Introduction to the Idea of the Apocalyptic

Introduction to the Idea of the Apocalyptic

- Ezekiel's Vision by Marc Chagall (1887 - 1985) -

The word "apocalypse" is from the Greek verb apokaluptō, which means, "to uncover, reveal, make bare."  An older title for the final book of the New Testament is "The Apocalypse of St. John," meaning, that it is a revelation to St. John, an uncovering of divine and visionary things. 

An apocalyptic writer is one who has been given a special vision into reality itself - grasping the cosmic struggle of good and evil, God and chaos.  Apocalyptic literature is therefore not only focused on the END, but on the BEGINNING and MIDDLE of divine history. 

Let me explain: because of the sensational popularity of books and movies in our modern world which engage with the idea of the apocalyptic, many if not most in society today believe that the Apocalypse is the final, violent end of civilization. Stories such as "Left Behind" encourage the view that the "Rapture" and the "Millennium" are literal events that will take place at the end of time. Such stories also imaginatively draw from the Book of Revelation while interpreting it in a particular way - a way that, as we will see, was not the classic way Christians, especially persecuted Christians, read this book. 

Yet, to return to our definition, "apocalypse" means "revelation, uncovering," and not merely "a violent end of history." Now, because of the drama of cosmic history, there is a struggle, a battle even, between God and chaos - that is, the ordering of the Creator and the disordering of sin, death, and the devil. Yet that struggle was continuous, until something happened: the Crucifixion. 

At the Cross, the great battle of all time came to a conclusion. 

- Crucifixion by Nikolai Ge (1831-1894) -

At the cross, chaos, death, sin, disorder, and evil were accepted by Christ. At the cross, there seems to be defeat.  At the cross, it certainly looks like Love has been beaten by hate.  Yet here, on this instrument of slow, tortuous death, a sacrifice of blood is being made on behalf of all people, and the victim is the Son of God.   

"Where, O death, is thy victory? Where, O death, is thy sting?" When Christ Jesus rose from the dead, God defeated the powers of darkness and rescued us.  Theologian Charles Bobertz writes, "[H]ere at the cross darkness descends, but the resurrection [is] the domination of chaos in the resurrected body of Christ (Mark 14:22)" (The Gospel of Mark: A Liturgical Reading). 

So if the cross is the apocalyptic moment of history, then why are we seemingly always obsessed with the "End" and the "Rapture" and the "Second Coming?" What is the need of Revelation and other apocalyptic books of the Bible if it was all finished at Golgotha?

Again, we must remember that the apocalyptic designates something that is revealed, uncovered, exposed for all to see. The apocalyptic shows us the "guts" of reality, and there was no other moment in time when the very heart of God was laid bare than when Christ Jesus was killed on the cross.

- Jesus in a Crown of Thorns, by Ilya Repin (1844-1930) -

The Cross can be seen as the center-point of the cosmos, of all history.  God and chaos, good and evil, love and hate, life and death collide.  Everything led to it, and now everything follows it.  The cross is an apocalyptic moment, as the tearing of the temple curtain, the earthquake, and the opening of the graves further illustrate.  

So, when we read apocalyptic passages in the Bible we must remember that, no matter how many "wars and rumors of wars" we may encounter, the single, great War has already occurred when Christ defeated Satan. Now, we live in the light of that event, preparing for Christ's return.  When he does return, we can be assured that there will be a final victory and a final consummation of all things. 

In the meantime, we live in a period of tension - we are "now" saved but we are "not yet" in the eternal presence of the Lamb in his temple. For that, we must wait, and draw from the wealth of insight that the apocalyptic writers of Scripture have given us.