FINAL REVOLUTION (17)
Scripture: Revelation 7:9-17
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Final Revolution (17)
Lectionary, Year C, Easter 4
Christopher B. Harbin
Revelation 7:9-17
Whom is it for? Whom does it benefit? Who is advantaged? Who is disadvantaged? Who is helped? Who is harmed? These are questions we don’t stop to consider often enough when we make policies, pass rules, establish procedures, create boundaries, elaborate plans, and make decisions. As long as the people impacted are kind of like us, we may expect them to be as equally advantaged as are we. In God’s reign, justice and righteousness look like equality for all. They look like making sure no one is left out. If we were to lead a revolution, would that be our final goal?
We mentioned last week that John was writing Revelation from exile on the prison island of Patmos. Revolt, rebellion, and revolution were live issues throughout the Roman Empire as they had been since before Jerusalem’s destruction some 25 years before. Life was not looking good for many, especially for followers of Jesus who had been seeing persecution rise under Domitian’s rule. Rome clung tenaciously to power, but it was not advancing the welfare of all. Its rule was bloody, violent, and often as not unjust, though Rome had brought some stability to the nations around the Mediterranean. For Christians and many others, life in the Roman Empire meant a harsh struggle for survival made more difficult by their overlords.
We should be clear that John was not writing nor predicting history. He was not describing the world events around him in any semblance of literal description. His portrayal is first of all prophetic, helping those who followed Jesus understand what was happening behind the scenes, commenting socially and spiritually on where things were headed according to the visible trajectory, and granting hope for the faithful to see how the actions of Rome had no means to countermand or invalidate God’s actions. This is a prophetic message, not in the sense that it foretold events to take place in ...
Lectionary, Year C, Easter 4
Christopher B. Harbin
Revelation 7:9-17
Whom is it for? Whom does it benefit? Who is advantaged? Who is disadvantaged? Who is helped? Who is harmed? These are questions we don’t stop to consider often enough when we make policies, pass rules, establish procedures, create boundaries, elaborate plans, and make decisions. As long as the people impacted are kind of like us, we may expect them to be as equally advantaged as are we. In God’s reign, justice and righteousness look like equality for all. They look like making sure no one is left out. If we were to lead a revolution, would that be our final goal?
We mentioned last week that John was writing Revelation from exile on the prison island of Patmos. Revolt, rebellion, and revolution were live issues throughout the Roman Empire as they had been since before Jerusalem’s destruction some 25 years before. Life was not looking good for many, especially for followers of Jesus who had been seeing persecution rise under Domitian’s rule. Rome clung tenaciously to power, but it was not advancing the welfare of all. Its rule was bloody, violent, and often as not unjust, though Rome had brought some stability to the nations around the Mediterranean. For Christians and many others, life in the Roman Empire meant a harsh struggle for survival made more difficult by their overlords.
We should be clear that John was not writing nor predicting history. He was not describing the world events around him in any semblance of literal description. His portrayal is first of all prophetic, helping those who followed Jesus understand what was happening behind the scenes, commenting socially and spiritually on where things were headed according to the visible trajectory, and granting hope for the faithful to see how the actions of Rome had no means to countermand or invalidate God’s actions. This is a prophetic message, not in the sense that it foretold events to take place in ...
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