It Starts Small

Welcome to a brand new series: the 7 Churches! We are going to start this study looking at our inspired author John. We know John, the disciple of Jesus, wrote this book.

I think it’s important to look at the author of Revelations!

¹⁰ and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s partners.

“Don’t be afraid,” Jesus told Simon. “From now on you will be catching people.”

Luke 5:10

John was a son. His father was a man named Zebedee.

John was a brother. His brother’s name was James. James was executed by King Herod.

John was a fishing partner to Peter who was also called to be a disciple.

²⁵ Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” ²⁷ Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

John 19:25-27

John was the only disciple who did not flee when Christ was put on trial, and then hung on a cross. While hanging on the cross, Jesus tasked John with taking care of his mother.

After the day of Pentecost, John remained in Jerusalem for many years. John’s exile came when his enemies wanted him to stop preaching about Jesus. They had him arrested and sent before the Roman Emperor from trial. He had been charged with sedition and being a false witness.

He stood before the Roman Emperor Domitian who found JOhn to be irritating and caused him a lot of anger. The Emperor had John thrown into a pot of boiling oil. God miraculously saved John from being hurt in any manor by the oil. The Emperor also made John drink poison and it still did not kill him.

John’s faith and perseverance caused his testimony and witness to become all the more convincing as God shielded him from being burned and not dying from the poison. This is why the Emperor was furious with John and this made John’s enemies all that more angry.

The Emperor could not dispute the reasoning of Christ’s faithful advocate nor could he match the power of truth! The Emperor could not find anything false about what John testified. So instead of killing him, he had John exiled to Patmos.

Patmos was a desolate place. It was a colony of criminals sent to exile. It was a rocky island in the middle of the sea of Aegean.

⁹ I, John, your brother and partner in the affliction, kingdom, and endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 1:9

It was in the place of solitude and desolation, Jesus gave him the revelation of what was to come so that we prepare our hearts for His second coming. There were things that would have to happen and John would be the one to give them to us.

When we think of Patmos, we might think about how lonely it was to be there. How dangerous it must have been for John, but just like God protected him from the boiling oil, He protected and provided for him in one of the most hostile places John had ever been.

John was blessed to be given a glimpse of the future.