Jesus' Faithfulness in the book of Revelation

Introduction

I intend to argue that the book of Revelation nicely confirms my basic hypothesis that it is Jesus' obedience, which certainly includes his death, and not his crucifixion seen as an animal-like sacrifice that atones.


Jesus as Faithful Witness

In part of the prescript to the entire book, we are told that Jesus is "the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and ruler of the kings of the earth" (Rev. 1:5).  These three descriptions coincide with Jesus' death, resurrection, and exaltation respectively.  I contend that the reason why Jesus is the firstborn from the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth is precisely because he was obedient.  Jesus' death is described as a faithful witness (martyr), which highlights his obedience.  This description of Jesus also occurs in 3:14 ("the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation").  Jesus is the beginning of God's creation because (and I borrow the words of G.B. Caird) "when God set in motion the creative process, what he intended to produce was Christ and men like Christ who would respond to him with utter faith and obedience."  Jesus is also called faithful and true in 19:2.

The two witnesses in Rev. 11 also deserve comment because their career mimics that of Jesus.  They die (we are even told in the same city where Jesus was crucified [11:8]), they are raised to life [11:11] and are exalted [11:12]).

Human Faithfulness like Jesus' Faithfulness

One of the key arguments that it is Jesus' obedience that is the important factor is that humans are described with the same language with which Jesus is described.  For example, in Rev. 2:14 Antipas is described as a "faithful witness" because he was killed where Satan dwells.  Also, Jesus is described as a conqueror (3:21; 5:5), just as are those addressed in the seven letters to the churches.  In fact, the same reward that Jesus accrued because of his obedience is open to his followers.  Jesus promises authority over the nations to the conquerors (2:27) just as he received authority from the Father (2:28).  A similar idea is expressed in 3:21: "I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne."

Two verses containing genitive phrase are also important here.  In 2:13 (my faith) and in 14:12 (the faithfulness of Jesus), the genitives are probably both subjective and therefore refer to Jesus' faithfulness and not "faith in Jesus".  [Oddly enough, Dunn and Hays disagree on this!]

Atonement Verses

It is now time to look at both 1:5-6 and 5:9-10.  1:5-6 reads as follows:

To the one loving us and having freed us from the sins of us by the blood of him and made us a kingdom of priests to his God and Father.

Similarly, 5:9-11:

Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain and purchased ones for God with your blood from every tribe and tongue and people and nation and made them for our God a kingdom and priests, and they will reign on earth.

 Given the Exodus reference in both passages (Ex. 19:6), and the language of setting free in the first, it is likely we are dealing with a reference to the Passover Lamb, by whose blood Israel was freed from Egypt.  In the present case, the blood of Jesus frees us from sins.  The verb "to purchase" in the second passage also relates to Exodus in that slaves are bought with a price (see 1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23; Gal. 3:13; 4:5).  The important point here is that the Passover Lamb is not a sin sacrifice.  Its blood brought life, just as Jesus' blood brought life by conquering the effects of sin, namely, death.  On Jesus as the Passover Lamb see also 1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 Cor. 5:7; and importantly if the gospel is related to the apocalypse, the Gospel of John: 1:29 (see my previous blog on this); 2:13; 6:4; 18:28; 19:36.  Additional Exodus reference in Revelation adds to the connection: the Song of Moses in 15:3 and the living water in Rev. 7:17 and 22:1 reminds us of the water Moses brought forth from the rock.

It should also be noted that blood is used as a symbol of death throughout Revelation and this shows that we ought not to put too much weight of the word "blood" so as to tie it to sin animal sacrifices: see 6:10; 16:6; 17:6; 18:24; 19:2.

Primary Eschatological Goal in Revelation is Life and not Forgiveness of Sins

What humans are saved from in Revelation is primarily Death and Hades, not sin per se.  One of the first things Jesus says in the book is that he is living and that he holds the keys of death and hades (1:17-18).  Many of the rewards for the conquerors refer to life: eat from the tree of life (2:7; cf. 22:2); crown of life (2:10), name not blotted out of book of life (3:5; cf. 21:12).  The battle in the end results in Death and Hades being thrown into the lake of fire (20:14).  This explains why the resurrection of Jesus is tied to his death (1:17-18; 2:8).

Conclusion

 I have tried to show the meaning of Jesus' death in Revelation.  I have tried to show that the image of Jesus as a animal-like sacrifice is simply not there.  This ought to give us pause.