“To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood.” –Rev 1:5b
Of the top eleven Apostles (Judas doesn’t count), John is my favorite. Known as one of the Sons of Thunder, he started out a little rough. At one point he wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan village because they wouldn’t receive Jesus as He was passing through on His way to Jerusalem. Jesus straightened him out letting him know He came to save men not judge them. John saw himself in a very unique way; he described himself as the “one whom Jesus loved.” This, in my opinion, makes him stand out from the others, he grasped that his identity was intertwined with Jesus’ love. That love later became a central concept in his gospel and letters. Another fact about John that sets him apart is that when all others fled he was the only apostle at the foot of the cross. So close was their relationship that Jesus even entrusted the care of His mother to John.
Some scholars put John in his 80s when he was banished to the Isle of Patmos. The Romans had tried to boil him in oil but God supernaturally spared him unscathed. All the other apostles were long dead, each martyred. He was the last. I can only imagine what it was like feeling alone on that desolate island looking back on his life wondering why he was still here. “How much longer, Lord?” “When will I get to come home?” “When will I get to see my Master again?” In the midst of these thoughts a voice sounds and calls to him. He encounters the glorified Christ as King and falls at His feet as though dead then is taken up before the throne in the indescribable presence of the Ancient of Days. He’s shown many strange and awesome and terrifying things and told to write them in a book that would become the perfect end to The Book.
I can imagine some people thought John had gone crazy on that island, babbling on about scrolls and seals and voices and dragons. But in spite of all these crazy things, John introduces the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ with how he knows Him best, “To Him who loves us…” No matter the craziness of the world and whatever you may think are signs of the end, the important part, the part to remember today, is you are loved by Jesus, now and for always.
(originally published 11/7/14)