The Revelation of Jesus Christ [apokalupsis iaisou kristou] (Revelation 1:1)”--- with these words St. John, the beloved disciple, opens one of the most unique books in the Bible. Just as he had given the raison d’etre of his written epistles to be the testifying of what he has personally seen and heard so that “your joy may be complete (I John 1:5)”; “because you know the truth (I John 2:21)” and “so that you who believe on the name of the Son of God may know that you have eternal life (zooain aionion) (I John 5:13)”--- in each of these subjunctive clauses: ‘so that…” and “because...” the writer uses the Greek particle (hina-so that; oti-because) in a verbal construction that is familiar to the student of John---a 'hortative subjunctive'---just as he has done in the earlier writings, St. John puts his signature on Revelation----"his servant John who bare record (testified=emarturase) of the word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all the things that he saw." The word 'testimony' translates 'marturian' containing our martyr cognate. Testifying is martyring!
The reader of the Apocalypse is 'blessed' (macarios Apoc. 1: 3: "blessed is he who reads...")---not only he who reads, but he who hears and observes as well. This echoes John's Gospel regarding the Sermon on the Mount, "blessed are those who not only hear but do these things..." Both of these thoughts echo in the final chapter but with a twist: there is a warning of curse, not blessing, upon the man who shall "add unto" or "take away" from these written words of John. Further, those who do his commandment are blessed as those who hear the words of this prophecy and 'keep those things which are written..." Why? Because the time is near!
A brief summing-up is in order. Just as the beloved disciple has written earlier books in the Bible (Gospel and letters) so that those who read them may know and believe, so too has this same man written the apocalypse so that the one who reads and hears this may be blessed in keeping and observing what is written. And the upshot of what is written here is that Jesus Christ is soon returning, that the time is near! So be it! Maranatha! If this be the case then I daresay it does not bode well for those scoffers who mock the revelation of Jesus Christ, declaring that John is not its true author and attempt to say that the contents of the revelation have already been manifested in part and for the remainder, shall not come soon. A psychogenic interpretation is appropriate here---these men and women fearing the contents of the revelation place it at arms length in a distant future so that they may not have to face its plagues and famine. To do so is only human, no one but a martyr truly enjoys being punished and killed for Jesus. No more than a dog knowing that its cruel master who will soon arrive home wishes to hear his gnarly voice.
But it is coming soon as apocalypse illustrated http://apocalypseillustrated.blogspot.com/“ makes clear.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Verb Tenses
It is evidently in verb tenses that we learn how to "think" temporally. When God told Moses that "I am who Am" we take it to mean that God is 'presence' and 'eternal presence'----hence no matter what 'time' it may be and however much time might elapse God is yet present. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Wow!
When we were yet children before we learned how to "keep time", we spoke in present tense and then learned how to refer to things and activities no longer present in the 'past' tense.
Verb tense is an extremely important aspect of Bible interpretation and reveals a great deal about the meaning of a particular text. Study of verb tense casts greater meaning on certain passages and helps us to deepen our understanding of faith and the goods that faith delivers.
For example, in Jesus' farewell discourse, John chapter 14, the Lord says: "I am going to my Father's house, in His house are many mansions...[and] I am going in order to prepare a place for you so that where I am you may be..." Here we find a complex time order: Jesus speaks to His disciples prior to His crucifixion in the year 33 AD. He speaks about an event in the future tense...i.e., the going to His Father's house, and then He speaks of being there and preparing a place so that where I am, you may be... It is what a I call a 'fourth dimensional' discourse. The Father's mansion is a mystical place and not accessible to empirical sense at the time of Jesus' discourse. Jesus apparently has not gone there yet and hence refers to a future event "where I am going..." Then he indicates that once there, he will prepare a place.
