Letters From Jesus

In what may be the clearest message from Jesus to Christians in all of scripture, we see careful, encouraging and prescient language from Jesus that prepares His friends to thrive in the face of their particular challenges.

  1. Setting is Key

    1. As we'll see in each of the letters, setting provides context which determines interpretation.

      1. The Apostle of Love, John/Yohannan, is the author of the “Revelation of Jesus Christ”

        1. Though some scholars doubt this, John the Beloved trained Polycarp who trained Irenaeus, who attributes the Revelation to John the Beloved.

          1. This doesn't rule out that it may have been written or recorded by a disciple of John (a ghostwriter).

        2. The main difference comes down to a more refined use of Greek in the gospel of John and in the first epistle of John than there is in the Revelation.

          1. Sean's theory: the gospel of John seems to have been edited and assembled by a team of Johannine disciples who were allowed to assemble his works, but were not allowed to even edit the Revelation.

            1. "This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true." - John 21:24

              1. Perfectly acceptable and even expected to collect your teacher's sayings and to attribute the text to them rather than to yourself.

            2. "I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book [Revelation]: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book." - Revelation 22:18-19

              1. This may make Revelation the only Johannine text that was solely written by John (or a scribe) and was not allowed to be “cleaned up” in the edit.

                • Might explain why it's Greek is the sloppiest of the Johannine scriptures. After all, though John seems to have had priestly connections and his family seems wealthy, he was still a fisherman by trade.

      2. Traditional date is towards the end of his life (around 95 AD) meaning that he has likely returned to Ephesus when it is being recorded.

        1. Some think that it was written in the 60s before the destruction of the Temple and during the persecutions of Nero.

          1. This changes some of the meaning to refer to the abominations and persecutions to refer to Nero and to the destruction of the Temple but doesn't quite fit with the letters to the churches.

          2. If the traditional date is true, then John is using events that have happened (the abominations and the persecutions) as a context and an example of both what is going to happen (prophetic) and what is always happening (mystic).

            1. Interpretations of Revelation: “The events of Revelation...”

              1. Preterism – ... represent actual events that happened by the time the book was written (within the first century).

              2. Historicism - … represent historical events and characters.

              3. Dispensationalism – … represent different ages and authority structures within God's administration of/with humans.

              4. Futurism – … will happen literally as recorded at some point in the future.

              5. Idealism – … represent spiritual realities that are true of many moments and situations.

      3. John was well-known by the people in the region as a disciple and friend of Christ who had been with Jesus in the flesh and was writing to many friends of his who had spread through the region.

        1. Mary and John both died and were buried in Ephesus.

        2. John had traveled through much of the region and had disciples throughout the area.

        3. As the only surviving member of the twelve, he was pretty famous to a second and third generation of disciples of “the Way”

        4. He was known to be soft-spoken and weak in his last days, being carried around the city and gently telling the Ephesians, “Little children, love one another.”

        5. John consistently calls himself one who is “beloved” and who testifies to those things that he “sees and touches”.

          1. Lives in an intimate and experiential reality of connection with Christ, his Friend and Lord.

      4. Letters are given as direct quotations of Christ as received by John as a bond-servant.

        1. "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw." - Revelation 1:1-2

          1. Revelation – Apokalupsis: the unveiling or revealing of something. In this case, the revealing of Jesus and His operation in the world.

        2. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, saying, "Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea."" - Revelation 1:10-11

          1. In the Spirit – referring to the practice of communion/meditation/connection with the Holy Spirit in a consuming kind of encounter.

          2. On the Lord's day – referring to the day after the sabbath, the first day of the week, the day of the week on which Jesus rose from the grave.

  2. Outline of the letters to the churches.

    1. Introduction of Jesus

      1. Jesus says, “This is who I AM to you.”

      2. Not just descriptive of Jesus, but a reminder of an essential attribute and method of relation that they need to recover.

    2. Statement of character.

      1. Jesus says, “This is what I see in you.”

      2. Describes something that they have done or an identification they have that Jesus wants them to hold onto.

    3. Statement of contention.

      1. Jesus says, “This is what I have against you right now.”

      2. Describes the arena in which they are currently risking their calling and character.

    4. Call to action.

      1. Jesus says, “This is what you need to do right now.”

      2. This is an invitation to take action, not merely an intellectual or emotional assent, but movement on the part of the community towards the future with Christ that they desire.

    5. Consequences of inaction.

      1. Jesus says, “This is what is on the line if nothing changes.”

      2. While Jesus wants the best for them, the churches can ignore Him and instead reap the fruit of their own devices.

    6. Rewards for overcoming.

      1. Jesus says, “This is the hope on the other side of your challenge.”

      2. There is no business-as-usual option, there is only the choice between whatever your current actions are producing for you or the creative hope we will create together as we move through this challenge.

      3. Jesus wants to reward His friends for their faithfulness.

Letter #1: Ephesus