Revelation 1:5

“Jesus Christ…the ruler of the kings of the earth.”

When things around us confuse us, what shall we do?  I think of John, the Apostle who was responsible for the seven churches in central Turkey.  What did he do? He turned to Jesus, again.

The churches were growing nicely for quite a few years, in comparative freedom, then in the early 90’s Emperor Domitian required everyone in the Empire to worship him – as God almighty.

Obviously the followers of Jesus Christ could not do that. In fact a common greeting among them at that time was “Jesus is Lord.”  The followers of the Lamb refused to have two “kings,” thus bringing down upon their heads the wrath of the mighty Roman Empire. Rome considered the believers in Jesus to be enemies of the Emperor. We have no detailed account of how Rome went about purging the churches.  We know that they suffered and we know that their shepherd, the Apostle John, was removed from Turkey and was banished on to the island of Patmos that was noted for its booming business of quarrying rocks.

This turn of events surely caused John to ask, “Is Caesar superior to Jesus?” Obviously John did not even entertain such a thought. He wrote, Jesus is “the ruler of the kings of the earth.” v 5  Nothing can change that! No matter how things look just now. Jesus is superior to Caesar.

John reflects further on who Jesus is, “To him who loves us.”  The bond is divine love. “Who freed us from our sins by his blood.”  Only almighty power can do that. “Who made us kings and priests to serve God and Father.”  We are made kings!  So who is this Emperor?  He is simply a man.  Jesus Christ is Lord.

John concluded, “To him be glory and power forever and ever.  Amen.” v 6

The Roman Emperor, in the sight of God, is of less significance than the lowliest of the followers of the Lamb.