“I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”
(Revelation 1:9)
John is commissioned to write a prophetic revelation. He identifies himself as one with his readers in the tribulation, kingdom, and perseverance that are ours in Jesus. One cannot exercise kingdom rule except through tribulation and endurance. But this is a kingdom unanticipated by the majority of Judaism. The exercise of rule in this kingdom begins and continues only as one faithfully endures tribulation. This is the formula for kingship: faithful endurance through tribulation is the means by which one reigns in the present with Jesus. Believers are not mere subjects in Christ's kingdom. That John uses the word fellow-partaker underscores the active involvement of saints, not only in enduring tribulation, but also in reigning in the midst of it. Their being identified with Christ is the basis for the trials which confront them, as well as for their ability to endure such trials and to participate in the kingdom as kings. This paradoxical form of rule mirrors the manner in which Jesus exercised His authority in His earthly ministry even from the cross, and Christians are to follow in His path. This becomes a major theme as a revelation develops. Believers will conquer by refusing to compromise in the face of trials, by suffering as John himself did, and in general by pursuing Christlike character. Like Jesus' beginning kingship, Revelation reveals that the saints reign consists in "overcoming" by not compromising their faithful witness in the face of trials, ruling over the powers of evil, defeating sin in their lives, as well as having begun to rule over death and Satan through their identification with Jesus.
The tribulation is a present reality, and will continue among the churches in the imminent future. John himself was enduring this tribulation on Patmos, where he had been exiled due to his witness to Christ: because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. To "testify" could connote to witness in a court of law, which was its primary setting in the Greek world and is the way it is used in John's Gospel. This would mean that the rejection of the "testimony" of Jesus and of Christians by the world and its courts becomes the basis for their judgment in the heavenly court.
(G.K. Beale)
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