chapters 2, 3. John will then be invited into Heaven to behold the throne of God and the Lamb in chapters 4, 5. John sees the Lamb take a scroll, sealed with seven seals, and the opening of the seals is followed by the seven trumpet blasts, which are followed by the outpouring of the seven bowls of God’s wrath.
All this is recounted in chapters 6–16. The outpouring of the wrath of God has results for two cities, each of which is depicted as a woman. The harlot Babylon falls in chapters 17–19, and the return of the King in chapter 19 is followed by his setting up his thousand-year kingdom, which is followed by the great white throne judgment in chapter 20. With the harlot Babylon destroyed, the new Jerusalem descends from Heaven as the bride of the Lamb in chapters 21, 22.
But here in chapter 1:9–20, the risen Christ appears in glory to capture the imagination and constrain the obedience of John’s audience, and we are part of that audience. The risen Christ in glory calls for obedience from his churches.
We will study today only v9 – 11 where John tells us his context and the command from Christ to write. Then v 12 through 16 we will see the description of the Risen Jesus, and v17 through 20 Jesus affirms his authority and commands John to write.
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
1. John’s Context v9
In verse 9, John identifies himself with his audience as their “brother.” This reflects the teaching of the New Testament that everyone who is born again is now part of the family of God. Not only does John identify himself as a “brother” to his audience, he also states in the rest of the verse that he is their “partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus.” John is their partner in tribulation because the kingdom of Jesus is one that is entered through the patient endurance of suffering.
• Matthew 24:9: “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.”
• Acts 14:22: “… through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”
• Romans 12:12: “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”
• Rom 8:35 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?”
• 1 Thessalonians 3:2, 3: “We sent Timothy … to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.”
• John 16:33b “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
• 2 Tim 3:12-13 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Unlike the Roman Empire, which promised peace but delivered brutality and fear, the kingdom of God promises tribulation and delivers peace and confidence and eternal salvation to those who patiently endure. Jesus will bring hope and change.
Make no mistake about it: your best life is not now. Your best life will begin when the skies are split by the shout of the archangel. When you patiently endure whatever afflictions you face in your life, you follow in the footsteps of the Old Testament prophets, the Lord Jesus, and his disciples.
John writes in verse 9 that he is on the island of Patmos “on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” This makes it clear that John is not on Patmos because he did something wrong but for the sake of the gospel. John has been proclaiming God’s word and testifying to Jesus, and as a result, he has been exiled to Patmos.
If we are to suffer affliction, we must heed the exhortation of 1 Peter 4:15, 16: “But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.”
John wrote to churches facing persecution and tribulation, and he identifies with them as one who also endured persecution and tribulation. John says “partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus,”
The glory of the Lord Christ kept John through the tribulation he faced. He recounts one of his experiences of that glory for us in these verses.
John writes in 1:10 that he was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” There are four places in Revelation where John records that he was “in the Spirit”—here in 1:10, in 4:2, in 17:3, and in 21:10. Each marks the beginning of a significant movement in John’s visionary experience. Here in 1:10 John is about to see the risen Christ. In 4:2 John sees the heavenly court. In 17:3 John is carried away in the Spirit at the beginning of his vision of the fall of the harlot Babylon, and in 21:10 John is carried away in the Spirit to see the descent of the bride of the Lamb, the new Jerusalem.
The reference to “the Lord’s day” in verse 10 refers to Sunday, which became “the Lord’s day” because on that day Jesus rose from the dead.
John hears a “voice like a trumpet” behind him. The voice tells John in 1:11 to “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
2. Command to write v10,11
The churches appear to be named in the order that they would be visited on a circular route beginning from Patmos and moving around Asia. It seems that these cities were “the natural centers of communication for an itinerant Christian messenger” and that “the seven focal cities … had acquired a special importance as organizational and distributive centers for the church of the area.”7 It is also significant that “All but Thyatira had temples dedicated to the emperors, and all but Philadelphia and Laodicea had imperial priests and altars.”
Before we move to John’s description of Jesus, let me invite you to contemplate the fact that John’s apostolic status did not mean that he would not be persecuted and suffer tribulation (1:9). With John, we are servants of the Most High God, and with John we will suffer affliction—he is our “brother and partner” in these things.
Note also that in verse 11 John states the reason he wrote the book of Revelation: because the risen Christ told him to do so! John is not fashioning some imaginative fantasy about how he wants things to turn out. No, John is obeying the Lord Jesus. Jesus said to write, so John wrote. Revelation exists because Jesus called John to write. The Church exists because Jesus is the Good Shepherd who calls his sheep by name, and they follow him.
Missionaries go to the ends of the earth because Jesus said, “Go … make disciples” (Matthew 28:19). Christians are faithful in marriage because Jesus said, “What … God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6). Christians love one another because Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). People repent of their sins and trust in Jesus because he said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25).
Do you realize that if you refuse to do these things—believe in Jesus, love one another, be faithful to your spouse, make disciples—you are rejecting the word of the risen Christ? He is the one who speaks and it is so. To oppose him is as futile as the universe trying to resist his word when he says, “Let there be light!” The light will shine. Let’s respond to the word of Christ the way the elements did when he summoned them by his word to do his bidding.
The incomparable glory of the risen Christ is meant to motivate John’s audience to pay close attention to what John has been commissioned to write. The matchless splendor of Heaven’s King will attract the attention and compel the obedience of the churches John addresses. The risen Christ in glory summons forth obedience from his churches.
How do you view Jesus? Is your view of Him weak and breakable?
What we believe about Jesus will reflect in how we live
- To some Jesus is not their Lord, but is there only to help when we call
- To others Jesus is a fire insurance, they might have said a prayer so that they would not go to hell, while their lives show no sign of knowing and following Jesus
- Others are cultural Christians, who like the gifts of Christianity and the benefits it brings to culture but don’t want anything with Jesus
- Bible, Revelation gives us a different picture of Jesus, Powerful, Mighty, Glorious, Reigning King who is coming back, who calls on His followers to live radically for Him,
-
How do you view Jesus, is He the Resurrected King, then we must live like it.