The Revelation of Jesus Christ

Session 1: Revelation 1

Cheat Sheet:

The Island of Patmos was a small, rocky island, in the Aegean Sea of the coast of Greece. All

up, Patmos had a land area about half that of Christchurch. While he probably wasn’t kept locked

up there, John’s language indicates that he had been forcibly exiled and sent to live on Patmos

because of his persistent preaching of the gospel throughout the Roman Empire.

“Someone like a son of man” is a term that can be found in some other ancient texts, often

referring to a heavenly, yet also human, figure. Take a look at Daniel 7:13-14 as one example of

this. Christian readers can see how John is building a powerful Christology (theology about Jesus)

that is strongly rooted in the Old Testament, when he uses such language.

“The keys of Death and Hades” is a phrase that implies that Jesus Christ has control (as the

keyholder) over the eternal destiny of all people. Hades was a common term for the place people’s

souls went after death. (And it was not understood positively.) Yet, because Jesus has the keys,

he can unlock individuals from these prisons and release them into eternal life.

Read Revelation 1

To begin this series, we are going to do our best to “locate” John, the author of the book of

Revelation. By this, we are aiming to understand as much as possible about his style of writing

(genre), his intentions in writing (pastoral concern), and also the world into which he was writing

(context).

The value for us in locating John is that we are then better equipped to read Revelation well, and

to hear God speaking to us through the text, without us getting distracted by some of the poorer

interpretations of this book that have been offered over the years.

What has your experience of the book of Revelation been? What interpretations have you

heard?

Beginning with the genre of the book of Revelation, we immediately run into a puzzle. New

Testament scholars note that Revelation doesn’t just have one genre. Rather, it has three. The

book of Revelation is, simultaneously, a letter, a prophecy, and an apocalypse.

How would you know you were reading a letter? What are some of the key markers of this

particular style of writing?

How would you know you were reading a prophecy? What are prophecies and prophets

for?

If you’re feeling a little uncertain about what an apocalypse is, don’t worry! Apocalyptic literature is

a strange and unfamiliar world to many of us. For a helpful introduction, watch the following video

as a group:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNDX4tUdj1Y

What did you learn from this video that was new or interesting to you?

Secondly, it is important that we think about John’s pastoral concern in writing the book of

Revelation. While much of what John received was in the form of a vision, and as such seems

fairly passive, it is equally important to recognise that he had a heart and a ministry for the

churches he was writing to. John wrote this vision down and posted it across the ancient world

because he cared about the believers in these churches and believed that the words of Revelation

would be of help to them. (And because he wanted to be obedient to the command he was given

in 1:11!).

As we will learn in the coming weeks, each of the seven churches had their own pastoral issues to

contend with. Yet, they were all struggling with the same greater problem. This was the problem of

how to remain faithfully Christian in a world that opposed followers of Jesus with constant pressure

and sometimes violence.

How might the book of Revelation have been a help to these small, persecuted churches?

This gives us some idea as to the context into which John was writing. It was a world in which it

was a hard, even life-threatening task following Jesus. These were not grand megachurches with

large buildings and budgets, but rather small fellowships of believers meeting together in humble

circumstances. In this context, John’s letter is framed by a deep love for Christians in difficult

situations: John writes not just as a prophet, but also as a pastor.

How would you respond if God gave you a vision to share with a particular church?

How much time do you spend praying for churches, whether they be your own church, or

those around the world in different situations?

Close the study this week by praying together for churches, as you feel led.

Optional Extra Resources:

• “Vision of Jesus” by the Lesser Light Collective. A sung presentation of Revelation 1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgW36ncvskQ

• “The Angel over Patmos” by Tania Runyan. A poem exploring John’s experience on Patmos.

Such a burden of beasts

and rainbows, sulphur and emeralds

leaking from his knapsack

as John hunches in a cave down there,

picking at a skeleton of fish.

The body resists exile.

Even the smallest burrowing mite

is enough to make John claw his skin,

saltwater stiffening his hair

like the driftwood he tries to burn.

Any sort of trance is impossible

to achieve when shifting on rocks,

the fabric of your robe sticking

in your crack. But with time,

the Spirit will come.

The angel doodles dragons

in the air. He circles like a plane on hold

and waits for the one twilight

John will sigh, lift his chapped hands,

and receive his words like wounds