Introducing the Lord Jesus Part 6

REVELATION Number 38
Introducing the Lord Jesus
Part 6

Finally, in Revelation 3:14 the Lord Jesus introduces Himself to the church at Laodicea as “The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Origin of the creation of God.” (NASB 2020)

The word “amen” is one of those words like “okay” that never gets translated and is essentially the same in almost every language. The very first thing the Lord calling Himself “the Amen” brings to mind for me is a verse that I count as a favorite. It reminds me that everything is summed up in the Lord Jesus Christ and that anything God has promised is, to put it in the words Eugene Peterson when translating this verse in “The Message” Bible, “Yes, it’s done” in Christ. That verse is 2 Corinthians 1:20 “For as many as the promises of God are, in Him they are yes; therefore through Him also is our Amen to the glory of God through us.” (NASB 2020)

This combination of “yes” and “amen” is powerful. John uses it in Revelation 1:7 where the NASB renders it “So it is to be, Amen.” Once again, in the closing verses of The Revelation, John employs this powerful construct. Revelation 22:20 reads, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” (NASB 2020)

The literary construct here is “yes, and amen”, but it uses the Greek nai, an affirmation like “yes certainly” along with the Hebrew amen, which BDAG defines as a “strong affirmation of what is stated.” In this way, it is as if the Apostle is underscoring the truth and certainty of this declaration to both groups of God’s people, Gentiles (Greeks) and Jews (Hebrews). BDAG also points out that there is a special use of “amen” in which the term refers to “Christ as the ultimate affirmation, the Amen.” This use is found only here, but it is illustrated well in the Psalms.

Psalm 89:34–37
“I will not violate My covenant, Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips.
Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David.
His descendants shall endure forever, And his throne as the sun before Me.
It shall be established forever like the moon, And a witness in the sky is faithful.”
Selah (NASB 2020).

The Lord Jesus is the “yes, it’s done. He is the tetelestai, the “it is finished!” The ultimate affirmation of all God’s promises to us.

Only one other time in scripture do we find “amen” used as a name, and it is hidden in the translations. Isaiah 65:16 speaks of “the God of truth.” The Hebrew here is “the God of Amen.” This is particularly interesting because we find the next couple of verses in the Isaiah passage telling us “behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.” Isaiah 65:17 (NASB 2020) The passage goes on to recount wolves lying with lambs, no weeping, peace, and rest.

When the Lord identifies Himself as “the Origin of the creation of God,” He is not referring only to that creation recounted in Genesis, but more poignantly to the new heaven and new earth, the new creation and His eternal Kingdom.

The Lord also refers to Himself as “the faithful and true witness.” Over the course of our study, we will become very familiar with the word “witness.” The Greek from which it is translated is martus from which we derive our word martyr, and indeed, though not its primary meaning this is a listed use for the word. When we examine the things the Lord says He knows about each church, we will come across Revelation 2:13 where martus is used in this way to speak of Antipas who was killed there. It reads, ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold firmly to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.” (NASB 2020)

The primary meanings of the word are exactly what we expect. BDAG has “to affirm something with solemnity, testify, bear witness” for the verb form. Of the noun, it adds “one who affirms or attests, testifier, witness.”

At the beginning of our study, the Apostle is said to have “testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 1:2 (NASB 2020) “Testimony” translates martus in both cases. We spent some time on the testimony of Christ, so I will not belabor it here, but simply remind us that the Lord Jesus is both the Messenger and the Message of God. He is the logos the living Word of God and His testimony is faithful and true. As must be true, His characteristics include faithfulness. He is the Truth.