A Scroll for the Nations: The Call to Proclaim the Gospel
November 22, 2024 - Friday, Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr
Revelation 10:8-11
Yesterday, we heard about a scroll sealed with seven seals that no one could open. Today, we hear about an open scroll in the hand of an angel. Are these two scrolls the same or different? Scholars do not agree. The scroll that John is commissioned to eat could either be a part of the first scroll, which has already been opened by the Lamb (see Rev. 6:1–8:1), or it could refer to the message about the nearness of God's kingdom, with its call to repentance and belief in the Gospel (see Mark 1:15).
John's experience brings to mind a similar one of the prophet Ezekiel. He, too, was given a scroll to eat, which represented God's message directed to Israel. In both cases, Ezekiel and John found God's word "sweet as honey" (Ezek. 3:3; Rev. 10:10). We hear of a similar experience from Jeremiah: "Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart" (Jer. 15:16). The bitterness of God's word comes from the outcome of its proclamation. Both Ezekiel and Jeremiah found that their own people refused to listen and obey. God told Ezekiel: "But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart" (Ezek. 3:7).
In the first chapter of the Book of Revelation, John was commissioned to proclaim a message to the seven churches of Asia (see Rev. 1:11). Now, the message he is called to deliver concerns the whole world: "You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings" (Rev. 10:11). We associate prophecy with revealing the future, but the biblical prophets primarily called Israel to repentance and presented the future as the consequence of Israel's choices in the present. For example, Jeremiah insisted that the only way for Israel to save Jerusalem from destruction was to submit to the king of Babylon. The people did not listen to him and ended up losing their beloved land, city, and temple.
John's prophecy to the world has the same characteristics. He is commissioned to call the whole world to repentance and faith in the Gospel. The rejection of this message will have tragic consequences for individuals and nations, while acceptance will bring blessing. Near the end of his prophecy, John writes that those who endure till the end will inherit a new heaven and new earth, while those who live sinful and immoral lives will experience "the second death" (see Rev. 21:1-8).
The Gospel is Good News, captured in John's statement that "God is love" (1 John 4:8) and that He "so loved the world" that He gave us His Son (John 3:16), Jesus, who offered His life for our salvation. But as we proclaim this message, we realize, like our ancestors in faith, that not everyone is interested in it, that there is growing pressure to suppress it, and that there is a huge increase in the persecution of Christians across the globe. This turns our stomachs sour (see Rev. 10:9). And yet, we cannot be silent because we believe that this is the only message that offers humanity hope and a future surpassing our dreams and imagination: "No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Cor. 2:9).