Reflections on the Book of Revelation
From EsotericConnection
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April 2007
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein; for the time is near. Rev 1:1-3
We can read and contemplate the bible in many ways. We should certainly take notice of the literal meaning of its stories. This becomes a most difficult task when we read the Revelation to John. The imagery is shocking, mystifying and bizarre, especially when we place it outside ourselves. It more closely resembles our dream life rather than our waking life.
If we place this Revelation within us and use it to chart the development of our consciousness, it will speak to us quite differently. If we accept the idea that our consciousness evolves, that we haven’t always been able to think the way we do today, then we realise that we tread a path towards becoming increasingly conscious. What does it mean to be conscious? In essence it means that we know ourselves fully and completely. We become aware of every part of our consciousness thereby knowing why we think, feel and act the way we do. Naturally, as we become aware of ourselves this insight changes us. We understand ourselves and can be more forgiving of ourselves. As a consequence we are less harsh in our judgement of others. To be conscious therefore means to see clearly and to understand what makes us tick and what makes the world tick. Inherent in this is tremendous freedom.
We might ask why we can’t see ourselves clearly already. Simply because we are not strong enough! We do not have sufficient control of our will to be able to know ourselves fully. Just think about how we react towards criticism or opposition to our ideas. It is through the mastery of our will that we can face ourselves with understanding. This path of mastery is revealed in the Revelation to John.
If we compare St John’s Gospel with his Revelation, we can see that in his Gospel, St John carefully maps out the ways in which human beings connect up with the I AM. The I AM is that fourth member of our being which is the essential tool to become fully conscious. St John also shows us how we human beings receive the Christ impulse into our physical body as Jesus did. Then, through the crucifixion of the physical body, St John shows how we can be reborn – resurrected – into a different level of awareness.
St John, through his Revelation, shows us in detail what happens to our consciousness as we awaken and integrate this Christ Impulse that has been slumbering deeply within most of us since the Mystery of Golgotha. He shows us how our consciousness is transformed by this Christ Impulse. Step by step, through the chapters, he shows us how we move from living our lives as if we were just a physical body to learning how to use our total being; body, soul and spirit. If we think that we are just a physical body then we see ourselves as a car without an engine or a driver. In fact, far too many people are like remote controlled cars and they don’t even know who has the remote!
The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John (the beloved) is the revealing of these two principles within the human being. The Jesus principle, which is the I AM, and the Christ principle which makes human beings Gods. John specifically records this fact in his Gospel,
The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God." Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, you are gods'? Jn 10:33-34
This Revelation could only be given to John, the beloved. Only in the presence of immense love that passed between Jesus the Christed One and his beloved disciple John could such a Revelation be unravelled. When two people love each other deeply, respectfully and without self-interest, this love cannot be contained within their beings. It flows out from them and changes, not just the immediate environment but also the cosmos; the universe in which dwell the angels and all manner of spiritual beings. Only when we are able to express and receive this depth of love, this intensity of love will we be fully able to understand the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John.