Author: Kristen Kansiewicz, LMHC

“This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia. Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne; and from Jesus Christ. He is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the ruler of all the kings of the world. All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven.
    And everyone will see him—
    even those who pierced him.
And all the nations of the world
    will mourn for him.
Yes! Amen!

‘I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,’ says the Lord God. ‘I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.'”

There are a lot of Johns in the Bible, and scholars aren’t exactly sure which John authored the book of Revelation. It could be John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, or another John who came later. Most agree that this John was not the disciple John, who wrote the Gospel by that name. It’s okay not to get too hung up on authorship as we continue to focus on finding out what God wants to reveal to us about himself.

Note that there is a clear worship of Jesus as God as this book begins, there is no doubt that the author is ascribing divine status to Jesus. This detail is important because Jesus’ divine nature is unique to Christianity. Other religions may view Jesus as a good teacher or as a prophet, but they do not believe Jesus is God himself. There is a complex and paradoxical way in which the Father, Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit intertwine in the Bible. The relationship between these three persons within God is called the Trinity. You won’t find that word in the Bible, but it’s a theological description of God based on passages like this one. We see God and Jesus interchangeably worshipped.

Let’s be careful here not to jump to conclusions about Jesus riding in on clouds when he returns. Last time he showed up in a manger and only a bunch of shepherds found him there. Everyone else was looking in all the wrong places. Could Jesus show up in the sky on actual clouds? Sure. But if I’m looking at the sky and not actually loving my neighbor, then I really risk missing him completely. Jesus will make himself known, and the world will mourn for him. It sounds like a moment of spiritual awakening. Right now, you have the opportunity to have your spiritual eyes opened by asking Jesus to forgive your sins and lead your life. When you sit with your own sinfulness and Jesus’ death on the cross, mourning is the natural response. Don’t wait for a big show in the sky. See Jesus right here, right now. See what your own sin and our collective sin has done to him. Mourn and repent. That is right where you will find Jesus today.

“This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the events that must soon take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John, who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.”

Okay, let’s face it. 2,000 years was a while ago. Some people have wondered if we are living in the “last days.” I don’t see how we aren’t, since 2,000 years ago THEY thought they were living in the last days. Either the Bible is wrong on that or we misunderstand how God and time go together.

A lot of people have a lot of thoughts about the book of Revelation. It’s known as “apocalyptic” literature and there are plenty of apocalyptic movies that you can lean on to get the genre. End of the world and all that stuff. Jesus said he’s coming back and we’re all waiting for that moment. It strikes me that the passages that we read in Isaiah during the Advent series were written in a time quite like this one. Prophetic messages speaking of a coming Messiah. What’s more striking to me is that the religious leaders of the day missed Jesus entirely. They had the Scriptures memorized and taped to their foreheads and they didn’t recognize him. What does that mean for us today as we read a book like Revelation?

I can’t say that I’m going to offer a whole lot of answers in this Revelation devotional series. Scholars have argued over this for a very long time. What I can say is that I want to approach this series with as blank a slate as I can find and just simply look for God. We see in today’s verses that God’s heart is for us to listen to these words. Some of the direct events they described have already happened in certain earthly ways, yet their ultimate fulfillment is probably beyond our grasp until we reach the other side. For now, let’s just start with an openness to what God wants to teach us about himself. If we look for answers that we want to find, we just might miss him the second time around too.