1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: 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, 5 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 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Vision of the Son of Man
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 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.” 12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 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. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), Re 1:1–20.
The Book of Revelation often comes with a heavy reputation. For many of us, it conjures up images of confusing charts, terrifying beasts, and debates about timelines that leave us more anxious than anchored. We tend to approach it like a riddle to be solved or a code to be cracked, obsessing over the “when” and the “how” of the end times. But if we start there, we miss the entire heartbeat of the book. As we begin this journey together, I want to suggest that the key to unlocking this final book of the Bible isn’t found in a timeline, but in a person. The title itself gives it away: it is not “The Revelation of the End of the World” or “The Revelation of Future Events.” It is, very simply, The Revelation of Jesus Christ.
The word “Revelation” comes from the Greek word apokalypsis, which means an “unveiling” or a “revealing.” It’s the image of a curtain being pulled back to show what is actually there. We often use the word “apocalypse” to mean disaster or catastrophe, but its biblical meaning is far more hopeful. It is about pulling back the curtain of our current reality, with all its chaos, sorrow, and confusion, to reveal who is really on the throne. The point of this book is not to obscure the truth with symbols, but to reveal the Truth Himself. It is designed to show us Jesus in a way we perhaps haven’t seen Him before: not just as the suffering servant or the teacher in Galilee, but as the risen, ruling, and reigning King of the cosmos.
At the core of the introduction, we see the Apostle John, exiled on the island of Patmos, hearing a voice like a trumpet. When he turns to see the voice, he doesn’t see a calendar of events; he sees a Person. He sees the Son of Man, clothed in a long robe, with a golden sash, eyes like a flame of fire, and a voice like the roar of many waters. This is Jesus, unveiled in His glory. It’s a vision so overwhelming that John, who once leaned against Jesus’ chest at the Last Supper, falls at His feet as though dead. This response is crucial. When we truly see Jesus in His holiness and power, our first response is often a reverent fear. We realize that He is not a tame God that fits neatly into our boxes.
This is exemplified by the glorified Jesus reaching out and laying His right hand on John, and speaking words that should echo in our hearts: “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one.” The point of revealing Jesus is not to terrify us, but to comfort us. Because He is the First, He was there before our problems began, He is the Last, He will be there after they are long gone, and because He is the Living One who died and is alive forevermore, He holds the keys to everything we are afraid of, even death itself.
Let’s keep the main thing the main thing. We aren’t here to speculate about the future; rather, we are here to meet the One who holds the future. If you find yourself lost in the symbols or fearful of the signs, come back to the center. Look for Jesus. Revealing Him is the point. When we see Him clearly, standing with the lampstands and holding the stars in His hands, we see Jesus ruling over history, and it changes how we live in the present. We can stop living in fear of what is to come, because we know Who is already here.
Elpis and Shalom 