In the original language, the Book of Revelation is actually called The Apocalypse. When you hear the word apocalypse, you might instantly think of end-of-the-world destruction.
But I want to invite you to remove that from your mind.
The word apocalypse does not necessarily refer to the end of the world. Apocalypse literally means “unveiling” or “revealing.” The revealing aspect of the apocalypse is where we get the term “Revelation” for the last book of the Bible.
The idea is that something about God has been veiled and Revelation is unveiling it.
Inside the Temple in Jerusalem was a room called the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies was hidden by a veil, a sheet that hid the inner sanctum of the room. It was thought that God’s main dwelling place on earth was in the Holy of Holies, but only the High Priest could enter that room and he could only enter it once a year. For everyone else, this room was hidden from sight. And so the presence of God was veiled.
But here’s the thing: when Jesus died on the cross, the Gospel of Matthew says that the veil in the Temple was torn in two. The veil was destroyed so that what was hidden about God was revealed, now in plain sight for everyone to see.
God Revealed
The cross and book of Revelation are like Toto in the Wizard of Oz. They pull the curtain back so that we can all see what’s really happening behind the scenes in God’s throne room.
Revelation is unveiling what God is like. And part of the weirdness of Revelation is the strange claim that God is like a lamb who was slaughtered.
This is weird. If I were to use animal imagery for God, I would never think of a slaughtered lamb. I would think of a roaring lion. But in Revelation 5, John saw the heavenly throne room. There he saw every creature in heaven and on earth singing honor and glory and might to God and God’s kingdom, which is primarily symbolized as a slaughtered lamb, not a roaring lion.
Some people want to claim that God is the violent lion and the slaughtered lamb at the same time. Or that at one time, God is the slaughtered lamb but in the end, God will be the violent lion. But one of the keys to classic Christian theology is God’s immutability. This term refers to God’s inability to change God’s essential nature. As the Letter to the Hebrews states, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
This is the radical shift that Revelation makes. God is like a slaughtered lamb, not like a roaring lion. To put it in more literal human terms, God is like the crucified Jesus who takes human violence upon himself and offers forgiveness in return.
The Book of Revelation Gets Political
And this is where the Book of Revelation gets political by overturning the violence of Empire. The early Christians lived in the Roman Empire. And the Roman Empire, like every Empire and nation, wanted ultimate loyalty from its subjects, including religious loyalty. The Roman Empire basically said that people could worship their gods however they wanted, but there was one caveat. They also had to make sacrifices to the Emperor in order to show their ultimate loyalty to him. People had to sing honor and glory and might to the Emperor. And if they didn’t show their loyalty to Rome, Rome might kill them.
For the Book of Revelation, God and politics were about a way of life. And Revelation makes a contrast. One way of life was the Kingdom of God. It was symbolized by a peaceful and vulnerable Lamb. The other way of life was the Roman Empire. It was symbolized by a fierce Eagle.
The early Christians got together and essentially said, “Yeah, Rome has its eagle. But that’s so cliché. Every nation has either a violent eagle or a lion and every nation ends up being destroyed by its own violence. Those who live by the sword die by the sword. And so we’re going to follow the Lamb. We are going to sing honor and praise and glory not to Caesar and his empire, but to Jesus and his realm of God. Because when you are honoring to the Lamb, it means you are not honoring to the Eagle.”
But we should know that there are risks involved in singing praise to God and not to the Emperor. When we refuse to play by the rules of Empire, the Empire may come after us. What do we do in response to the potential violence of the Empire?
Continue the mission of Christ.
The Mission of Christ
In the Gospel of John, the resurrected Jesus appears to the disciples. He asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” And three times Peter answered “Yes.” Jesus responded by sending Peter on a mission to feed Jesus’ sheep. And who are Jesus’ sheep? Everyone, but especially those who are vulnerable and in need.
Jesus sent Peter on a mission that was bigger than himself and bigger than the Empire – to feed Jesus’ sheep. And Jesus sends us on the same mission. So much of our political and consumer culture is about feeding only ourselves. You know, buy more stuff because that will make you happy. Take care of number one. Don’t feed “others.” Instead, feed yourself and live in fear of “others.”
Rarely in our culture are we ever given a mission that is bigger than ourselves, bigger than our fears, and bigger than national loyalty. But Jesus sends us on that mission. It’s a mission to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
