Revelation (Continental Commentary Series) by Jurgen Roloff

Author:Jurgen Roloff
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2008-10-15T05:09:00+00:00

The motifs of preaching repentance, accompanied by miraculous deeds, and of the ascension thus constituted the cornerstones: like Moses and Elijah, Christian prophets understood themselves to be empowered to preach sermons of repentance that were accompanied by signs (Luke 10:17-20): like the former, they also expected God's redeeming act at the end of their path, that is, at the resurrection of the dead. Connected for them with these motifs was the motif of rejection, which also stems from the Old Testament tradition, and of the violent death of the prophets, a motif that also placed for them the fate of Jesus in a new light (Luke 13:33-34: Matt. 5:12; Acts 7:52: Heb. 11:36-37, and elsewhere); a violent death not only was the fate of prophets but also was participation in the path of Jesus. It is to be assumed that the piece of tradition originated in Palestine immediately prior to the Jewish War, when the church there was afflicted more and more by Jews and several of their prominent men became victims of riots and pogroms. It is not to be ruled out that vv. 7-8 refer to specific events that particularly shocked the churches. Thus, some have thought of the death of James of Zebedee (Acts 12:2) and of James, the brother of the Lord (Eus. Hist. ecc!. 2.23.4ff.). But in view of the meagerness of our sources regarding the history of the primitive church in Palestine, speculations of this kind are idle.

How does John interpret the piece of tradition? With it he wants to illustrate the path and destiny of the prophets: theirs is a path that is tread in public settings within the world as a testimony regarding "peoples and nations and languages and kings" (10: 11); it is also a path into sufferingthe small book is bitter in the prophet's stomach (10: 10). For John this motif of suffering is especially important; he also appears to have intervened redactionally rather strongly in the section vv. 7-10. Here he interrupted the original close reference to Jerusalem in favor of a worldwide perspective that anticipates chaps. 12-13. He seems to have understood the statements regarding the ascension and resurrection in vv. 1I- I2 as a justification of the prophets and their commission from God, whereby with v. 13, created by him, he ties the section into the whole of the trumpet vision and thus, at the same time, gives it an unexpected climax.

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