4. JESUS CHRIST, THE REVEALER

     Let us stay with verse one until we have gathered the significant information that it furnishes.

     Since this is the "Revelation of Jesus Christ" and in verse two it is called the "testimony of Jesus Christ," let us pause to look at that Name. The very name Jesus Christ proclaims Him Savior and Anointed One.

       The word Jesus is from the Hebrew word Yeshua, meaning "Savior." The word Christ is from the Greek word "Christos," translating the Hebrew word Messiah, meaning "the anointed one." In Daniel 9:25 the word is translated "Prince," (KJV). It means "the anointed of Jehovah," a title given to the kings of Israel as being consecrated to God by the anointing and therefore holy. It was revealed to Daniel that the Messiah would come before the final end of the Jewish nation and city of Jerusalem, (Daniel 9:24-27). The fact that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, had come revealed that it was the "time of the end" for the fleshly nation.


     Zondervan's Pictorial Bible Dictionary [ZPBD] says: "The title [Revelation 1.1] which the book itself assumes may mean either 'the revelation which Christ possesses and imparts,' or 'the unveiling of the person of Christ.' Grammatically, the former is preferable, for this text states that God gave this disclosure to Christ that He might impart it to His servants." (ZPBD pp. 716-17)

     His Revelation, then, is that which He reveals of the hidden wisdom, that which can only be known by spiritual insight, I Corinthians 2.10. This secret wisdom is also mentioned in Colossians 2.2b-3: "To have all the riches of assured understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (RSV)

      Paul's letter to the Ephesians also speaks of this wisdom which is hidden in Christ: "For He has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ," (1.9 RSV).

     That Jesus is the source of a hidden wisdom is attested also in I Corinthians 2:7-8: "But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." (RSV)

     The revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ is to reveal these hidden things: I Corinthians 4:5: "Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, [is revealed] who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. (RSV)

     Indeed, the gospel was preached to Abraham and the prophets in a hidden or esoteric form, (Galatians 3:8 and Romans 1:1-4). The Promised Seed through Isaac was Christ, hidden within the fleshly lineage until the time of His incarnation, (Galatians 3:16-19). The Heir of the Promise was hidden until the fulness of time, (Galatians 4:30-31). The hiddeness is not only visual but also auditory: the voice of God which was heard on Sinai and then through the prophets has now become silent except through this Jesus Christ, Hebrews 1:1-2.

     So the Revelation of Jesus Christ is the visual, audible, intellectual and spiritual appearance of God.

     Further discussion and referents for this lesson may be found on pages 72-74 of the book Revelation in Context.  Revelation in Context is available at www.Amazon.com or www.Xulonpress.com or locally at Living Word Bookstore, Shawnee, Oklahoma. Free downloads are also available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net