Comments on the book of Revelation, chapter one.
Maori have a form of introduction called mihimihi in which a speaker shares details of their lands, people, and genealogy or whakapapa, and sometimes a saying giving some perspective or philosophy of themselves and/or their tribe. In my own culture, New Zealand European, I do not see the same emphasis on this custom. Posts or essays I myself have written often contain little or no information about me, the writer. I prefer to let the message speak for itself. But it seems to me that Maori consider the speaker to be the first point of reference to assess the legitimacy of the message, and this same perspective is found in Revelation, in the first chapter.
Chapter one of Revelation gives the origin, context and linkages of the message. It is also a statement of faith, perhaps more eloquent expressed in this way as an introduction to, and the beginnings of a story, a true story to those of us who believe. By the time you have read chapter one, you know what type of beliefs underlie the message, from what position of faith it comes, what world view, and most importantly, from whom it comes – none other than the Lord himself, Jesus Christ.
Chapter one also gives the ‘whakapapa’ of the Lord – and what a whakapapa it is!
‘Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.’ Revelation 1:5-6.
‘I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.’ Revelation 1:8.
Unlike the whakapapa of mortal men, the Lord is himself the origin of all lineages, past, present and future. Mixed with this greatest of all whakapapa are statements of glorious acts which demonstrate the person and nature of the Lord, much as a great king, knight or general might be introduced as the commander of a great campaign or winner of a great battle – but how much greater are the battles and the victories of Jesus Christ! And how could such a whakapapa be recounted without very worship of the one so announced and proclaimed, who alone is worthy of it, as for example in verse 6, so great is his name, and all that he is, if even the smallest part can be expressed in mere words.
For also in chapter one is an exposition of the name of the Lord, not only a label as we commonly think of a name, but a name in what I understand as the Biblical sense – a title, a description, a whakapapa, a heritage, a nature. All that he is, of whom he is, and that is his, and that he does, and that he means.
Chapter one also gives something of a mihimihi of John the writer and story teller, given in the same style – woven into the story, and a statement of conviction, of faith, with reference also to the deeds and conduct of John, and his devotion and servanthood to the Lord. The relationships of John and of the Lord to the Church are also mentioned, again, in the course of the narrative rather than addressed directly. So the whole setting of the message is established, and importantly, the divine authority of the message.
Glimpses from the revelation to follow are found throughout chapter one, luring us with promise. From verses 9-10 it begins to slide more wholly into the story, then, as part of the story are further descriptions, revelations of the Lord himself. These are awe inspiring and remove any doubt as to the wondrous, true divinity of the Author, the Lord Jesus Christ. Even the angels are stars in his hand (verse 20).
So in Revelation neither John nor the Lord himself are concerned with merely implying the identity of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, which was almost entirely the way Jesus presented himself in his earthly ministry, almost never stating his true nature and identity directly, but allowing for the work of the Father and of the Holy Spirit to establish faith in those who believed and were chosen. Now the declaration is front and centre, leaving no room for uncertainty. This in itself establishes the authenticity of the message to those who believe, as Paul wrote, ‘no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost’ (1 Corinthians 12:3) and in John’s earlier writings, ‘Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God’. Those who would doubt the message of Revelation then have this to contend with: the signature of the Holy Spirit is in chapter one.
As one interested in writing, I marvel at the style of chapter one as a ‘genre bender’. It is story, history, prophecy, mihimihi, whakapapa, worship, and creed, and all of these woven together. In my next post on Revelation I will reflect on some of the statements of chapter one and what they mean to me.
Amen.
wilderness99 