We’re In This Together

REVELATION Number 22
We Are in this Together

Revelation 1:9 (NASB 2020)
“I, John, your brother and fellow participant in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”

I love the humility and grace that comes through John’s introductory comment. We do not see him exuding a lofty opinion as one so strong in faith that he gets visions directly from the Lord Jesus Himself. Rather, he portrays himself as our Brother and a fellow participant in this tribulation we call life on planet earth.

As we progress through our study of The Revelation I will have more to say about the tribulation we face. For now, let’s just pause to notice that John recognizes that the Church is experiencing tribulation and that he himself having been banished to a small island in the middle of the sea is right there with us.

I appreciate the way the NIV has rendered this phrase because it helps bring additional clarity to a somewhat awkward sentence. Here the NIV has, “your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus”.

In Christ we have all these things. Tribulation or suffering, a glorious Kingdom, and a need for perseverance or patience as we endure life in the valley of the shadow of death. Our wonderful Lord Jesus has prepared us for this. In John 16:33 He said, “These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (NASB 2020) In John 15:18–19 He also said, “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” (NASB 2020)

We are all in this together and the Lord Jesus is in it with us.