24. John of Patmos: The Ultimate Visionary Leader
24
JOHN OF PATMOS
John is the old man of the New Testament. Probably only in his twenties when he becomes a disciple of Jesus, he is in his nineties when he dies of natural causes in Ephesus—or perhaps on the island of Patmos. Indeed, if one assumes (as do the NIVStudyBible and most evangelical scholars today) that John the fisherman and John the apostle were one and the same with John the evangelist and John the author of Revelation, he is active in ministry longer than any other individual featured in the New Testament. John is the only one of Jesus’ immediate disciples and followers believed to have had a direct connection with the second-generation, postapostolic period. John’s most notable disciple was Polycarp, the second-century bishop of Smyrna.
John survived by more than fifty years his brother James, the first apostle to be martyred. Yet despite his long life, details are obscure, particularly in comparison to the lives of Peter and Paul. Whereas Paul often focused on himself and his own issues, John seeks to avoid any personal identity. In fact, in his Gospel he repeatedly refers to himself in the third person, the disciple whom Jesus loved.
Of all the New Testament writers, John, had he been so inclined, had the best opportunity to write a biographical history of the first-century faith. He was the most knowledgeable about the early life and later ministry of Jesus as well as the development of the church to the end of the first century. By his own testimony he is very close to Jesus and other disciples and thus would have been a perfect candidate for such a task. But alas, he chose not to write personally and fill in biographical details that the present-day reader so longs to know.
John is the apostle of love. Love is the word that identifies him, not only in his writing but also in his relationship with Jesus. He and Jesus model the mutual love of disciple and master. But more than that, he writes of God’s love and of each Christian’s love for one another. The most quoted verse of the New Testament comes from the pen of John, the familiar John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (KJV).
John also quotes Jesus on love in his Gospel: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”[1] John’s first epistle, his most concentrated writing on love, is as pointed and applicable today as it was when it was written two thousand years ago.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.[2]
John ends his first epistle with a powerful challenge that makes demands on those who dare call themselves Christians:
Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.[3]
John: Apostle, Evangelist, and Writer of the Revelation
Who could have ever imagined that John, a no-nonsense fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, would one day in his old age be transported into such a lofty and vivid and altogether spectacular visionary world as is recorded in that most colorful book of Revelation? John recounts fascinating stories in his Gospel, and his epistles are rich in metaphor and symbolism. But his Apocalypse is in a category by itself. Nothing rises to its beauty—and horror—in the annals of literature.
John is ready to become a disciple when Jesus shows up walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He may have observed Jesus interrupting Peter and Andrew as they were casting their net into the water. They simply leave their nets and follow, and it’s perhaps only a few dozen paces down the shore when the three of them now approach John and James, the sons of Zebedee. Simon Peter and Andrew are in partnership with Zebedee and his sons—perhaps a sizable fishing operation that is able to spare the men for ministry. Still, one wonders who picked up the slack when these four burly fishermen simply walked off the job. And later, with no apparent reapplication process, they return to their nets as though they had never left.
John is the more prominent of the two brothers in Jesus’ ministry, though James is named first, probably indicating that he is the older one. Jesus refers to them as Boanerges, meaning “sons of thunder.” This may indicate that they were fiery, intense, demanding, something Jesus might have been cognizant of since childhood. Indeed, the three of them may have been youthful buddies.
Zebedee is frequently mentioned as the father of John and James. Their mother, however, is not specifically named, even though she is apparently part of a small inner circle of women who surround Jesus. She is variously referred to as Salome, as the mother of the sons of Zebedee, and as Mary’s sister. If Salome is indeed the mother of the brothers and if she is the sister of Mary, John and Jesus are first cousins and thus would have undoubtedly known each other long before their relationship as disciple and master.
Part of Jesus’ inner circle, which also includes Peter and James, John is privileged to be present when Jesus raises Jairus’s daughter from the dead. He is also present at the transfiguration of Jesus, though he remains silent during these and other tension-filled moments.
John, unlike Peter, is not outspoken or aggressive and is not easily identified as a naturally gifted leader. He is, however, concerned about rank and status, threatened by anyone who might challenge his position. On one occasion he reports to Jesus: “We saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”[4] Jesus does not agree with John and the other disciples. He tells John not to dissuade such individuals, but he does not rebuke him as he does Peter on several other occasions.
