Visions of Hope

“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the world” (Mt 28:20). Each of the Gospels ends with a chapter that leads into the time of the Church. The Acts of the Apostles and the Letters, especially those of Paul, attest to the spread of the Good News, the presence of the Lord in the life of the communities, and the action of the Spirit. True enough, the Christian message ran into many difficulties and much opposition, but these enabled Christians to understand better the originality of their faith and the urgency of missionary work. Besides, had not Jesus often predicted persecution for his disciples?

At some moments, however, persecution took the form of a systematic political plan that was well organized and efficiently carried out throughout the vast empire subject to Rome. The aim was to exterminate the Christian movement everywhere and completely.

Would Christianity be able to weather the storm? How were people not to waver? What was to be thought of these events, and, above all, how were Christians to be steadfast in their faith in the face of oppression?

Here, in the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse, we have a first effort to interpret the signs of a difficult time. In hours of crisis the need is to revive profound convictions; this Book sets forth these convictions in its own vigorous way, which takes the form of visions.

The Book of Revelation

The Age of the Martyrs

The resistance of Christians to worship of the emperor was a sure sign to the Roman authorities that they were trying to draw people away from it! The result was persecution: it had already occurred at the end of Nero’s reign (the burning of Rome, A.D. 64), but now, and most especially, under Domitian (A.D. 81–96).

Was Christianity destined to disappear due to persecution by the public authorities? Or, at least, would not many Christians abandon the struggle? The time for protestations of loyalty to the Roman state was past (see Rom 13:1-7; Tit 3:1; 1 Pet 2:13-17); now it was necessary to resist, even to the acceptance of martyrdom.

A man, or group of people, experienced this anguish. Here he gives free rein to his protest against oppression and cries out a message of encouragement, and this on a grandiose stage: an enormous catastrophe strikes the earth, the present world disappears under the judgment of God, and a new world begins, the age of joy and God’s salvation.

The author uses images we find bewildering, for in them the substance and the details change continually, and the most glaring colors are set in contrast; there are numerical sayings, each of which is thick with hidden meanings: everything is symbolical.

This is the kind of literature that is born in periods of disturbance. It is at such times that people speak of “apocalypses.” The word means the act of revealing, of removing the veil. The author speaks on the basis of a vision that comes to him from above; the vision aims at unveiling the reality hidden in the future and the true meaning of what is coming, a meaning known only to God.

Understood in this way, an apocalypse is a special kind of prophecy. It is a reclusive literature because it is addressed to initiates and uses a mysterious language; it seeks to escape the surveillance of oppressors and of censors. It is a protest of conscience against intolerable pressures, a claim to a different vision of society and the world, a call to resistance in the midst of torment. The apocalyptic current entered the Bible beginning in the second century B.C.; at that time we find it especially in the Book of Daniel, in the Book of Joel, and in some passages of Isaiah (see chs. 24–27) and of Zechariah (chs. 9–11).

Furthermore, we must not forget the extraordinary descriptions given by Ezekiel. In the Jewish world all this material would be used in order to draw from it extremely subtle new constructs. We may recall the apocalypse in the Synoptic Gospels (Mk 13; Mt 24:10-36; Lk 17:22-37; 21:5-33) and certain passages of Paul (1 Thes 4:15-17; 2 Thes 2:1-12).

In this literary genre our Book of Revelation is a prime example. It was written at a difficult time, at the end of the first century, and aims, first, at quickening the life of the community in the face of internal crises (chs. 1–3).

Its primary purpose is to encourage these communities to stand up to the persecution that is inflicted on Christians when they refuse to offer sacrifice to the emperor (Rev 13:12-18; 14:9-13).

The author of this work calls himself “John” (Rev 1:1, 4, 9; 22:8) and describes himself to his readers as their “brother and partner in the suffering” (Rev 1:9), who has been exiled to the island of Patmos because of his faith.

He certainly belongs to the category of individuals whom the New Testament calls prophets (Rev 1:1-20; 22:9), and he enjoys great authority in the churches in the region of Asia Minor.

He does not, however, claim to be John the Apostle, son of Zebedee, with whom tradition has identified him; in fact, he never describes incidents of which he was an eyewitness, as the author of the fourth Gospel does.

There are undoubtedly many similarities with the Johannine writings, but the differences are even greater: the language is different; above all, the theological setting is different.

We do not, therefore, know anything specific about the author, whom the readers of his own time must have known. If we judge by the detailed knowledge and skill with which he handles the apocalyptic genre, he was, in all probability, of Jewish descent.

The Christian Apocalypse is not simply a song of God’s power, but a splendid praise of Christ, who brings to fulfillment the destiny of the world through a breaking off of history.

It is also a book about the Church. In this new People of God, who are characterized by attachment to Christ, fidelity, and resistance, the most fascinating figures that emerge are the martyrs.

The Book of Revelation may be divided as follows:

Prologue: (1:1-20)

I: Letters to the Churches (2:1—3:22)

II: Celestial Visions about What Is To Come (4:1—22:5)

Epilogue: (22:6-21)