Moving to chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation, I find myself fascinated to see what Jesus dictated to be written in the only letters from himself to any churches, which are now found in the Bible. And while some readers of the Bible today hold that prophecy ceased with the completion of what it now contains, I do not hold that view, which I will not elaborate upon here, except to say that I believe the promise of Jesus that ‘the Spirit of truth’ … ‘will show you things to come’ is still valid and operative today. Nonetheless, it cannot be denied there is a special status to these messages which are now in the Bible. It is like coming across old letters in a drawer, penned by someone no longer present (not to deny by this analogy the continuing presence of the Lord, such as he declared, and does declare it).
And knowing that these letters are the only such, it is my suspicion (which can hardly be commended as an approach to Bible study) that they contain a summary of relevant points for all churches of all ages. Not to say they are an exhaustive list of all the Lord would say to us, his Church, today. But that if Jesus were to dictate such letters today, perhaps similar themes might prevail? We can only hope the more positive aspects might be found at this time more strongly represented, though we are not necessarily encouraged in this regard by the writings of Paul (e.g. 2 Timothy 3) or the words of Jesus himself (e.g. Mark 12:12-13). But the Lord gave these writings to John in the knowledge that they alone would be his widely published, written messages from heaven, as the resurrected Christ, to his Church, which would be found in the Bible. He knew we would be reading those letters today, and in that form, those letters alone. In that knowledge I take it that they are letters of relevance not only to the churches to whom they are addressed, but that they are also to us, the churches of today, and intended to be so.
My approach, initially at least, to the letters of Jesus to the churches, will be to ‘stand back’ as it were, and try to get an idea of the general tone and themes of the letters. To ask, ‘what are we dealing with here?’
We are looking at letters from an absent ‘groom’ to his ‘bride to be’. And this is not a perfect analogy. We, Jesus’ Church, are in some ways united with the Lord, and in some ways separate, in that we await his coming. But it is popular among Christians today to understand Jesus’ love for his Church as similar in some ways to the romantic love of a man for his wife, or fiancée, and the Bible itself also presents this picture, not least in the book of Revelation (e.g. Revelation 21:2). It has been a complaint of some Christians today that contemporary Christian music might pass in some cases for popular love songs, if one heard the words and did not know the context. Is this, then, the way that Jesus expresses himself to his bride, in the letters of Revelation? In a word – no.
I think it would normally be considered remiss if a man were to write a letter to his fiancée and not include anywhere in it the words, ‘I love you’. Jesus does not utter this, nor any other words of personal attraction or desire toward his bride, and very little at all which might be termed directly emotional. He mentions, while speaking of another matter, that he ‘has loved’ those of the church of Philadelphia (Revelation 3:9); and in Revelation 3:19 there is the statement, ‘as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten’, which implies Jesus’ love for those of the church of the Laodiceans.
If I may allow myself the liberty of expressing what I sense is the feeling of Jesus’ letters to his bride, holy as they are, I would say this: there is a taughtness about this writing. And I will go on to explain what I mean by that. But it reads to me not as if Jesus is lacking in love for his Church, but rather that his love is so intense that it cannot be properly or sufficiently uttered. It is beyond words. And this is not without tension.
Instead of using words which fall short, and which we might insufficiently or inadequately receive, as pearls before swine, Jesus reminds us of his glorious purity and holiness – again, not with superlatives, but with practical illustrations e.g. ‘he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks’ (Revelation 2:1), or, ‘the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass’ (Revelation 2:18). Each of the seven letters begins with such statements. Jesus then follows these statements in each of his letters with a section around the theme, ‘I know’. So the first part of each letter might be very inadequately summarized as, ‘This is who I am’, says the Lord, ‘and I know you’. Jesus leaves us to join the dots.
If that is who you are, Lord – and if that is what you know about me, and think of – then your feelings blaze unstated with intensity greater than the sun, and with darkness of the storm unthinkable.
So, to say that Jesus’ letters to his Church are understated, is an understatement. ‘Read my lips’, is written in every phrase. But this is more than understatement; this is the declared nature of God. It is the nature professed by Jesus when he said, ‘He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me’ (John 14:21). In other words, words without action are of little account. True to his word, Jesus gives us not words of love in his letters, but words of action. Actions that speak of a love greater than words.
So, to skip much of the ‘middle substance’ of Jesus’ letters (to which I will return soon) and reprise this theme of Jesus’ love and feelings for his bride, these are expressed not only as magma beneath the surface of his statements beginning, ‘I know’, but also at the end of each letter, in his promises.
‘To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.’ (Revelation 2:7.) ‘’He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.’ (Revelation 3:5.) Each of the seven letters ends with promises such as these, and each is wonderful, and unique. Jesus does not only say, ‘I love you’; he says how he will love us. No greater expression is possible.
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