There is no legitimate reason to doubt that the Apostle John, one of the twelve disciples, is the author of this book. Along about the third century AD some scholars arose who questioned the authorship of the book of Revelation, but there is far more evidence for John's authorship than there is against it. Early church history credits the apostle with authorship, and this information was widely known and accepted while John was still living. In addition, the author of this book will clearly state that he received these prophecies while in exile on the Isle of Patmos. It is considered historical fact that the Apostle John was exiled to Patmos under the reign of the Emperor Domitian as punishment for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Domitian does not have a reputation comparable to Emperor Nero when it comes to persecution of the Christians, but Domitian does have the reputation of being fiercely loyal to the gods of Rome, and he dealt with what he considered blasphemy (the preaching of Christ) by banishing outspoken Christians to Roman penal colonies. If the author of Revelation were some other man pretending to be the Apostle John, we might expect him to have written it during a time when the Apostle John was still a free man and still operating as a famous pillar of the Christian church, not during a time when he was living out his old age in exile. Furthermore, men such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Clement, and Origen all ascribe the authorship of Revelation to the Apostle John, and I will not argue with such learned historical minds such as these.
Who better than one of the original twelve disciples to see the glorified Lord and to receive His words about what is to come? John, (believed to be the youngest of the twelve because he sat in the place of the youngest child at the Passover supper), maintained a childlike faith throughout his life, and this is the type of faith our Lord asks us all to have. Every single one of the twelve could have called himself "the disciple whom Jesus loved", but only John does so when writing his account of the gospel. I think it's because John never doubted or questioned the Lord's love. He simply accepted it as the truth, the same way a child accepts the word of his father. Because of John's trust in the Lord, he had the courage to follow Jesus not only to the scary and illegal nighttime trial held at the home of the high priest, but also to the foot of the cross. The gospel accounts do not record the presence of any other disciple at the crucifixion, and it is generally believed they were afraid to be seen there lest they also be arrested and crucified. When John stood beneath the cross comforting Jesus' mother Mary, Jesus chose John to take Mary into his own home and treat her like his own mother, which John faithfully did. I believe that the man whom Jesus trusted with His dear mother is also the man whom Jesus trusted to write Revelation.
Another reason for choosing John to receive the prophecies of Revelation is that, at the time the Lord gives these prophecies, John is the last living disciple. It is estimated that John would have been in his nineties when he was sent to Patmos. John may have felt cast aside in his later years, living on that rocky island where the prisoners were forced to perform hard labor in the mines day after day. That's no job for an elderly man. That's no job for a man who spent his life sharing the gospel message of love to a world that desperately needed to hear it. It could be that John felt like there was nothing more he could do for the Lord. But the Lord was by no means finished with him! This should encourage us all that we are never too weak, too sick, too old, too uneducated, or too restricted by the responsibilities of this life to be effective workers for the kingdom of our Lord. Jesus Christ will never take His eyes off anyone who belongs to Him. He is going to keep watch over us until He brings us safely home.
We can view our troubles and trials in this life as hindrances or as opportunities. John probably didn't feel like there was much opportunity to work for the Lord when he was sentenced to spend his final years doing hard labor in exile, but John was willing to do anything the Lord might assign him to do. I want to put forward the opinion that it wouldn't have been possible for John to write Revelation anywhere else other than in exile on an island that (much like Alcatraz) offered little chance of escape. I believe the Lord chose the solitude of that desolate island for John to write one of the greatest books of the Bible. The Lord sometimes orchestrates our circumstances so that we will be alone with Him. We could complain about this and feel sorry for ourselves, but it's far better if we ask, "Lord, what is Your purpose for these circumstances? What is it that You would have me do?" I think that's the type of questions John asked the Lord. Because he had this attitude, the Lord honored him with the wonderful opportunity to write a book we are still studying here in 2019.
John, in his own account of the gospel, tells us that after the resurrection the disciples went fishing. They weren't sure what their mission was anymore. They hadn't yet been given "the great commission" which was to share the gospel with the world. After a long night of unsuccessful fishing, the Lord appeared on the banks of the Sea of Galilee and called out to ask them if they had caught anything. He knew their net was empty. The ones whom He called to be fishers of men can no longer be fishers of fish. They weren't sure what to do anymore and they wondered whether He had revoked His calling upon their lives to be fishers of men, so they tried to go back to their old way of living. But as soon as the Lord commanded them to cast their net once again on the right side of the ship, they received a great catch, and this is when John immediately said, "It is the Lord!" (John 21:7) Jesus was standing so far away from them that they couldn't recognize Him by sight, but John recognized Him by heart. John was always so quick to understand and believe! This is another reason why the Lord chose John to write Revelation. John wasn't the type of person to question the Lord, to doubt the Lord, or to argue with the Lord. Whenever the Lord spoke, John believed and obeyed.
