Rev.1:9 – I, John, your brother and fellow participant in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
John certainly had plenty of questions for the Lord that day when he was praying on the beach. Things like “what am I doing here” were circling around in his head. The other apostles were probably all dead by now, all martyred, and that was also probably on John’s mind as well. The early church had a different view of martyrdom than many of us have today. Dying for the Lord was considered a privelege and some even prayed for the honor of dying for Christ. If the traditions are true that the Romans had failed trying to kill John then those failed attempts at his death were also swirling around with the other questions in John’s head. Here is how Paul Hoskins sees this moment.
“On an isolated island, miles away from his beloved churches, it would seem likely that John would be wondering what next. Here he was, an old man who had invested so much in raising up and nurturing churches in Asia Minor. I can imagine John going through a time of questioning like the following. Why would God allow this to happen? Why did he put me here? What effect was this going to have on the churches of Asia Minor? John’s questions are suddenly answered when Jesus shows up, speaks to him, and gives him a new job. He is going to receive revelations that he is supposed to write down and send to the churches of Asia Minor. Like other prophets before him, God was going to use John to write down this message and use it to build up and challenge his people.”
When unplanned changes in our plans suddenly happen to us we have to consider what exactly is going on. John obviously believed in the sovereignty of God in all things so he must have come to some conclusions about God’s future plans for him and was trying to figure out what part isolation could possibly play in those plans. When Jesus came to John on this beach that day with a series of visions John began to get some of the answers. He was to bring a message to the churches he oversaw in Asia, he had no idea that this book would be for the whole world for thousands of years to come. As we see the closure of this age coming upon us this book written 2000 years ago becomes our roadmap for the last part of our journey. You never know how important your difficult moments in life may be, it may be a set up to minister to others going through tough times too.
