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Often, the last book in our Bibles will carry a title like The Revelation of Saint John the Divine. Saint John would not have ap proved. He was not interested in drawing attention to himself. Neither was he interested in revealing clues for calculating dates for the end of time. Instead, John wrote the Revelation to reveal one thing: the gospel, the good news of who Jesus Christ is and what he accomplishes.

I know firsthand that publishers like to change the title a book's author has put on his manuscript. John was clever enough to win that game. He incorporated his chosen title into the opening phrase of the text itself: "Apocalypsis jesu christus, which God gives to him." Apocalypsis is the Greek word translated "the revelation," denoting an unveiling, a disclosure, a making known. The Book of Revelation is presented by John as an apocalypse of Jesus Christ.

The phrase following apocalypsis jesu christus—"which God gives to him"—makes plain that Jesus is to be understood as the Revealer, as the prime possessor and bearer of the revelation. But John also wants to designate Jesus Christ as the content of the revelation. Jesus is both the Revealer and that which is being revealed. The remainder of John's book shows that John understands clearly that he has been given a message from the Lord Jesus that tells us who this Lord Jesus is and was and is to come.

Thus, the title Apocalypsis, or the Revelation, provides us with the primary principle for interpreting the book. Even though he works at it from a perspective somewhat different from that of the rest of the New Testament, John is essentially at one with those other authors in his desire to proclaim and expound the person of this same Jesus Christ. So if the first question always to be asked when reading Revelation is "What is it trying to tell us about Jesus?" every interpretation must be tested against and harmonized with the larger revelation of Christ in the New Testament as a whole. This principle of interpretation stands in stark contrast to attempts to seek in Revelation "signs" that can be observed in today's world and political events.

Why end-time speculations are wrong
One of the teachings of Jesus that is often ignored by today's "calendar prophets" is against trying to get at the secrets of God by doping out "signs." In Matthew 12:39 where Jesus talks about the coming day of judgment, some doctors of the law and Pharisees ask him for a sign. Jesus responds, "An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah" (all quotations from the NRSV). Mat thew 16:1–4 reports a very similar incident in almost the same words, adding only, "Then he [Jesus] left them and went away."

Mark 8:11–13 gives us the same kind of situation with only a slightly different response: "Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation." Mark 13:5–6 reads, "Then Jesus began to say to them, 'Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, "I am he!" and they will lead many astray.' " Mark 13:21–23 continues: "And if anyone says to you at that time, 'Look! Here is the Messiah!' or 'Look! There he is!'—do not believe it. False Messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be alert; I have already told you everything."

Another passage, Luke 17:20–24, reads: "Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, 'The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, "Look, here it is!" or "There it is!" For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.'

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October 25 1999, Vol. 43, No. 12