Sometime after this the disciples, John included, ask Jesus who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus responds by pointing to a child, saying that this youngster, who has essentially no status at all, represents the one who is greatest. Still another conversation arises when Peter observes that he and the other disciples have left everything behind to follow Jesus, no doubt hoping that Jesus would assure them of great reward for their sacrifice. Jesus responds by saying that the Son of Man will sit on a magnificent throne and that the twelve disciples will also have thrones in their capacity as judges of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Such a claim coming from the Master is heady stuff. It is not surprising then that the sons of Zebedee might talk privately with their mother, Jesus’ aunt, and ask if she would put in a good word for them. The three approach Jesus together and kneel down to ask him a favor. Their mother requests that James and John be given thrones next to Jesus, on his right and left sides.
John the Apostle
Without sarcasm or rebuke, Jesus puts her and her sons in their place: “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?” They answer that they are able, and he responds with less than good news: “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”[5] They are obviously contemplating a temporal realm while Jesus is focusing on the spiritual.
When the other disciples hear of the audacity of John and James—and their mother, no less—they are furious. Who do they think they are to make a claim on such seats of power, setting themselves above the rest? Now Jesus addresses all of them, and, in words that confound and confuse, tells them that they should not be grasping for authority and flaunting their status in front of others. Rather, each must assume the position of a lowly servant—actually a slave.
A slave? Such a radical turnabout surely leaves John’s head spinning. Having just spoken of twelve thrones for the disciples, now Jesus is telling them their place is that of slaves. That would put them at a level lower than the hired hands of his father’s fishing business. But Jesus has made what seem like bizarre statements before.
Now events begin to move quickly as Passion Week approaches. Again John must surely be confused by what appear to be conflicting messages. Jesus has been talking about his death, but then there is the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. With no benefit from hindsight, John must feel the rush of victory. This kingdom thing may be coming together in a matter of days after all.
Until this time John has not been in the forefront. But that changes, and he becomes noticeably more involved. He alone is sent with Peter to make preparations for the Passover. Are they quizzing each other about the mixed signals they have been getting? By now they must both realize that this will be more than the usual ritual meal, but still they have no real comprehension of how momentous the occasion is.
Then comes the moment. The Supper is in progress. Conversation is interrupted. Jesus now has the floor. He almost casually reveals that one of them—one of his very disciples—will betray him. John (the disciple whom Jesus loved) is sitting next to him, his head on Jesus’ shoulder. This is a shocking disclosure, and the disciples don’t know what to make of it. They are stunned. Then, with Peter’s prompting, perhaps a nudge and a whisper, John with some hesitation asks to whom Jesus is referring. In fear and trepidation he then inquires: Lord, is it I? Jesus responds very indirectly. In fact, none of them, including John himself, suspects Jesus is referring to Judas.
Following the supper, John, with James and Peter, goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to offer solace to Jesus, who is now in deep anguish over his impending death. Still, they don’t get it. Exhausted, all three of them fall asleep, but are twice awakened and rebuked by Jesus. When Jesus is arrested by the Temple authorities and their thugs, John, frightened to death and confused beyond measure, flees. But he returns to be with Jesus during his agony on the cross. He is the only one of the Twelve who is there in Jesus’ final hours. When Jesus looks down and sees John, who is no doubt comforting his own mother, he says to Mary, here is your son, and to John he says, here is your mother. John’s own mother, Mary’s sister, is also at the cross. It seems strange that Jesus would make John Mary’s titular son, since Jesus has brothers who would supposedly step into this role. But Jesus is closer to John than he is to his own brothers. And this was no doubt perceived as a spiritual relationship as much as a physical one.
John is with the other disciples after the body of Jesus had been laid in the tomb, and they remain together through the predawn hours of the first day of the week. It is then that Mary Magdalene comes running from the tomb, out of breath, telling the disciples that Jesus’ body is no longer there. Peter and John race to the tomb, John getting there first. But he waits outside until Peter arrives and goes inside. Then he joins him, and on seeing the graveclothes all lying in place, he believes that Jesus has truly risen from the dead.
Following the resurrection, John is with the other disciples as they see Jesus ascend into heaven, and he is there at Pentecost to witness the spectacular tongues of fire. But after this the disciples are no longer a customary group of twelve as they often had been during Jesus’ ministry. Now Peter and John come to the fore. On one occasion they go to the Temple for prayer. Here a disabled man requests money from them. Peter tells the man they have none, but he commands him to get up and walk, which the man does. This is the first miracle performed in Jesus’ name after his resurrection.
Peter takes the opportunity to preach to the onlookers, and John joins in. The Jewish leaders are upset with any talk of the resurrection of Jesus, so they lock them up in jail. So powerful is the apostles’ message, however, that many of the listeners join with the company of believers.