Now the mystical nature is revealed in this passage in that the Mansion is in the Kingdom of Heaven and not sensible to physical mind and body. The temporality and spatiality of this event (going to prepare a place) are interwoven, in fact one must refer to a place in order to convey the time component. and Yet the spatial dimension is mystical. By this I mean to say that the question "how far is it you are going Jesus in order to get to your Father's mansion? " is inappropriate. Jesus knowledge of this reveals that it is hence already in some sense completed.
But in order for the disciples to get a mental picture or concept Jesus speaks in a mystical manner which is interpreted in a mystical and not literal manner.
This passage indicates the kind of depth of analysis in interpretation available to those who take the temporal and spatial architecture of Jesus' speech as a crucial component of their interpretation and translation of verb tense.
When we were yet children before we learned how to "keep time", we spoke in present tense and then learned how to refer to things and activities no longer present in the 'past' tense.
Verb tense is an extremely important aspect of Bible interpretation and reveals a great deal about the meaning of a particular text. Study of verb tense casts greater meaning on certain passages and helps us to deepen our understanding of faith and the goods that faith delivers.
For example, in Jesus' farewell discourse, John chapter 14, the Lord says: "I am going to my Father's house, in His house are many mansions...[and] I am going in order to prepare a place for you so that where I am you may be..." Here we find a complex time order: Jesus speaks to His disciples prior to His crucifixion in the year 33 AD. He speaks about an event in the future tense...i.e., the going to His Father's house, and then He speaks of being there and preparing a place so that where I am, you may be... It is what a I call a 'fourth dimensional' discourse. The Father's mansion is a mystical place and not accessible to empirical sense at the time of Jesus' discourse. Jesus apparently has not gone there yet and hence refers to a future event "where I am going..." Then he indicates that once there, he will prepare a place.
Now the mystical nature is revealed in this passage in that the Mansion is in the Kingdom of Heaven and not sensible to physical mind and body. The temporality and spatiality of this event (going to prepare a place) are interwoven, in fact one must refer to a place in order to convey the time component. and Yet the spatial dimension is mystical. By this I mean to say that the question "how far is it you are going Jesus in order to get to your Father's mansion? " is inappropriate. Jesus knowledge of this reveals that it is hence already in some sense completed.
But in order for the disciples to get a mental picture or concept Jesus speaks in a mystical manner which is interpreted in a mystical and not literal manner.
This passage indicates the kind of depth of analysis in interpretation available to those who take the temporal and spatial architecture of Jesus' speech as a crucial component of their interpretation and translation of verb tense.
Friday, May 16, 2008
The Light and Love that is Jesus Christ
" I am the way, the truth and the life." When Jesus says these words and when they are recorded and then read and repeated there is a source of wonder and amazement at the significance and meaning! What deft precision of articulation: "...I am truth...I am life." Such "I am..." statements are crucial. If you stumble up against this remark with your mind wide open, you will be transformed in such a way that you will indeed be "born again" and never ever see the world or anything else in the same way.
You want to know why this is so? Because it is true that it is raining as I write, and that red roses are beautiful and that 2+2=4. Jesus is all of this! Wow! And "...I am life..." whenever the biologists get with this program then the course will begin and end with Jesus and not Lamarck or Darwin, or Lavoisier! And then they will stop beating the hide of that ancient debate of evolution versus creation....what lame mediocrity! It's about Jesus!! Evolution=a theory about life; Jesus=life; therefore there is in evolution a theory about Jesus. Now if the teachers and scholars could put their minds on that task...but no, they continue to bandy about discourses and vain arguments concerning evolution and 'creation science'.
Where is the love of Wednesday's post, Pete? Can you find the kidskinned gloves and get us a free admission ticket into Mickey's World? Alright I still love you all, but you teachers and academics sure as hell are testing my patience. It's OK... You will get it in a flash and then all of your 'theories' will melt into an instantaneous conflagration of beauty and poetry, then you will see Jesus returning in the clouds. Oh hasten this day, dear Lord. Maranatha!
