2025/04/28
193. Pentecost and the Book of Revelation
From the previous analyses over the past six issues, we have learned that the seven angels of the seven churches described in the Book of Revelation 2 and 3 correspond to the seven disciples who encountered the risen Jesus at the Sea of Tiberias in the Gospel of John. The starting point for these reflections was the San Damiano Crucifix, which is said to have led St. Francis of Assisi to his conversion. Its composition contained themes from the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation, and the figure of Christ at the centre can be seen to represent the Risen Jesus. So, we have examined the scenes in the Gospel of John where the risen Jesus appears to his disciples, together with the documents concerning Saint Francis.
As a result, we focused on the fact that John the Evangelist explains the words of Jesus in response to the Apostle Peter's question in the final scene of disciples' encounter with risen Jesus in the Gospel of John with the following meaningful phrase: "The saying spread abroad among the brethren that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, 'If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?'" (Jn 21:23). Here, we found that the key to understanding John's intention lies in the phrase "until I come," because John stresses that "Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die."
In the Book of Revelation, numbers hold significant meaning. When opening the Book of Revelation, keeping in mind the seven disciples who encountered the resurrected Jesus, the first phrase that catches the eye is "John to the seven churches that are in Asia" (Rev 1:4). Additionally, we have discovered that the expression "until I come" in the final words of the risen Jesus in the Gospel of John, serves as the theme in the six letters, excluding the second letter, the letter to the church in Smyrna, and that the tenses used for this theme in each letter form a chronological sequence. In the letters to the churches in Ephesus, Pergamon, Thyatira, and Sardis, the theme is a prophecy of the future; in the letter to the church in Philadelphia, its tense is the near future, with the phrase "I am coming soon" (3:11). And in the letter to the church in Laodicea, its tense is the present tense: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock" (3:20).
However, this theme is absent in the second letter, addressed to the angel of the church in Smyrna (who is thought to represent Thomas). That is likely because the author considered that Jesus had come again specifically for Thomas, who had stubbornly refused to believe in Jesus' resurrection (cf. Jn 20:24-29). In this way, the narrative of the Book of Revelation goes on using an expression method in which the contents of its descriptions and that of the Gospels associated with them exist simultaneously as if they are the two sides of a coin. It is structured in such a way that people find difficulty in intuitively grasping and understanding.
When Jesus taught people, he used parables to convey truths that could not be understood without insight. Then, he explained the meaning of these parables to his disciples. However, regarding himself, who was fulfilling the will of the Father, the Gospel says, "But they understood none of these things; this saying was hid from them, and they did not grasp what was said" (Lk 18:34). Jesus' parents had the same experience (cf. 2:50). This experience made them vividly realize the moment when the Holy Spirit descended (cf. Acts 2:2), the moment when he touched them (cf. 2:3), and the moment when they understood everything through them, through the contrast between these two experiences. They came to know the Holy Spirit.
The reality that the Book of Revelation is structured in a way that is difficult for people to grasp intuitively and understand leads us, who practise the "training of Revelation" by reading it aloud, listening to it, and memorising it, to the blessedness of having the same experience as Jesus' disciples and his parents (cf. Rev 1:3). We who have accumulated daily experiences of "not understanding" through the "training of Revelation" will, when the Holy Spirit guides us and reminds us of the New Testament (cf. Jn 16:12–15), become able to grasp the moments when the Holy Spirit is at work and when he touches us, through the contrast between these two experiences. We will come to know the Holy Spirit.
Maria K.M.