The next day the officials order both John and Peter to come before the high priest. He could have simply kept them locked up, but he does not want to risk an uprising. So the two evangelists are ordered to do no more preaching. Say what? We must obey God rather than man. With a final threat, the officials let them go. Later, as a result of more miraculous healings, John and Peter are again brought before the Sanhedrin, and this time they are jailed and shackled. At night an angel appears and releases them, and the next day they are right back in the Temple preaching. No civil or religious authority can quench their zeal.
Later word comes to Jerusalem that there is a revival going on in Samaria as a result of Philip’s preaching. John and Peter are sent to check things out. They discover that the Holy Spirit had “not yet come on any of them.”[6] With John and Peter’s laying on of hands, the matter is dealt with, apparently in such a show of power that Simon the Sorcerer offers to pay for their spiritual secret. What a sacrilege! It’s an outrageous offer. But John remains silent as Peter scorches Simon with a blistering reprimand.
After this John fades into the background. Peter takes the lead, and other disciples become more prominent, including Barnabas, Silas, James (the brother of Jesus), and Paul. John remains in Jerusalem for some time and is recognized by Paul as one of the pillars of the church there.
John would live to witness terrible tragedies during the remainder of his long life, including the execution of his brother James. In fact, James is the first of the apostles martyred, cut down by a sword on orders of King Herod. Who the next of the Twelve Apostles would be to wear the martyr’s crown is not recorded. But John surely would have received the terrible news from Rome probably in the year 64, that Peter, his longtime friend and coworker, had been brutally slain, reportedly on orders of Emperor Nero.
Sometime later, Jews in Jerusalem, suffering under the high-handed tactics of the Roman governor, stage a revolt—a revolution that would end with what would become known as the fall of Jerusalem in the year 70. Before “the Jewish War” (as Josephus titled his book) had even heated up, many Christians, including John, had fled to Ephesus and other towns in Asia Minor.
Here John continues in ministry as the elder statesman in the entire region, much revered for his apostolic role and close relationship with Jesus. He likely served as an overseer of the seven churches in Asia to whom he would later write. But his bold testimony of Jesus, Son of God, risen from the dead, brings down the wrath of civil authorities. He is exiled to the Island of Patmos by Emperor Domitian, who ruled from the year 81 to 96. Or, perhaps, he was exiled much earlier than that.
John writing his Revelation
The text offers no biographical data on John in his later years, but many scholars believe that he returned from exile on Patmos and lived out his final years in Ephesus. It is in this setting, as an old man, that the boy Polycarp, who later becomes Bishop of Smyrna, remembers him.
From this unexpected exile some fifteen miles southwest of Ephesus on a small, barren, rocky island in the Aegean Sea comes a writing that John testifies is not his own words. He is a fisherman, after all, hardly capable of inventing such soaring rhetoric. Here is the great apostle, perhaps confined in a cave, writing words that would fill a most remarkable scroll—a scroll that would for the next two millennia inspire theological discourse, commentaries, hymns, fiction, film, and more. Indeed, while on the Island of Patmos, John receives a vision and is told to write it down—a vision that will form the final book of the Bible: the book of Revelation.
John opens by greeting the seven churches in the province of Asia—a greeting that also comes from his onetime close companion and Master, “Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.”[7]
Then John goes on to explain the background of this vision. He is suffering because of his witness for Jesus; thus his confinement on Patmos. How long or what his circumstances are, he does not say. But then something incredible happens. It is the Lord’s Day, and he is in the Spirit. Suddenly he hears what he identifies as a loud voice, but the sound is that of a trumpet.
The voice summons him to action: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”[8] Only then does he see the image of Christ, who tells him not to be afraid—that he is the “Living One.” And the voice of the risen Jesus assures him: “I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”[9]
So John writes the words that the Lord gives him to each of the seven churches to whom he himself had given pastoral care. Though he is technically speaking for God, these messages clearly come from John also. He knows them well—particularly Ephesus, where he resided and ministered for many years. All seven of these messages are direct, matter-of-fact, and personal, except for the figurative salutations—greetings to the angel of each church.
Everyday Life
Visionary Experiences
That Scripture would conclude with John’s great Revelation is fitting. Spectacular visions and dreams are part and parcel of the biblical narrative. In fact, some scholars insist that fully one-third of the Bible relates to dreams or visions.
