St. John of Patmos in Current Times
St. John's life and his writings in both the Fourth Gospel and the Revelation provide inspiration and hope during uncertain times, promising a better time in the future.
During times of uncertainty and severe economic downturns, it is common to see people, searching for answers and some degree of hope, turning to spiritual solutions. In many cases this includes apocalyptic themes relevant to the coming of the end of the world, Christ’s Second Coming, or a violent conflagration engulfing human life either as a result of nuclear war or natural disasters. In all of this, people turn most often to John of Patmos whose New Testament book, The Revelation of St. John, is thought to include a blueprint of the end of time.
St. John of Patmos In Current Times
Although John’s visions are interpreted many different ways and may have had historical basis at the time he was living, two significant elements stand apart from the specifics of his visions: John offers a promise of hope amidst chaos and his personal life is an example of perseverance in the face of turmoil and persecution. If nothing else, these two elements sustain people of any faith tradition as they seek comfort from fear and despair.
According to the accepted Eastern tradition, John of Patmos was the “disciple whom Jesus loved,” the one who he commended his mother’s care to at the crucifixion. At the time of Jerusalem’s destruction by the hands of Titus in AD 70, John took the Virgin Mary and relocated to Ephesus, as did many Christians, still associated as a fringe sect within the greater Jewish faith communities. Ephesus contained the largest early Christian community and would be the recipient of John’s first letter in his Apocalypse.
Tradition further states that during the reign of the Emperor Domitian, John was arrested and sent to Rome where he performed miracles, including drinking a cup filled with poison. Domitian, impressed, exiled John to the barren Aegean Island of Patmos where he would receive his visions. Domitian was the first emperor to deify himself as a “living god,” something Christians could not accept. Hence, they were persecuted, especially at Ephesus where a temple to Domitian had been erected.
The End and Example of John’s Long Life
Upon Domitian’s death, John returned to Patmos, having completed both his Revelation and the Fourth Gospel. Among the many traditions, John was thought to have died c AD 100, having lived for 120 years. Regardless of which tradition is to be believed as accurate, it is the example of his long life that radiates hope and joy, especially throughout his Gospel. The Revelation was both an assessment of the small Christian communities in Anatolia as well as a more detailed, albeit allegorical, vision of the end. In part, this may have come from the disappointment felt by a newer generation of Christians that the return of Christ had not yet occurred.
Ultimately, the message to these Christians was that good would triumph over evil and with persecution comes reward, no doubt referencing Domitian’s attempts to reign-in these Christians communities, all of which (in terms of the Seven Churches) existed in Hellenized Roman cities. Echoing Jesus in Matthew 24, John characterized a time of great famine, wars, natural disasters, and events so calamitous that only the intervention of God would restore order and bring a new heaven and earth.
For centuries people have interpreted different periods as harbingers of the end times. Whether the persecutions of Julian the Apostate in the fourth century, or the bubonic plague in the fourteenth, the words of John reverberated among theologians eager to interpret them in the light of contemporary events. The same is true today. What should be taken from John’s life and his writings is the element of hope and personal example amidst persecution and seemingly uncontrollable negative life events. These may be his most applicable contributions.
Fatih Cimok, A Guide to the Seven Churches (Istanbul: A Turizm Yayinlari, 2001).
Anna G. Edmonds, Turkey’s Religious Sites 2nd Ed. (Istanbul: Damko, 1998).
Williston Walker, A History of the Christian Church 3rd Ed. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1970).
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