Faithful Witness
Jesus is the Faithful Witness who summons his disciples to emulate him by faithfully bearing witness in a hostile world.
Two themes are repeated in the book of Revelation
- “witness” and “overcoming,” and they are closely related.
Beginning with Jesus and his own witness in his death, his followers must persevere
in his “testimony,” and in this way, they “overcome” and one day
will emerge victorious in the city of “New Jerusalem.” They are called
to “overcome, even as I overcame.”
Jesus is presented
to the “seven churches of Asia” as the “faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.”
By “faithful
witness” is meant the “testimony” he gave in his sacrificial death
on the Roman cross on Calvary. By his shed blood, “he freed us from our sins
and made a kingdom, priests for his God.”
And he became the
“firstborn of the dead” through his resurrection, and the “first and the
last” who possesses authority even over “death and Hades” – (Revelation 1:5, 1:18).
The Greek term rendered “witness” in English versions of Revelation
is ‘martur.’ This is the term from which the noun ‘martyr’ is derived. In
secular Greek, it is used for a “witness,” especially one who gives
testimony in a legal proceeding.
THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS
By the first century, the term may not have assumed the full idea of a “martyr,”
but as applied in Revelation, it certainly approaches that sense. The “saints”
who give “testimony” for Jesus pay the consequences for doing so.
Similarly, John is introduced as one who “bore witness of the word of
God and of the testimony of Jesus.” And so, he found himself banished to Patmos
“on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”
And here, the term “word of God” is synonymous with the “testimony
of Jesus.” And it is not just any testimony, but the “testimony”
about him that placed the Apostle in personal jeopardy.
The English term “testimony” translates the Greek noun ‘martyria,’
meaning “testimony, witness.” It is related to the term ‘martur’ and refers
to the “testimony” given by a “witness.”
While John may not have given his life for his “testimony,” he
certainly paid a heavy price by losing his freedom and legal rights. But he was
by no means the first or the last disciple of Jesus to do so.
Previously, in the city of Pergamos, the saint named Antipas was “killed
among you, where Satan dwells.” In his letter to the congregation, Jesus calls
him “my faithful witness [martyr],” and uses the same term
applied to himself in the prologue – (Revelation 2:13).
When the fifth
seal is opened, John sees the souls of saints who were “slain for the word of God, and for the testimony [martyria] which they
held,” just as he was exiled because of his “witness”
for the “word of God” and the “testimony of Jesus” – (Revelation
6:9-11).
In chapter 12,
having failed to destroy the “woman clothed with the sun” or her “son,”
the enraged “Dragon” sets out to “wage war with the rest of her seed, those that keep the commandments of God and
have the testimony of Jesus.”
Once again,
saints are killed because of the “testimony of Jesus.” And Satan is not
alone in his vendetta. Later, the “great harlot, Babylon” is seen “drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses [martyrs] of Jesus.”
– (Revelation 12:17, 17:6).
At the
commencement of the “thousand years,” judgment is made on behalf of the
saints who were “beheaded for the testimony
of Jesus and the word of God, and have not worshipped the beast, neither his
image and received not its mark upon their forehead and upon their hand.”
Once more, the “word of God” and the “testimony of Jesus”
are paired. That the “witnesses” are killed is beyond doubt, as is the
reason for it. But now, added to the list is their refusal to render homage to
the “Beast from the sea” - (Revelation 20:4).
OVERCOME
Not only is Jesus the “faithful witness,” he is the first to “overcome.”
In chapter 5, John weeps bitterly because no one is found who is “worthy”
to open the “scroll sealed with seven seals.” That is until he hears
one of the “twenty-four elders” command him to “weep not, for the
lion of the tribe of Judah has overcome to open the scroll.”
When he looks, instead of the “lion” he sees the “Lamb as
having been slain.” That is, Jesus “overcame” and qualified to open
the “sealed scroll” through his death – (Revelation 5:5-6).
At the end of each of the seven letters in chapters 2 and 3, the reader
finds promises made to the “one who overcomes.” The overcomer will “eat
of the tree of life in the Paradise of God,” not be harmed by the “second
death,” eat of the “hidden manna,” receive authority over the
nations, not have his name “blotted out of the book of life,” become a “pillar”
in the sanctuary in “New Jerusalem,” and sit with Jesus on “my
Father’s throne.”
The churches of Asia “overcome” by rejecting the deceptions of the
“false apostles,” the “Nicolaitans,” the “teachings of Balaam,”
and “Jezebel, who taught my servants to eat meat offered to idols.”
“Overcoming” believers persevere through tribulations, bear faithful “witness,” and refuse to compromise with the surrounding pagan society even if doing so means their impoverishment and death.
Most critically, the saints “overcome” by refusing to render
homage to the “Beast” or its image, and by not taking its “mark”
or “number” even though the “False Prophet” causes those who
refuse to be put to death.
- (Revelation 15:2) – “And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that overcame the beast and its image, and the number of its name, standing by the sea of glass, having harps of God.”
Likewise, at the
start of the “thousand years,” “judgment is given” for the saints
because they suffer martyrdom for their “testimony,” and because they
refuse the “mark of the beast.”
Finally, after
the “Dragon” is expelled from heaven, a voice declares that the “brethren
overcame” him by the “blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony,
and because they loved not their lives unto death” - (Revelation 12:11).
HOW TO OVERCOME
Thus, giving “faithful
testimony” and “overcoming” Satan are two sides of the same coin.
Put another way, bearing faithful “witness” is how the persevering
saint “overcomes” the “Dragon.”
This does not mean
every saint must die a martyr’s death. While John suffered banishment for the “testimony
of Jesus,” he was not executed, at least, not in the book.
And in the province
of Asia, some believers suffer “imprisonment,” and others are accused falsely
by members of the “synagogue of Satan.” Not all members of the
congregation experience martyrdom. Regardless, Jesus exhorts the churches to be
“faithful unto death, and I will give you the
crown of life.”
The last clause
provides the key for how believers “overcome” – “faithfulness unto death.” Likewise,
the brethren “overcome” the “Dragon” because they do not “love
their lives unto death.” It is that level of allegiance to Jesus that
separates “overcomers” from those who “eat meat offered to idols.”
Thus, to “overcome”
the saint must persevere in his or her “witness” for Jesus whatever the
consequences may be. And if that means his untimely death, he will “overcome”
the Devil and his works in the same manner as did his Lord and Master.
