Revelation 22:21

As I try to imagine John’s hopes and fears as the Roman Emperor, Domitian, set himself up as god and required all persons to acknowledge him as such.  This must have been a terribly low point for John.

It was good to see that the Jews were not persecuting the church because they were weakened when Rome destroyed their Temple in AD 70. That was twenty years in the past, then the Christians increased in numbers all around the Mediterranean Sea.

All seemed well until the mighty Rome turned against those of its citizens who claimed that Jesus Christ is Lord, not Caesar. The Roman might descended on those who refused to worship the Emperor. John was caught in that fury. That is why he is in exile far from his flock and is why he needed to be assured of the lordship of Jesus Christ.

In my own experience and in that of many of my friends, the times come when doubts threaten. Some of our most heart-felt prayers are not answered as we had hoped. When shimmers of doubt begin to appear in our minds, not to separate us from God but to cause anxiety and even frustration in our spirits, what can we do?

First, what we should not do is concentrate our attention on what is obviously happening around us. We could make a long list of things that frustrate us. I have found that it is not at all helpful to look down as the winds and the waves rage. We need to get back to our first love, our love of Jesus and his love for us. I think that is what we are called to do – as was John in his difficult situation.

We recall the opening sentence of our book, “The revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1:1  The Greek allows two meanings, both of which are probably right. The one I prefer is that Jesus is revealing himself to John. It is a revelation of Jesus and what he is doing. The other is equally relevant, it is that the book contains a message about Jesus’ activity.

In any case, John saw into the heart of God once again, and peace replaced anxiety. I like the closing word, “Amen.”  All is well because he is reassured that the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are in ultimate control and that John and all of us believers are being saved from despair.