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.
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