Who better than one of the original twelve disciples to see the glorified Lord and to receive His words about what is to come? John, (believed to be the youngest of the twelve because he sat in the place of the youngest child at the Passover supper), maintained a childlike faith throughout his life, and this is the type of faith our Lord asks us all to have. Every single one of the twelve could have called himself "the disciple whom Jesus loved", but only John does so when writing his account of the gospel. I think it's because John never doubted or questioned the Lord's love. He simply accepted it as the truth, the same way a child accepts the word of his father. Because of John's trust in the Lord, he had the courage to follow Jesus not only to the scary and illegal nighttime trial held at the home of the high priest, but also to the foot of the cross. The gospel accounts do not record the presence of any other disciple at the crucifixion, and it is generally believed they were afraid to be seen there lest they also be arrested and crucified. When John stood beneath the cross comforting Jesus' mother Mary, Jesus chose John to take Mary into his own home and treat her like his own mother, which John faithfully did. I believe that the man whom Jesus trusted with His dear mother is also the man whom Jesus trusted to write Revelation.
Another reason for choosing John to receive the prophecies of Revelation is that, at the time the Lord gives these prophecies, John is the last living disciple. It is estimated that John would have been in his nineties when he was sent to Patmos. John may have felt cast aside in his later years, living on that rocky island where the prisoners were forced to perform hard labor in the mines day after day. That's no job for an elderly man. That's no job for a man who spent his life sharing the gospel message of love to a world that desperately needed to hear it. It could be that John felt like there was nothing more he could do for the Lord. But the Lord was by no means finished with him! This should encourage us all that we are never too weak, too sick, too old, too uneducated, or too restricted by the responsibilities of this life to be effective workers for the kingdom of our Lord. Jesus Christ will never take His eyes off anyone who belongs to Him. He is going to keep watch over us until He brings us safely home.
We can view our troubles and trials in this life as hindrances or as opportunities. John probably didn't feel like there was much opportunity to work for the Lord when he was sentenced to spend his final years doing hard labor in exile, but John was willing to do anything the Lord might assign him to do. I want to put forward the opinion that it wouldn't have been possible for John to write Revelation anywhere else other than in exile on an island that (much like Alcatraz) offered little chance of escape. I believe the Lord chose the solitude of that desolate island for John to write one of the greatest books of the Bible. The Lord sometimes orchestrates our circumstances so that we will be alone with Him. We could complain about this and feel sorry for ourselves, but it's far better if we ask, "Lord, what is Your purpose for these circumstances? What is it that You would have me do?" I think that's the type of questions John asked the Lord. Because he had this attitude, the Lord honored him with the wonderful opportunity to write a book we are still studying here in 2019.
John, in his own account of the gospel, tells us that after the resurrection the disciples went fishing. They weren't sure what their mission was anymore. They hadn't yet been given "the great commission" which was to share the gospel with the world. After a long night of unsuccessful fishing, the Lord appeared on the banks of the Sea of Galilee and called out to ask them if they had caught anything. He knew their net was empty. The ones whom He called to be fishers of men can no longer be fishers of fish. They weren't sure what to do anymore and they wondered whether He had revoked His calling upon their lives to be fishers of men, so they tried to go back to their old way of living. But as soon as the Lord commanded them to cast their net once again on the right side of the ship, they received a great catch, and this is when John immediately said, "It is the Lord!" (John 21:7) Jesus was standing so far away from them that they couldn't recognize Him by sight, but John recognized Him by heart. John was always so quick to understand and believe! This is another reason why the Lord chose John to write Revelation. John wasn't the type of person to question the Lord, to doubt the Lord, or to argue with the Lord. Whenever the Lord spoke, John believed and obeyed.
After the disciples enjoyed an early morning fish fry with the Lord, the Apostle Peter asked Him about the future of John. Jesus replied, 'If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow Me.' (John 21:22) Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that Jesus would return for the church before John died. But Jesus didn't say that; He only commanded Peter to be concerned with the work Peter was assigned to do---not worry about what John would be assigned to do. In a sense, though, John did remain alive until Jesus "returned", if we think of this "return" as the appearance He made to John on the Isle of Patmos. Jesus wasn't promising that John would still be alive when He returned to call the church out of the world, but maybe He was promising that John would see Him again in his lifetime. The Lord fulfilled this promise when John, full of faith, aged in years, thinking he was no longer useful to the Master, was chosen to write the final book of the New Testament. The Apostle John endured to see the Lord in all His glory and to put pen to paper and write one of the finest books in the word of God.
I would love to have been able to see the face of John when he realized the Lord was once again commissioning him to do a great work for the kingdom of God. I picture him white-bearded and wrinkled, maybe with his back bowed over from age and from the forced labor in the mines, with his skin brown from many years spent under the sun sharing the gospel, with his body lacking the bold strength he had in his youth---the strength which caused the Lord to nickname him and his brother James "The Sons Of Thunder". I see John on the Sabbath, his shrunken and roughened hands folded in prayer. And suddenly.....a presence! A voice! And the voice says, "Write!" Oh, how thrilling this command must have been!
Why the Apostle John? Why did the Lord Jesus Christ choose him to write the final book of the Bible? I believe it was because of John's lifelong unshakable faith, because John lovingly took Mary into his own home as his own mother, and because John was the last of Jesus' closest friends still alive. I think another reason is that the Lord wanted the elderly Apostle John to know that strength comes from Him. Real inner strength doesn't depend on a person's youth or health. The Lord can use us for His kingdom work if we let Him, no matter how aged or weak we become, because our strength comes from Him. If the Lord Jesus chose a man of feeble physical strength in his nineties to write the final book of the Bible, what great work may the Lord have in store for us?
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