Revelation 1:19

1:19 Therefore write what you saw, what is, and what will be after these things. ¹ 

Revelation 22:6

A Final Reminder

22:6 Then ²  the angel ³  said to me, “These words are reliable ⁴  and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants ⁵  what must happen soon.”

John 16:13

16:13 But when he, ⁶  the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide ⁷  you into all truth. ⁸  For he will not speak on his own authority, ⁹  but will speak whatever he hears, and will tell you ¹⁰  what is to come. ¹¹ 

[1:19]  ¹ tn Grk “Therefore write the things that you saw, and the things that are, and the things that will take place after these things.” Verse 19 could also be translated (taking καί…καί [kai…kai] as “both…and”): “Therefore write what you have seen, both what things currently are and what is going to happen after these things.” The structure of this verse is debated.

[22:6]  ² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[22:6]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel mentioned in 21:9, 15; 22:1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “faithful.”

[22:6]  ⁵ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[16:13]  ⁶ tn Grk “that one.”

[16:13]  ⁷ tn Or “will lead.”

[16:13]  ⁸ sn Three important points must be noted here. (1) When the Holy Spirit comes, he will guide the disciples into all truth. What Jesus had said in 8:31-32, “If you continue to follow my teaching you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” will ultimately be realized in the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit to the disciples after Jesus’ departure. (2) The things the Holy Spirit speaks to them will not be things which originate from himself (he will not speak on his own authority), but things he has heard. This could be taken to mean that no new revelation is involved, as R. E. Brown does (John [AB], 2:714-15). This is a possible but not a necessary inference. The point here concerns the source of the things the Spirit will say to the disciples and does not specifically exclude originality of content. (3) Part at least of what the Holy Spirit will reveal to the disciples will concern what is to come, not just fuller implications of previous sayings of Jesus and the like. This does seem to indicate that at least some new revelation is involved. But the Spirit is not the source or originator of these things – Jesus is the source, and he will continue to speak to his disciples through the Spirit who has come to indwell them. This does not answer the question, however, whether these words are addressed to all followers of Jesus, or only to his apostles. Different modern commentators will answer this question differently. Since in the context of the Farewell Discourse Jesus is preparing the twelve to carry on his ministry after his departure, it is probably best to take these statements as specifically related only to the twelve. Some of this the Holy Spirit does directly for all believers today; other parts of this statement are fulfilled through the apostles (e.g., in giving the Book of Revelation the Spirit speaks through the apostles to the church today of things to come). One of the implications of this is that a doctrine does not have to be traced back to an explicit teaching of Jesus to be authentic; all that is required is apostolic authority.

[16:13]  ⁹ tn Grk “speak from himself.”

[16:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or will announce to you.”

[16:13]  ¹¹ tn Grk “will tell you the things to come.”