Revelation 3:14-22 - Indepthbible.org

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446 (...continued) Beasley-Murray comments that "As surely as God's Own character stands behind His word, so Jesus is the guarantee of the truth of His message...This element in the character of Christ contrasts strongly with the faithlessness and inconsistency of the Laodiceans in relation to the faith they professed." (P. 104) Aune translates by “the Master Workman” (p. 246), changing the text to read avmw,n, amon, holding that it is a mistranslation of the title of Wisdom in Proverbs 8:6, !Amïa', )amon. There is no textual evidence for such a reading. In his comment, Aune makes nothing of this translation, but relates it to Isaiah 65:16. 447 For the phrase, "the Witness, the Trustworthy One," compare Revelation 1:5 and 19:11. In our note on 1:5, we state that Jesus Himself has preceded His followers in this matter of standing boldly in the face or murderous opposition by the Roman authorities. For Him, it was Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator who ruled over Judea, and who sent Him to death upon the wooden post. Knowing full well that such a death was coming, Jesus nonetheless stood boldly before Pilate, confessing the truth about Who He was. If He calls upon His followers to take risky stands, and to be willing even to die for their commitment, He is asking nothing more than He Himself has already done. But why does the risen Lord mention this fact, or describe Himself in this way, to the church in Laodicea--plagued by self-satisfaction and complacency? Is it in order to shame them by the contrast between their own life-styles and that of their martyred Lord? Aune points out that the phrase may also refer to “the exalted Jesus Who guarantees the truth of the revelation transmitted through John,” and he considers this to be the most probable understanding (p. 255-56). 448 The conjunction kai, kai, “and,” is read by Alexandrinus and the Majority Text. It is changed to the definite article o`, ho by Minuscules 2050, 2053, 2351, a few other Greek manuscripts, the Harclean Syriac and the Bohairic Coptic (in part). It is read kai, o`, kai ho, “and the...” by Sinaiticus, Ephraemi Rescriptus, a few other Greek manuscripts and the Bohairic Coptic (in part). The variant readings do not change the meaning of Revelation, but it is difficult to determine on the basis of this textual evidence which reading was original. 449 Compare Revelation 3:7, with its footnote, where it has been shown that this is a divine title, taken from the Jewish Bible in its description of YHWH as the true one ëçèéíüò, alethinos). In Revelation 6:10 the One sitting on the throne of the universe is addressed as o` despo,thj o` a[gioj kai. avlhqino,j, ho despotes ho hagios kai alethinos, “the Divine Master Who is set-apart and true.” Right alongside that common Jewish confession concerning YHWH God, Revelation pictures the risen Lord as claiming that same description for Himself, "the True One." Just as YHWH proclaimed himself to be the "True" God, over against the "false" gods, so the risen Lord proclaims himself to be the "True One," over against the many false gods being worshiped at the close of the first century in the Roman province of Asia. 231 (continued...)
451 452 453 454 455 the creation of God: 3.15 'I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. 449 (...continued) But just as we have earlier asked, why does the risen Lord so speak in this letter to the Laodiceans? Is it because of their devotion to lesser gods--i.e., to the gods of prosperity, and self-satisfaction? Certainly it means that the devastating criticism of the church at Laodicea is one that cannot be safely ignored--since it comes from such an authoritative One, Whose truthfulness cannot be questioned! 450 The conjunction kai, kai, “and,” is interpolated into the original text just before the definite article at this point by Sinaiticus and the Philoxenian Syriac. Whether read or not makes no difference for the meaning of Revelation. 451 The noun êôßóåùò, ktiseos, “of creation,” is changed to read evkklhsi,aj, ekklesias, “of (the) church,” by the first writer of Sinaiticus. This singular reading is probably an attempt by the author of Sinaiticus to avoid the possible “Arian” conclusions that can be drawn from the original text, i.e., that Jesus is not truly divine, but a (first) creation of God. This variant reading does change the meaning of the original text, making it say something quite different. There is, however, little possibility that this reading was original. See the next footnote. 452 What does this phrase mean, "the Beginning of the Creation of God"? Does it mean that the risen Lord is the first of God's creatures? Or does it mean that He Himself began, He was the "first Cause" of the divine creative works? The noun avrch, arche means "beginning," as opposed to te,loj, telos, "end." It also means the "beginning" in the sense of "origin." It is used for the "first-born" child in a family, such as Reuben who was Jacob's "beginning" (Deuteronomy 21:17). It is used to mean "the first cause," and is also used to mean "ruler," or "authority." In the New Testament, avrch, arche most often means simply "beginning," the first point in time, whether it has to do with creation, or the "start" of something, such as the ministry of Jesus (Luke 1:2), or the time when one first became a follower of Jesus (1 John 2:24; 3:11; Hebrews 3:14; 5:12; 6:1). Beasley-Murray comments that this statement in Revelation 3:14, “...while echoing Proverbs 8:22 [‘YHWH brought Me (Wisdom) forth as the first of all His works, before His deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began..." verses 22-23], it does so in the sense of the developed Christology which appears in the hymn of Colossians 1:15-20. There Christ is described as ‘the first-born of all creation...the beginning, the first-born from the dead...He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.’ When John speaks of Christ as ‘the Beginning of God's creation,’ he means not the first of God's creatures but, as the New English Bible renders the phrase, "the Prime Source of all God's creation." (P. 104) Compare John 1:3, "Through Him [the Word] all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made." We agree with Beasley-Murray, and also with Swete (continued...) 232
Page 1 and 2: THE LETTER OF THE RISEN LORD TO THE
Page 3: 446 447 448 449 450 says the Amen,
Page 7 and 8: 459 460 461 462 463 464 neither hot
Page 9 and 10: 465 466 467 you are saying that "I
Page 11 and 12: 472 (...continued) riches that have
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Page 15 and 16: and turn around! 491 492 493 3.20 L
Page 17 and 18: 500 3.21 The one who is conquering,
Page 19: 504 (...continued) can look at us o

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