George MacDonald
writes,
It is said of one of the famous composers that he had a rebellious son who used to come in late at night after his father and mother had gone to bed. And before going to his own room, he would go to his father's piano and slowly, as well as loudly, play a simple scale, all but the final note. Then leaving the scale uncompleted, he would retire to his room. Meanwhile the father, hearing the scale minus the final note, would writhe on his bed, his mind unable to relax because the scale was unresolved. Finally, in consternation, he would stumble down the stairs and hit the previously unstruck note. Only then would his mind surrender to sleep once again.
For many the Book of Revelation is frustrating with symbols and visions that leave one waiting for a note-- a word-- that completes vision so that one may understand. Filled with symbolism and wild imagery, interpreting this vision of John has proven to be a difficult exercise. The Protestant Reformer, John Calvin wrote a commentary on every book of the Bible except for 2 and 3 John and Revelation. It was reported that he did not write on the last book of the Bible because he simply could not understand it. Martin Luther in the Preface to his commentary on Revelation writes, "I can in no way detect that the Holy Spirit produced it." The founder of Methodism, John Wesley had a much higher view of the book than Luther and rightly notes its value:
Saints cannot exist without a community, as they require, like all of us, nurturance by a people who, while often unfaithful, preserve the habits necessary to learn the story of God.-- Stanley Hauerwas
