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THE GIVING OF THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST

Michael F. Blume

© 2004 Michael F. Blume

All Rights Reserved



Luke 24:30-35 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

In Luke chapter 24 Jesus had already resurrected. But things were in confusion with those who had believed in Him. We read beginning at verse 13 of Luke 24 that the disciples were accompanied by Jesus while His identity was not made known to them. So you can say that Jesus was somewhat hidden. He asked them about what they were talking about, and they noted to him that Jesus was a prophet but was condemned to death by the chief priests. They trusted that Jesus would redeem Israel, but it had been three days since He was condemned to death and nothing had changed. They noted that certain women had been to the grave and didn't find His body.

And then Jesus began to speak to them about the prophets’ words that Christ should suffer and enter into glory afterwards.

Jesus acted as though He would continue to walk as the two disciples arrived at their home. So they invited Him in, and He went in with them for bread and rest.

Luke 24:30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.

(1) He took bread,
(2) and then blessed it
(3) and then break it
(4) and finally He gave it to them.

Jesus always did this with bread every time He was to give it to others. Matthew 14:19 shows us the exact same order. Take it, bless it, break it, and give it. You can see it in the last supper in Matt. 26:26. You can read of it in Mark 6:41. He always handled bread in the same manner. And when He did this in these disciples’ home, Luke 24:31 tells us that their eyes were opened and they knew Him. And verse 35 says He was made known of them in breaking of bread.

So the confusion about Christ after His resurrection was clarified when Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and then gave it. Jesus was made known through the breaking of the bread.

Their eyes had been sealed, Luke 24:16. And they were opened when Jesus broke the bread.

The book of Revelation at the end of our Bibles is described in the very first verse of the book.  The very first five words of this book read, "The revelation of Jesus Christ." The book of Revelation is indeed a revelation of Jesus Christ, Himself. And the first verse also tells us that this revelation was signified to John. In other words, it was given in symbolic fashion to John in his visions.


JESUS TOOK THE SEALED BOOK

Revelation 5:7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

Just as Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it and then gave it, and was made known or revealed to the people, we see this same pattern in the book of Revelation. Revelation 5:1 tells us that in the right hand of God on the throne was a book sealed with seven seals. We read that an invitation is given for some worthy individual to come and open the book and to loose the seals thereof. But no man in heaven or in earth was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. John weeps because of that, but then Jesus appears in the symbolic form of a Lamb having been slain. He is seen with seven eyes and seven horns. This is significant, because the book was sealed with seven seals.

When something is sealed with seven seals, since the number 7 represents the sense of something that is "complete" or "perfect" (since God completed His work on the 7th day in Genesis), it is perfectly sealed. But Jesus is said to have seven eyes. In other words, He can perfectly see anything. Nothing that is perfectly sealed can be hidden from Him who has perfect insight. All things are naked and open to the eyes of Him.

Verse 7 shows us, keeping with the pattern that Jesus always used in breaking bread, that the Lamb came and took the book. That was the first thing Jesus did with the bread – He took it.

JESUS BLESSED

Revelation 5:12-13 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

After Jesus took bread, He blessed it. And that is the reason that from Revelation 5:8 through to verse 14 we read of blessings being spoken and being sung. The retrieval of that book was such a monumental event that praise and worship went forth. It indeed was a blessed book. In fact, verse 12 speaks of how the Lamb is worthy who was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. Note the word “blessing.” Verse 13 has every creature in heaven and earth and under the earth and in the sea, saying, “Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, unto him that sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” Again, “blessing” is noted.

So the Lord took the book, and blessed it.


JESUS BROKE THE SEALS ON THE BOOK

Revelation 6:1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

Then we come to chapter 6. In chapter 6 the Lamb breaks open the book, by breaking the seals. This was the third thing Jesus did with bread also. And after it was broken, we come to Revelation chapter 10. In this chapter we read of a mighty Angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, with a rainbow upon His head, and His feet as pillars of fire and His face as the sun. Now, that is a description of Jesus Christ, when you read the first chapter of Revelation, and Matthew chapter 17, where Jesus has a face shining like the sun, and brass feet. In Revelation chapter 1, we see Jesus appearing as gold from His loins upward and His feet like brass. Ezekiel chapter 1 shows the glory of God as one sitting on the throne, amongst other visionary emblems, with gold from His loins upward and brass from His loins downward. There was a rainbow around Him. That was none other than Jesus Christ.


JESUS GAVE THE OPENED BOOK AND REVEALED HIMSELF

Revelation 10:1-2 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,

Revelation 10:9-10 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

This mighty angel in Revelation 10 is Jesus Christ. He is not literally an angel, but the word “angel” simply means “messenger.” And He, Himself, was the messenger of the New Covenant.  And in verse two of this chapter, He had in His hand a little book open. This was the book that was sealed in Revelation chapter 5. And in this chapter, in verse 8, we read that John is told to go and take the little book that was open. Vs. 9 reads that he went to the Angel and asked him to give him the little book. Jesus said, "Take it, and eat it up."

So far we have read that Jesus took the book, blessed it, broke it open, and now we read that He gave it to John. In Luke 24, Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples who then ate it. After John took the book out of the Angel's hand, he ate it. And then verse 11 tells us that John was commanded to prophesy to many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

Back in Luke 24, we not only read of Jesus taking, blessing, breaking and giving the bread to disciples, but He then appeared later in Jerusalem to the 11 disciples. But once again, things were unclear. Confusion was abounding. They were terrified when He appeared and supposed they had seen a spirit when they saw Jesus. So He then spoke to them and showed them His hands and his feet. But they still did not believe. They wondered, and so He asked them for food. He then ate a broiled fish and honeycomb. And then He opened their understanding. He explained the Scriptures to them. And He told them that repentance and remission of sins should be preached to all nations. He made Himself known; by breaking open the bread of the word, He gave them the message of salvation to preach. This was the only message that He told the disciples to preach to all the world. And in the book of Revelation, John took the book from Jesus, ate it, and is told to prophesy to all nations. The New Testament is the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The book of Revelation is simply the revelation of Jesus Christ. He is what the New Covenant is all about. To understand the New Testament, is to understand Jesus Christ.

RDTW


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