Word to the Wise
Wednesday, November 20, 2024 - Wednesday in the 33th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rev 4:1-11 and Luke 19:11-28]"Holy, holy holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come......Worthy are you, Lord our God to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things; by your will they came to be, and were created." [Revelation]
There are two important things to remember when reading the Book of Revelation: it is a VISION and the language is highly SYMBOLIC, and is an example of other visionary language in the Old and New Testament and, in other contemporary literature of the time. It is not meant to be taken literally but decoded and applied to the situation at hand. In the case of the disciple John on the island of Patmos, the situation was persecution of the Christian community by the Roman empire. Nevertheless, the imagery is fascinating and vivid. Where did the disciple get all this? It is inspired scripture, to be sure, but the Holy Spirit works with the material at hand and the disciple John had material at hand to use in describing his "vision." One may go to Ezekiel, chapter one, or Daviel, chapter seven and find visionary material that John could have echoed.
Whether it be resistance to Greek-influenced rulers (Daniel), or exile in Babylonia (Ezekiel) or persecution by the Roman empire (Revelation), it is a kind of "crisis" preaching, designed to encourage, comfort and inspire those being persecuted. There is a "this, too, shall pass!" quality to it and anyone in times of suffering and persecution needs hope and comfort. It also means standing firm against the persecutors. The three examples I have mentioned all involve persecution by political rulers. We have more than enough examples of that in our own times, no matter where we live.
The disciple John and his community expected Jesus to return "soon." But God's time is not our clock-oriented time. Living faithfully in our own time is the challenge, and if it requires vivid visions to inspire us, we have plenty in the scripture at hand. AMEN