Today, we take our first step into John's vision, but we still have some foundation to lay. In case you aren’t caught up, here is part 1.
Revelation 1:12–13
I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man…
John has received a vision of God's kingdom in this world, and John wants to inject this vision into the bloodstream of those who belong to the seven churches in his care so that they might be animated to stand as dissidents against the oppressive evil of the empire under which they live. He doesn’t just want them to listen and accept his words; he wants them to have a vision of his words. He wants them to see it. And so John employs our greatest weapon against a stubborn mind: storytelling.
Storytelling is so much more than just telling stories. Stories carry rogue wisdom. Like a trojan horse, stories sneak new ideas through the impervious gates of the reader’s mind. They have a way of opening the mind to ideas the reader might be opposed to in the course of normal everyday life. Even the most intimidating ideas can become harmless when consumed through a narrative that moves us.
Johns's audience was no strangers to a good story around a fireplace, something to bring community and family together while warming their bodies and illuminating their minds with stories from their Greek ancestors. Perhaps they’ve pondered the tale of Narcissus while considering the virtue of a modest self-image, or perhaps they’ve heard the story of Icarus, who taught them about pride and how it can bring great humiliation.
But now, John has become the old man sitting beside the fire with a story to tell. A vision. Something that he dreams of and longs for. He longs for his churches to share his dream and be inspired to stand in strength with Jesus and against the ways of the Empire that bring unevenness, separation, oppression, and great violence. Though dissidents, the fear of the great power of their enemy remains. John intends to drown that fear in the hope of the victory of Jesus, who, through the cross and through a great display of human weakness, has taken the authority of every king upon himself and now sits on the throne.
John has been growing concerned. He has been observing their response to the empire's aggressiveness and opulence:
How long will they be able to resist these wilderness temptations?
Will they follow Jesus and resist the temptation for power, wealth, and glory?
Will they find it in themselves to forsake earthly power to follow the slain lamb?
Each day, the light grows a bit dimmer.
Each day, the emperor of Rome works to subjugate all people and things to himself.
But each day, King Jesus invites them into the reconciliation of all things to himself.
Perhaps the dissidents in our own day should ponder whether the seven churches in America (a symbol for all churches, remember part 2?) are working with the empire to subjugate all people or the savior to reconcile all people (2 Corinthians 5:18).