Positioned as the last entry in the New Testament, the book of Revelation throws an avalanche of doubt on the nonviolent love of Jesus.
Was nonviolence just a temporary stance during Jesus' incarnation?
Does the end-time Jesus have an alternative agenda?
Does Jesus return as a vengeful and violent judge?
Many Christians believe the answers are yes. The popular former mega-church pastor Mark Driscoll presents Jesus post-resurrection as someone comfortable meting out violence.
In Revelation, Jesus is a pride fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is a guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up.
— Mark Driscoll
Relevant Magazine, in an interview in issue 24
While the founder of International House of Prayer, Mike Bickle, reads Revelation as both God's "perfect battle plan" and an "infallible" "prayer manual" for the modern Church (see Overview of the book of Revelation, pp.5 & 7 of the transcript). He describes the end-time Jesus accepting the necessity of violence as the only way to establish heaven on earth.
So it is as if Jesus says, “...I will woo you and warn you and if you will not agree with My plan, I cannot put My plan aside. I will kill you and drive you off the planet. That is the only alternative.”
— Mike Bickle
Overview of the book of Revelation, p.4 of the transcript
We'd write a story of war, not peace
For those who read the Bible literally, Revelation must come as a relief, finally having the New Testament describe Jesus similarly to the all-powerful, wrath-filled God of the Old Testament.
Yet even non-literal readers like myself find Revelation's violent imagery persuasive. Why wouldn't we? There's something attractive about the idea of a cosmic battle being waged between the forces of God and Satan for our world.
Let's be honest with each other here: an ultimate war between good and evil where God is victorious and Jesus returns to give credence to our faith is exactly how we'd write this story.
And that's the issue. The whole Jesus story up to this point is not at all like the one we'd write if we were calling the shots.
Subverting violence
The idea that nonviolence will win in the end sounds like nonsense in a world saturated with the idea that only violence can overcome violence. No wonder Paul says that "when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it's all nonsense" (1 Cor. 1:23 NLT).
We cannot escape the violent symbology of Revelation, but during this series we will learn to recognise how John employs these symbols, in the words of Gregory A. Boyd, "in a way that completely subverts their violence" (Crucifixion of the Warrior God, Vol. 1, p.595).
[John's] point in reversing the violent interpretation of these symbols is precisely to contrast the world's way of waging war with the nonviolent, self-sacrificial way in which Jesus and his followers wage war.
— Gregory A. Boyd
Crucifixion of the Warrior God, Vol. 1, p.595
Learning to read Revelation as a book of peace rather than of violence begins with understanding the three claims made in the opening verses.
- The revelation is of Jesus Christ.
- The author says that he is a prophet.
- The book is actually a pastoral letter.
