The Crucified Messiah

Jesus is called the “ Ruler of the Kings of the Earth ” in the present tense in the Book of Revelation . His sovereignty is based on his past death and resurrection, NOT on hereditary rights or military might, and he reigns on the Throne at the center of the Universe. Though at times the “ Kings of the Earth ” do Satan’s bidding, the slain “ Lamb ” even uses their plots to achieve his own redemptive purposes for humanity and the Creation itself.

In the Gospel of John , Jesus is the Logos, the “ Word become flesh ” in whom the “ Glory of God ” resides. He is the Greater Tabernacle foreshadowed by the Tent that Israel carried in the wilderness, the place where the Glory of Yahweh was manifested. John’s declaration anticipates his later passages that link him to the Father. Jesus is the true and full manifestation of the Glory of the Living God who created all things.

Two terms appear multiple times in the  Book of Revelation , namely, “ witness ” and “ overcome ,” themes that are closely related. Beginning with Jesus and the witness he gave in his death on the Roman cross, the Book calls his disciples to persevere in his “ testimony ” regardless of any consequences they may suffer. It is in this way that they “ overcome ” and reign with the “ Son of Man ,” as well as qualify for everlasting life in “ New Jerusalem .” Jesus himself summoned his saints to “overcome, just as I also overcame.”

When certain members of the Corinthian congregation denied the future resurrection of the righteous, Paul appealed to the past resurrection of Jesus as the precedent and grounds for this coming resurrection. His faithful disciples will be raised bodily from the dead when he “ arrives ” at the end of the age, and Death itself will be terminated.

According to the Apostle John, “ life ” is found in the “ Word ” or ' Logos ', and this life is the “ Light of men .” It is “ shining in the darkness ,” and the darkness “ cannot seize ” or suppress it. This same “ Word ” has become the Living Word in Jesus of Nazareth. In him, the glory and life of God are fully manifested - (John 1:1).

Jesus declared that “ violent men are seizing the Kingdom of God .” Was he referring to malevolent men from the outside who attempt to take control of the Kingdom through force? Are his disciples called to “forcefully seize” the promises of and from God, or was he saying that the Kingdom must advance through forceful action? Jesus was discussing the ministry of John the Baptist, and how John was received by the Jewish people.

The  Gospel of John  identifies Jesus as the  Logos , the “ Word ” through which God made all things. This theme is threaded throughout  John  and builds on traditional ideas from the Hebrew Bible about how God created the Universe, especially life through His spoken Word. Jesus of Nazareth is the ultimate expression of that Word and the Living God.