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69 i Richard B. Hays 4 Faithful Witness, Alpha and Omega The Identity of Jesus in the Apocalypse of John Introduction A Profusion of Images Who is Jesus in the apocalypse of John? this visionary book deploys a kaleidoscopic profusion of imagery to depict its chief protagonist. Jesus is portrayed as exalted revealer of prophetic mysteries, faithful witness and martyr, firstborn from the dead, son of God, the Coming one, the son of Man, the future judge of the world and giver of life, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, the lamb who was slaughtered, the shepherd who guides his people to springs of the water of life, the child given birth by the woman clothed with the sun, the conquering rider on a white horse, the bright morning star, the lord of lords and King of kings, the one who is alpha and omega, and much more.1 Faced with such a diverse array of images—which could, on an unsympathetic reading, be regarded as chaotic and self-contradictory—studies of the Christology of the book of revelation have tended to pursue one of two interpretative strategies: (1) seek to identify different sources, traditions, or social settings from which the book’s depictions of Jesus are derived;2 or (2) focus on specific titles or images as the key to the book’s Christology.3 the present essay will take a different approach. i do not deny that John the seer draws upon sources and traditions. i do not deny that some images in the book (e.g., the lamb) are weightier than others. nor do i deny that some of the images stand in a certain tension with others. i would suggest, however, that it is most theologically fruitful to read the apocalypse’s christological imagery as manifesting a complex unity. its christological unity is best grasped through a reading that treats the book 70 Richard B. Hays as a literary whole, acknowledges diversity and intertextual interplay, and lets the tensions stand—just as wise readers do when encountering any complex work of literature.4 Jesus in the book of revelation is a multifaceted character whose identity unfolds gradually within the work as a whole; to understand his identity, we are required to absorb the full range of representations that we encounter throughout the book; to interpret those representations, insofar as we are able, within the imaginative frame of reference (“encyclopedia of reception”)5 of the Christian communities of asia Minor at the end of the first century C.E.; and to ask how the complex person we encounter in this complex text might engage or challenge the symbolic world in which we live and move. it is this last part of the interpretative task from which biblical interpreters often shrink. But the apocalypse does not want to permit its readers a position of wise neutrality: it pronounces blessing on those who keep the words of the prophecy (rev 22:7) and dire warnings to those who fail to hear what the spirit is saying. the apocalypse summons readers to enter sympathetically into the intertextually rich symbolic world of the story it tells, in all its grandeur and confusing complexity. only by doing so will we come to understand its depiction of the identity of Jesus. Within a single short essay we cannot explore all the facets of Jesus’ identity that such a reading might discover. i want to propose, therefore, that we attend to two major strands of the book’s narrative representation of Jesus: Jesus as sharer in the identity of God, and Jesus as faithful witness . after examining these two strands, we will offer some concluding reflections about how these very different motifs play in counterpoint to illumine the identity of Jesus. Jesus as Sharer in the Divine Identity We begin in an unusual and slightly daunting place. in the prophetic word to the church in thyatira, Jesus (the glorious “one like a son of Man,” 1:13) chastises the community for tolerating the false prophetess Jezebel and issues this dire warning: Beware, i am throwing her on a bed, and those who commit adultery with her i am throwing into great distress, unless they repent of her doings; and i will strike her children dead. and all the churches will know that i am the one who searches minds and hearts, and i will give to each of you as your works deserve. (rev 2:22-23) Here we...

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