The mind-set of the ancient world viewed as normal what would today be regarded as paranormal and downright kooky. That Saul, through the witch of Endor, was able to call back the spirit of Samuel (1 Sam. 28) does not fit well with a post-Enlightenment mentality. Nor does the incident involving the servant girl Rhoda (Acts 12). In the midst of a prayer meeting for Peter, who had been locked in jail, she answers the door and then tells those praying that Peter is at the door. They insist it couldn’t be Peter, rather his angel. That an angel would more likely be knocking at the door than a jail escapee says something about the outlook of the times. Indeed, angel appearances are almost ordinary events in the Bible.
Other notable biblical figures besides John are associated with dreams and visionary experiences: Joseph and Daniel can interpret dreams, Moses meets God at the burning bush, Ezekiel sees spectacular visions of wheels and dry bones, Peter dreams of unclean animals, and Paul takes flight to the third heaven. Such experiences are not necessarily perceived to be extraordinary.
John the Evangelist on Patmos
To Ephesus he emphasizes its good deeds, perseverance, and discernment. But this church so dear to his heart has “forsaken the love you had at first.”[10] Early on, this church had been known for its love of God and others, but no longer. John reminds those at Smyrna that they are rich despite their hard times. He also warns them of suffering and persecution to come. To those barely hanging on to the truth in Pergamum he says in no uncertain terms that they must repent for straying into immorality and heresy.
The church in Thyatira is recognized for its faith and charity but lambasted for putting up with a false prophetess, who is blatantly preaching an antinomian gospel involving sexual immorality. John challenges the once-vibrant church of Sardis to wake up from its slumber—a church now dead as a doornail. The church in Philadelphia is weak, but he commends it for staying true to the faith, promising security “from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world.”[11]
Finally, John aims both barrels at the church in Laodicea. “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm . . . I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”[12] Yet he holds out victory and hope that applies to all the churches:
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.[13]
John’s Revelation is far more than a spectacular panoramic vision of which he is an observer only. He actually becomes an active participant. True, he is standing on the sidelines as the elders are casting their crowns before the throne. And he remains a bystander as a formidable angel shouts out in a thunderous voice: “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” The silence is deafening. Not even one voice ventures an answer. There is “no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth [who] could open the scroll or even look inside it.”[14]
When we open up a Bible to the book of Revelation, if we open up a Bible to that book at all, we open ourselves up to a strange world indeed. We are greeted by a fiery, glowing Jesus who looks nothing like the man we knew from the stories in the Gospels (even the shining Jesus of the transfiguration is tame by comparison). . . . We enter into scenes of heavenly worship involving fantastic heavenly hybrid creatures and stretching out through hosts of angels to all of the creation, all surrounding a seven-eyed Lamb, slaughtered but standing, and all this to-do over some sealed scroll.
And that’s the easy part of the book. Then come the devastations of the seals, the army of white-robed martyrs, seven trumpets unleashing unnatural disasters and armies of unnatural creatures. When we encounter a colossus with pillars of fire for legs, we actually breathe a sigh of relief before being plunged again into a world where a dragon has it in for some star-crowned woman and her offspring. . . . The dragon is bound in the abyss while the dead followers of the Lamb enjoy a thousand-year reign with him, after which the dragon is teased with having one last crack at overthrowing God and God’s Anointed, which lands him in the fiery lake as well. Then comes the final judgment, sorting out humanity into their eternal destinies, and the bride appears at last—as a city, the new Jerusalem, descending from a new heaven to the new earth, where God’s kingdom is realized at last in an urbanized garden of Eden.
At this, John weeps uncontrollably. And suddenly, he is no longer merely a spectator. One of the elders approaches him and says, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”[15]
In an instant John sees not a lion but a lamb that appears to have been slain. The twenty-four elders fall down and worship the lamb, and they sing a triumphal song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.”[16]
If that is not enough to convince him, John then sees hundreds of thousands of angels encircling the throne, singing out in unison, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”[17]
Here is John secluded on the Island of Patmos, enthralled by a most magnificent vision that brings him right back to the day he, the lone apostle, was at the foot of the cross. So far he appears to comprehend the message of this incredible visual schoolroom. All of the elders and creatures are worshiping the Lamb. But now things become more complicated and mysterious.
The Lamb has taken an extraordinary scroll, tightly bound with seven seals. When he opens each of the first four seals, the four creatures around the throne in unison bid John to come. And as each seal is opened, a horse of a different color appears, the meaning of each briefly explained. Then the remaining three seals are opened—all seven of them, when opened, revealing what will happen at the end of time.
But the end of time relates as well to the beginning of time. The world created by God, John learns, will be destroyed by God. John’s vision draws from his own study of the Torah. The number of those who are sealed by God is 144,000, twelve thousand from each tribe: Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.
