Revelation 1:1C ‘…to show His servants…’
God gives to Jesus and Jesus gives to His bond-servants. We are called ‘bond-servants’. Literally ‘slaves’. That presupposes an relationship of absolute authority. He has the right to say it. He calls the shots. We may, nay, we must, obey. When the apostle Paul writes an epistle to the believers in Rome, he right away introduces himself in the beginning as a slave of Jesus Christ and he considers it his task to bring about obedience to the faith among the gentiles (i.e. the non-Jews), Romans 1:1 and 5.
The relationship with Christ includes obedience. The first step of obedience is to believe in Him, 1 John 3:23. To believe in the One whom God sent. He, who for our sake and salvation came down from heaven and through whom we have the forgiveness of sins and deliverance from the power of sin..
But Jesus as Saviour and Redeemer cannot be separated from Jesus as Lord. He saves people from the power of sin and death in order to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to be full of good works, Titus 2:11-14.
The centurion in Capernaum (a Roman centurion , captain of a hundred men) understood this very well. He places himself and his sick servant totally under the authority of Jesus. And He says: ‘truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel’, Matthew 8:5-10.
Obedience! In the word ‘obedience’ in the Greek language is the word ‘to hear’ included. To ‘h-ear’ means h-ear-ing with your ears. When an elderly slave was freed by his master he could still choose out of his own free will to stay with his master. Then he freely allowed his ear-lobe to be pierced, Exodus 21:6; Deuteronomy 15:17. Pierced ears – opened ears. Volunteer slaves. Attentive bond-servants, who really h-ear. In the same way that the Son relates to the Father, Psalm 40:7-9, we are supposed to relate to the Son.
Whoever looks up to Him like this, will have his ears and eyes opened by Him, Revelation 22:8. He reveals things to His bond-servants so they can see and hear. Only in this posture of complete obedience and surrender will the mysteries be opened up for us. Little by little, our understanding will increase, understanding by mind and heart. That is how we grow in love towards Him, by holding fast to the truth, Ephesians 4:15. ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’, 1 Samuel 3:9-10.
Observation:
- Whoever wants to be a prophet must learn to listen first. The prophets and apostles were shown things they themselves sometimes did not understand, cf., Daniel 12:8 where Daniel says, ‘I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, ‘My Lord, what will the outcome of all this be?’. In order to see one needs light, illumination. Our mind is by nature darkened and needs the light of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:17-18, Daniel 12:10b. Whoever prays for the Holy Spirit will receive Him, because the prayer for the Holy Spirit is always heard and will always be answered, Luke 11:9-13.
- The word ‘show’ that is used here: ‘to show His servants’, is the same as in Revelation 4:1; 17:1; 21:9-10; 22:1,6 and 8.
(This article is one of a series of short reflections by Rev. Willem J.J. Glashouwer on the Book of Revelation. These reflections can be used as dialy devotionals.)
Tags: Rev. Glashouwer, revelation
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