Churches vary considerably in their beliefs, worship style and ministry philosophy but they have one thing in common – they belong to Jesus. This doxology describes three aspects of what he has done for us. 

He loves us (v 5b). This simple truth is at the heart of everything, the foundation stone on which our faith rests. Love brought him into the world, took Jesus to the cross, and love flows from his heart and his throne in heaven.

He has freed us (v 5b). His death was the sacrifice that made atonement for our sins. He died in our place, giving his life as a ransom to set us free from sin’s penalty and power. We have been redeemed, and the liberating power of the cross is still at work in us today.

He has made us (v 6). The purpose of God is being worked out in the world through the church. We are called to be the expression of his kingdom, living under his rule and reign, and demonstrating his goodness to a watching world. At the same time, we are called to be worshippers, standing before him as priests and declaring his praises.

Grant to us the blessing promised to those who read ‘the words of this prophecy’ and ‘take to heart what is written in it’ (v 3). Amen.

John states from the beginning that the revelation he received is not the product of his own imagination; it was given to him through angelic agency. Later he describes his experience on the island of Patmos as one in which he was ‘in the Spirit’ (v 10). The spiritual dimension of reality pervades the book; in its visions we encounter angelic hosts in heaven as well as the church triumphant, the ‘great multitude’ drawn from every tribe and nation.¹ The blessing pronounced on those who ‘take to heart’ (v 3) the message of this prophecy presents many Western Christians with serious challenges. Their culture and education excludes the dimension of the spirit, so that human beings end up alone in a disenchanted, empty and cold cosmos. The question we have to ask at the beginning of this study is whether we are willing to have our grasp of reality expanded and enriched by this book. Richard Bauckham says that a main function of Revelation is ‘to purge and refurbish the Christian imagination’, gifting us with ‘a different way of perceiving the world’.² 

Notice the blessing on ‘the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy’ (v 3). This is not referring to private readers of a printed text, but to the individuals whose task it was to read Revelation publicly during the meetings of the early Christian communities. Theirs was an oral culture in which only a small number of people were literate, so the role of the reader was crucial to the communication of John’s message. We might ask what we may have lost in the transition from oral to literate cultures – and whether greater importance should be given to the public reading of Holy Scripture.  

Take a moment to reflect on the question we have asked above: in what ways might you need your grasp of reality expanded by John’s visions? 

¹ Rev 7:9  ² Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation, Cambridge University Press, 1993, p159