Cruciformity

At church we’ve been working through Revelation and I had the privelege of preaching on a section on Sunday. I wanted to mention this because I was incredibly rewarded. And it wasn’t one of the purple passages that people often find encouraging and hear preached on. Rather it was chapters 12-14 with a big dragon and a pregnant woman standing on the moon.

The point I wanted to make was that despite how scary Revelation is, with all of the seemingly random symbols, it really rewards a slow and careful read. Make it the next book you read in your quiet time, read it slowly, looking up the cross-references in your bible margins!  You won’t be disappointed.

I’ve got three tips and a book recommendation. If you’re looking for a book on Revelation then I highly recommend Richard Bauckham’s book, The Theology of the Book of Revelation. Anything by Bauckham is worth reading, in my opinion. It’s a thin book, well written, historically informed and compellingly cohering.

Here are 3 tips that I started my sermon with on Sunday night:

1. It’s about Jesus

Don’t be distracted, it’s about Jesus all the way through, with the victory of the cross, the blood of the lamb, forming a central image all the way through. Take it from John’s introduction:

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,  who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Rev 1:1-2)

2. It’s for our blessing.

This book isn’t meant to scare us, or confuse us. It’s not meant to be a cryptic crossword or Sudoku to solve. It’s written for the blessing of the reader. Again, take it from John’s introduction:

Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. (Rev 1:3)

3. It uses Apocalyptic Language.

Apocalyptic Language is picture language used for it’s heightened expression. The images that illustrate this to us best are those 20th Century War Propanda posters. They contain strange symbols that might be hidden in a culture now past and difficult to retrieve. But once those symbols are attained (and I’m convinced that many of them are attainable from the Old Testament) then the message is not only plain, but it’s screamed at you from the pages you’re reading.

If we save ourselves from an overly-literal reading of the text and allow Revelation it’s symbols and exaggerated forms of imagery, then what results is an acutely relevant call for Christians to ‘overcome’ and follow the lamb on the throne wherever he goes!