Again John is brought into the vision personally when an elder asks him outright to identify those who are parading around in white robes. Is this a trick question? John dares not venture an answer. Trembling in fear and awe, not wanting to be wrong at this critical moment, his response is classic: Sir, surely you know. And, indeed, the elder does. Those in white robes have come through the great tribulation. “They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”[18]
After many more breathtaking events, John is again approached—this time by a voice from heaven: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”[19] John is now an active participant, no longer on the sidelines. He must enter the arena and approach a massive and most formidable creature. So he goes up to the angel and asks for the small scroll. The angel tells him to eat it. It will taste sweet while at the same time making him feel like throwing up. “I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it,” John testifies. “It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.”[20]
With an upset stomach, John sits back and watches the war in heaven between Michael with his angels and the dragon with his army. The dragon, who is thrown out of heaven and lands on earth, is the devil, who then gives his power to a beast, identified by the number 666, who arises out of the sea. The beast deceives the inhabitants of earth, luring them away from God into lives of unspeakable degradation. God is merciless and continues to pour his wrath out in the form of biological warfare and environmental destruction. This devastation is carried out in part by seven angels who pour out seven bowls of God’s wrath in the form of seven plagues.
Now John is suddenly transported by an angel into the desert. Here he sees Babylon, with whom the kings of earth have all committed adultery. She is depicted as a great harlot sitting on a seven-headed, ten-horned beast, clad in red and purple, and “glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls.”[21] At this point John is absolutely flabbergasted, but an angel explains to him that when Babylon (the great harlot) falls there is great rejoicing because now “the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.”[22]
The angel dictates to John God’s very words: “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”[23] John is so carried away that he falls down before the angel and worships him. But the angel tells him to worship God alone.
Seven bowls of God’s wrath
Now all the stops are out, and the narrative in this action-filled visionary production races forward. A rider on a white horse leading a white-robed army comes down from heaven and engages in battle with the beast and his armies from all the nations of the world. In fact, an angel cries out to the birds flying overhead to come to a great supper featuring the flesh of all the followers of the beast who will be slain.
The beast is thrown alive into the lake of fire. The kings and their armies are all killed by a sword that comes out of the mouth of the rider on the white horse, “and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.”[24]
The dragon is bound for a thousand years, during which time the 144,000 martyrs come to life and reign with Christ. After that, the final judgment. Then from heaven comes down “the Holy City, the new Jerusalem . . . prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.”[25] Then one of the angels bids John come:
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.[26]
John continues his vivid description. The angel gives him a guided tour of this fantastic city, which is lighted not from the sun or moon but from the glory of God. The only ones who will ever enter its gates are “those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”[27] The angel then shows John the crystal river, bordered by fruit trees and flowing from the throne of God. John is so awestricken that again he falls prostrate in worship before the angel.
Now the grand apocalyptic vision is over. Jesus announces the finale, telling John, “I am coming soon. . . . I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. . . . I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star. . . . Let the one who is thirsty come. . . . Yes, I am coming soon.”[28]
John then offers the benediction: “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”[29]
Concluding Observations
It is fitting that John, the intimate disciple of Jesus, should live to be a gray-haired old man and carry the gospel right into the era that now becomes church history. One could only wish that he had been as open as Paul was with his personal struggles and relationships—though Paul, unlike John, was tight lipped about his visionary experience.
John refers to himself in the third person throughout his Gospel narrative and gives the reader no personal details in his letters, while identifying himself very clearly as the author of Revelation. Paul is the opposite, relating many personal stories and freely revealing his emotions in his letters, while referring to himself in the third person when he tells of his heavenly experience: “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows.”[30]
Paul sets his experience in the distant past, while John writes his on the very Lord’s Day it begins. John goes into great detail on his heavenly experiences and repeatedly puts himself right in the middle of the action. Paul is very reserved in his descriptions. His third heaven is an experience to which others might easily relate. John’s is a one-of-a-kind experience so striking that it stands alone and as such forms the final book of the Bible.
In the end John returns to Ephesus with his almost-too-hot-to-handle scroll. Here he continues in his pastoral ministry. His scroll, however, was probably not circulated until after his death.
Further Reading
Carson, D. A. The Gospel according to John. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990.
deSilva, David. Seeing Things John’s Way: The Rhetoric of the Book of Revelation. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009.
Metzger, Bruce. Breaking the Code: Understanding the Book of Revelation. Nashville: Abingdon, 2008.