Third Sunday after Pentecost

 Sermon Text: Revelation 20:1-6

 Other Readings: Genesis 3:8-15 and Mark 3:20-35


 

  1. Lutheran commentators have long held that the dragon represents Satan, the angel represents Jesus, the chain represents the preaching of the gospel, and the thousand years represent the time from Christ’s first coming to his second coming on the Last Day. So, do we interpret Revelation figuratively or literally?
     
  2. In our Gospel reading, Jesus said, “In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up” (Mark 3:27). How does Revelation 20:1-3 help explain that statement by Jesus from Mark chapter 3?
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  4. There are a number of Christians who are convinced that the one thousand years will be a literal one-thousand-year reign on earth. They are called “millennialists”. How can we be sure that the number represents something other than a literal one thousand years?
     
  5. The “first resurrection” (v. 5) is the way souls come to faith during earthly life. Since you have come to faith through this “first resurrection.” That resurrection has happened to you already. What comfort does that give you?
     
  6. Verse 6 calls you a priest of God. How do you carry out that role in your day-to-day life?

 

  1. We interpret it literally, which means we let the context dictate how to interpret things. When figurative language is used, we look for the representation. (There is a difference between translating something literally and literalistically.) 
     
  2. Revelation 20 helps us understand that Jesus was referring to tying up Satan, our strong adversary, which is the very thing Jesus came to do.
     
  3. Nowhere else in Scripture do we have a hint that such a thing will happen. When Jesus speaks about the End Times/Last Days and about his return, he does not come close to speaking in such terms. Confer Matthew chapters 24 and 25.
     
  4. Specific answers may vary, but John comforts us this way, “The second death has no power” over you (v. 6).
     
  5. You offer your body as a living sacrifice in whatever you do (Romans 12:1). As you live out your vocations faithfully and as you tell others the gospel, you serve in your God-given role as his “priest.”