Week 51 Revelation
Normally I figure I’ve got a pretty clear idea about who wrote the bible books. For example if someone asked me who wrote Matthew I’d say Matthew. Or who wrote Romans I’d say Paul. The point is I’d name an author.
Revelation is a reminder that I’m not going far enough up the authorial chain.
The title in my bible says: THE REVELATION to John. But then there’s a subtitle that says: The Revelation of Jesus Christ.
The revelation is “to” John…so he’s recording it.
The revelation is “of” Jesus Christ…he’s providing the content.
But then verse-one expands the content-provision group. It’s: the revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him…(and then) an angel was sent to God’s servant John so that John could share the revelation with God’s other servants.
The transmission process now includes God (the Father) > Jesus Christ > an angel > John. John – the person I would normally say wrote Revelation – is only the fourth one listed on the chain-of-communication. John – a kind of secretary and distributor – passes the memo along to the recipients.
So it’s a reminder to me that if I’m reading the bible (on its own terms) then the genuinely creative content isn’t coming from the writer.
Note: quote from Revelation 1:1 (NLT).
Added note: I get another reminder that on the content-receiver end I’m not even a primary reader (the seven churches in Asia were). I’m a secondary reader…reading over someone else’s shoulder.