The revelation from 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. Blessed is the one who reads aloud 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.

Revelation 1:1-3

Revelation follows very closely the typical format of a first century Hellenistic letter, as so many other New Testament letters do. Accordingly, it begins with a prologue that covers 1:1-20; it is introduced in verses1-3 above. Verse 1 is critical because it gives us our first insight into the subject of the book, and in doing so; it also brings our first controversy.

A literal translation of the first three words would be: “Revelation Jesus Christ”. Obviously, that doesn’t really work in English which requires an article and preposition. Most every English translation uses the definite article “The” to begin the sentence, but the choice of preposition is more of a challenge. Normally, context would determine which to use, but in the first three words of the document, there hasn’t been an obvious context established, in fact this sentence is the beginning of establishing that very context, with the result being that we must determine context backwards; a touchy business. The “new” NIV and some other more recent translations, uses the word “from”. The KJV, NASB and “old” NIV, along with most older translations, used the word “of”.   Can you see why this might have some ramifications down the line?

What exactly is it that is being revealed here: Jesus Christ or what will soon come to pass… or both?

As we continue through our study, I think you will come to agree with me that revealing Jesus Christ also reveals what will come to pass because in so many respects, they cannot be separated. Next, we see the methodology in play; God gave a message to Jesus, who gave it to an angel to deliver to John, and John in turn is writing it down for us. John testifies to the accuracy of the message he has received, which is the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. This is an interesting little twist, because on the one hand there is an angel bearing a message, and on the other, when we get into the actual vision, Jesus speaks directly to John. As you will also see, this happens more than once in the book.

As for “what must soon take place” I would remind you once again that the time perspective is 90 something AD, not necessarily 2015; please keep that in mind as we go, it will save you a great deal of confusion.

This brings us to verse 3: Blessed is the one who reads this prophecy (Revelation) aloud to the church; remember that it was sent to the seven churches in Asia, and blessed are those who hear it and take it to heart. Here is an example that shows us why keeping the time reference is so important to our understanding. If this book was written for our time, as many suggest that it was, then what would be the blessing for people almost 2,000 years who have nothing to do with what is being written? Well, maybe they would be blessed by the few verses about their own church, and maybe it would be a blessing to know that thousands of years later Jesus would finally come back…

Doesn’t it sound like quite a bit more is involved for the original readers and hearers that that? I think this is particularly the case when you drop in the remainder of the sentence: because the time is near. This is not the place to chime in and say that time is irrelevant to God… because God was not the one hearing the words of the prophecy.

OK, there is the introduction to think about. There will be a Bonus Post later today, and tomorrow morning we will move on to 1:4 ff. See you then!