Revelation 1:1-3--Prologue

Revelation 1:1-3
English Standard Version

Prologue
1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

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This prologue serves to give us the information of the Author, the recipient, and the message for this book (it's a combination epistle and book of prophecy that is written in an apocalyptic style).   First, let's discuss the Author--ultimately it is God the Father who gives this message to God the Son who gives it to His servant, the Apostle John--sometimes directly speaking to him and other times through angelic messengers.  Then, John bears witness to what he has seen or heard as he writes this letter to the Church (both at his time and in the future) so that they might understand the words of the prophecy that he was given, and that they might understand that the end is near.

I skipped one little part that is important because I wanted to give it its own little paragraph here.  The book of Revelation promises blessing for those who read the words of this book aloud, and for those who hear the words of the prophecy and for those who not only hear, but also obey.  This should be our pattern for all Scripture, but Jesus seems to have a special interest in us reading the words of this book aloud (definitely in our congregations, but I think the implication here is that we should not be ashamed to read these words publicly).