Tidbits
12/6/2019
Dear
Friends:
The
New Testament book of Revelation gives us one of the most stunning,
creative and beautiful pictures of Jesus and his kingdom in the entire Bible.
“Revelation” is written specially for Christians
living as citizens in a superpower.
The gospel
of Jesus in “Revelation” is more political than anyone imagines, and in a way
no one guesses.
John of Patmos‘s Revelation is intended somewhat to
comfort but mostly to warn the Christians who were too cozy with the
Roman Empire…..don’t get comfortable with Empire! Remember it’s a beast!
“Revelation” is a prophetic interpretation of those
tumultuous and significant happenings that Jesus, not Julius Cesar or any
President is the world’s true emperor and Savior.
“Revelation” is a creative picture of the clash
between the beastly empire of Rome and the peaceable reign of the Lamb of God.
It shows the world finally conquered by a little Lamb they killed who lives
again.
“Revelation” isn’t about the
violent end of the world: but about the end of the evil of violence.
Everything is told in language of symbols.
Everything! And they are not empty
symbols.
These are tidbits from the book Sinners in
the Hands of a Loving God-- a Scandalous Truth of the Very Good
News by Brian Zahnd. It gave me a new appreciation for and
understanding of the Bible. It reconciles the contradictions between the
violence of the Old Testament and Jesus’ call to love our enemies.
Try to love your enemies today.
Shalom, Jim
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