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The Revelation of Jesus Christ
Weekly Devotional for 2007

          Stefanie’s mother was born on a small island called Krk, off the coast of Croatia in the former Yugoslavia. As a child she swam daily in the transparent waters of the Adriatic and picked wild asparagus along the rock-laced coast. Somewhere in the middle of her adolescent years her father’s name finally surfaced from an immigration list into which it had been dropped years before, and she was transplanted with her parents and sister into the whirling, horn-honking, exhaust-filled cacophony which was New York City.
            Perhaps the most disorienting element of her new environment was the language. While many Americans may not realize it, American English is loaded with idiomatic sayings that are extremely difficult for new immigrants to fully understand. Imagine the wonder when a newcomer to America hears that someone is “head over heels in love.” Even more puzzling to an immigrant’s sense of normalcy is the expression “it’s a dog-eat-dog world.” And consider the puzzlement when a trusted friend instructs a new immigrant to “break a leg.”
            None of these expressions make a lot of sense the instant a new American hears them. But to those who grew up in the States, they communicate significant information, especially when combined with just the right tone of voice. The best way to learn such idioms is to spend a lot of time listening to those who have been around for a while.
            Jesus often used similar expressions. When he warned his disciples against “the leaven of the Pharisees,” he was certainly not suggesting that the religious leaders were undercover bakers, churning out poisonous loaves to be sold in the marketplace! And think of how the word “heart” can be used. Even though we live in a medically advanced society, we still consider the emotional center of the human body to be the “heart.”[1]
            When our text says that the revelation of Jesus Christ has been “signified” it warns us to be careful how we move from the words of Revelation to its meaning. Things will often turn out vastly different than my first impressions suggested.
            So like immigrants, students of Revelation should not try to make too much sense of the book on their own. They need to compare their impressions with those who have carefully studied the book before them. When it comes to Revelation there is great safety in a “multitude of counselors.”

Lord, give me a learning spirit as I work my way through this book. Help me to carefully consider the ideas of others before I become too confident in my own opinions about it.