You want to know why this is so? Because it is true that it is raining as I write, and that red roses are beautiful and that 2+2=4. Jesus is all of this! Wow! And "...I am life..." whenever the biologists get with this program then the course will begin and end with Jesus and not Lamarck or Darwin, or Lavoisier! And then they will stop beating the hide of that ancient debate of evolution versus creation....what lame mediocrity! It's about Jesus!! Evolution=a theory about life; Jesus=life; therefore there is in evolution a theory about Jesus. Now if the teachers and scholars could put their minds on that task...but no, they continue to bandy about discourses and vain arguments concerning evolution and 'creation science'.
Where is the love of Wednesday's post, Pete? Can you find the kidskinned gloves and get us a free admission ticket into Mickey's World? Alright I still love you all, but you teachers and academics sure as hell are testing my patience. It's OK... You will get it in a flash and then all of your 'theories' will melt into an instantaneous conflagration of beauty and poetry, then you will see Jesus returning in the clouds. Oh hasten this day, dear Lord. Maranatha!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Wednesday, May 14
"love is not love until we give it away..."
If anything, dear friends, let us be wide open and liberal concerning the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we err, let us err on the side of spilling too much love, of pouring out too much hope. Yes, there is great hope---hope in the face of all that seems so difficult in this world!
What stands between us and Chrit's love? Is it a mountain of thick obstacles? Where there is faith, there is hope...Is it sinfulness..? Ask for forgiveness and it shall be done! Ask for everything in His Holy Name and prepare for a mighty catch.
Yes, what have we to lose? Fear, insecurity, anger, lust, addictive personality, addictive substances...? Let me tell you even these 'factors' cannot keep us apart from the love that Jesus Christ is pouring freely in His Light and Life. His Life is flowing all around and through us, His light is your vision as you lift up your gaze to the wonder of beauty and share in the love of green forests and mighty oceans.
Acceptance, dear friends, let us accept that this world is exactly as it is though we cannot fathom all of its depth and intricacy. Evenso, our acceptance is rich and overflows when we love all of the created cosmos, for in this act we trust that there is One in Whom all things consist. We trust that there is an underlying harmony despite the apparent racket and screeching of city sirens, beyond the heavy metal thumping and helicopters.
A busy world toils day and night striving to complete its agendas. We keep watchful vigil in prayer, staying focused upon the prize unequalled, the prize prepared for each of us from all of eternity, the prize of eternal life and the Kingdom of Heaven, prepared before the foundation of this world!
If anything, dear friends, let us be wide open and liberal concerning the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we err, let us err on the side of spilling too much love, of pouring out too much hope. Yes, there is great hope---hope in the face of all that seems so difficult in this world!
What stands between us and Chrit's love? Is it a mountain of thick obstacles? Where there is faith, there is hope...Is it sinfulness..? Ask for forgiveness and it shall be done! Ask for everything in His Holy Name and prepare for a mighty catch.
Yes, what have we to lose? Fear, insecurity, anger, lust, addictive personality, addictive substances...? Let me tell you even these 'factors' cannot keep us apart from the love that Jesus Christ is pouring freely in His Light and Life. His Life is flowing all around and through us, His light is your vision as you lift up your gaze to the wonder of beauty and share in the love of green forests and mighty oceans.
Acceptance, dear friends, let us accept that this world is exactly as it is though we cannot fathom all of its depth and intricacy. Evenso, our acceptance is rich and overflows when we love all of the created cosmos, for in this act we trust that there is One in Whom all things consist. We trust that there is an underlying harmony despite the apparent racket and screeching of city sirens, beyond the heavy metal thumping and helicopters.
A busy world toils day and night striving to complete its agendas. We keep watchful vigil in prayer, staying focused upon the prize unequalled, the prize prepared for each of us from all of eternity, the prize of eternal life and the Kingdom of Heaven, prepared before the foundation of this world!
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