Scripture reading: John 20:19-31.

Sermon text: Revelation 1.

The next time you think you’ve had a bad day, remember the events of Revelation, chapter 1.

St. John the Apostle had already lived a full life. St. John had witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus, complete with the agony and uncertainty that sent most of the disciples into hiding. However, St. John had also experienced the joy and elation of Easter as he witnessed the risen Lord’s appearance to the disciples. St. John had heard of Jerusalem’s destruction in A.D. 70 by the Romans and, with the rest of the Jewish nation abroad, knew the sorrow of a defeated nation.

Now, in Domitian’s reign, St. John experienced a new wave a persecution that brought memories of the Jewish persecution of the Church following Pentecost. The Roman Senate had traditionally voted each Roman emperor the title “divus,” or “divine,” but Domitian took the title to heart. As a “divine” emperor, Domitian considered himself a god and acted accordingly. Unfortunately for Christians, any emperor who considered himself divine couldn’t tolerate a Man who had proven His divinity with His resurrection. As the persecution spread through the Empire, St. John — as one of the most prominent leaders of the Church — was arrested and exiled to the Isle of Patmos, off the coast of Asia Minor.

In spite of his exile, St. John wrote that he “was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day” (v. 10). Regardless of his condition, St. John could still worship his Lord. Nothing in his life could separate St. John from the Lord who had called him and loved him.

This Sunday — this day of worship — St. John would experience another history-changing event. Who thought worship on a tiny, insignificant island would lead to another book in the canon of Scripture?

As he worshiped, St. John heard “a loud voice like a trumpet saying, ‘Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea’” (vv. 10-11). When he turned to see who had spoken, St. John saw Someone he hadn’t seen since before Pentecost in A.D. 33. St. John saw Jesus, “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead.”

This wasn’t Jesus as St. John remembered Him.

In His life on earth before the Ascension, Jesus had lived as a normal, everyday Jew. Contrary to many paintings and pictures we’ve seen in churches and museums, Jesus would have resembled a Jew rather than the Europeanized version with which many of us are so familiar. Jesus most likely possessed the darkened skin, dark hair, and eyes of a typical Mediterranean Jew of the first-century B.C.

Reread St. John’s description of Jesus. In this instance, Jesus appeared as “clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength” (vv. 13-15). St. John saw Jesus not as an ordinary Jew; he saw Jesus as the only-begotten Son of God. St. John saw Jesus as He appears in heaven and will appear in eternity.

We know that St. John saw Jesus and not an angel. On Wednesday night, we examined Daniel’s vision of an angel who appeared to him in a vision on the Tigris River (Daniel 10:5-6). Although the 2 individuals possessed similar traits, Jesus identified Himself to St. John: “I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (vv. 17-18). Any similarity between the angel who appeared to Daniel and to Jesus in His appearance to St. John ends with that identification. Scripture records no angel as having died, much less having risen from the dead.

At this point, most of us would have hoped Jesus would address our problems. No one would doubt St. John needed help; he needed reassurance that his exile wouldn’t end in an execution. He release from his exile, and he needed to return to Ephesus to continue his work in the churches there. If Jesus appeared to most of us, we would hope He would reassure us in some way.

Instead, Jesus had other messages for St. John. “Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this” (v. 19). Jesus needed to send a message to the churches He had mentioned in verse 11, and He had chosen St. John to pen the message. Jesus mentioned nothing about execution, exile, or anything else that may have ranked highly on St. John’s list. Jesus cared deeply about His friend and disciple, but as God, He also had a greater perspective of John’s troubles.

We can also surmise that St. John probably forgot about his troubles for the time being. “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead” (v. 17). Although St. John had spent years living with Jesus during Jesus’ ministry, he didn’t expect this when he started his worship time! As often happens in Scripture when a heavenly visitor appears to someone, St. John felt mortal panic. Jesus comforted him: “Fear not.” At this point, I believe St. John definitely realized that, in spite of his trials, Jesus would care for him.

During the Easter season, this passage reminds us of several points in our lives.

First, we must remember that the Resurrection has changed everything in reality. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea lay a dead, broken and mangled body in the tomb, but Jesus rose from the dead. We celebrate Jesus’ resurrection because it reminds us that God cares about His creation. If God can conquer death through Jesus’ resurrection, He can also handle our problems today as well.

We should also realize that, although God cares about our problems, He also keeps our “problems” in an perspective. St. John definitely faced serious problems on Patmos, but when he saw Jesus, he realized God had a plan in place. When we focus more on our Jesus, we find our problems appear in a different — an eternal — perspective.

We need to remember something else as well. We need to revisit verses 4-6 for a moment.

“Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

St. John reminds us, as he reminded his first readers, that we have received “grace and peace” from God, our heavenly Father. We were once at war with God through our rebellion against God; now, we live at peace with the Creator we once rejected. We were once slaves to sin; now, we are “freed” from sin “by His blood.” 

St. John also reminds us that Jesus Christ even now reigns as “ruler of kings on earth.” On Wednesday night, we discussed the spiritual warfare that rages among the nations of the earth. Today, we see how Jesus reigns over all Creation, including the rebellious spirits behind the nations.

God has also lifted us from rebellion to make us a “kingdom” and “priests” to Almighty God. This brings us to the last point in the sermon today.

Notice how that, even in times of persecution, Jesus cared about cities in the Roman Empire. Although the Empire persecuted the Church, Jesus still had a message to send to the churches in Asia Minor.

Today, it seems many in the Church focus too much on the problems we face in society. If we spend our time obsessing about the problems, we lose focus of the victory we already possess as the Church militant, the Body of Christ on earth. We have a calling to carry the gospel of Christ to our communities, to our cities, and to our world.

Even in times of persecution, the Church proclaimed victory of the Resurrection to the Roman Empire. Today, the Firstborn of the Dead — Jesus Christ, the Son of God — can bring eternal life to everyone who hears the good news of His resurrection.