Have you ever seen one of those prison break movies? They all seem to follow a formula. You are introduced to the hero. You learn his name. He has been unfairly incarcerated. He is depressed and dejected. He believes that there is no way out from his life behind bars. Until one day a secret is revealed to him. It changes his life.

There is a secret, hidden group of prisoners that is planning an escape. A tunnel is being dug under the walls. It soon will be completed. Those strange clanking sounds on the water pipes in the middle of the night, which he thought meant nothing, now mean something. Those spoons tapping on the plates in the dining room, which he thought were just expressions of boredom, random rhythms to accompany the Muzak on the PA system, now are the Morse Code of a developing conspiracy. That door left ajar. The stones arranged in odd shapes in the recreation yard. They are no longer the haphazard of someone in a hurry and someone trying to break his boredom. They are part of a secret code! They are bursting with meaning!

This all had been a hidden mystery until someone befriended our hero and revealed to him the secret code. Once able to crack the code, our hero realizes that the inmates are constantly communicating with each other in a strange and hidden language undetected by their captors. They are planning an escape. They have created a secret society with a secret language, secret plans, secret rules, secret customs, secret rituals, and secret hope. He willingly joins the conspiracy and joyfully anticipates the coming day of freedom. Hidden beneath his sullen face is newfound hope, a child with a secret he can't wait to tell friends.

The prison guards gloat and take every opportunity to humiliate the inmates. But those who have cracked the code and are in on the conspiracy are buoyed by a quiet strength. Outwardly they may be bruised and beaten but inwardly they are strong. They may appear to be imprisoned but in fact they are already free. The freedom that is now theirs in hope will soon become theirs in fact. With every late-night clank on the water pipes, with every tap on the dinner plates, with every door left ajar, with every odd pattern of stones on the ground, they are comforted. Their faith in the future is renewed. Every brutal blow from their captors is easier to bear because it is a reminder that they are getting closer to the new birth of freedom.

This well-known cinematic formula is a picture of the book of Revelation, its context and its purpose. For the remaining Sundays of this Easter season the second reading will be taken from the book of Revelation, one of the most controversial, enigmatic, and disputed books of the New Testament. Throughout its tortured history the book of Revelation has been a bane and a blessing. There have been those who have made it the centerpiece of their faith. There have also been those who would just as well have it burned. For centuries there were many who strongly questioned whether the book even belonged in the New Testament. For example, Martin Luther didn't have much use for it largely because of the way it was abused by such crazed prophets and social revolutionaries as Thomas Muntzer. However, there have also been those who have seen it as a blueprint for history and have constantly turned to it for guidance and consolation.

 The book has a legitimate place in the New Testament. It offers a voice that the church needs to hear. But it is neither the most important book of the New Testament nor does it need be tossed on a pile of condemned books about to be burned. The book of Revelation is intended to speak a word of comfort and consolation to God's people in times of suffering and persecution. That word of comfort is nothing more or less than the gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone (regardless of the way it has often been abused over the centuries in the hands the misguided), it belongs in the Bible.

Most agree that the book of Revelation was written by one of Jesus' disciples, John (the one whom Jesus loved). During the last years of his life John was exiled to the island of Patmos in the Mediterranean Sea where he died as an old man. John was exiled because his enemies wanted to silence him. The Roman government was increasingly suspicious of Christians like John and did not want their strange religion spread throughout the empire. So he was condemned to spend the rest of his life in exile on the island of Patmos. However, John was not about to be silenced. He wrote this book as a word of comfort to suffering and persecuted Christians throughout the empire (specifically to seven congregations in Asia Minor).

In order to not make the situation for them worse and aggravate the ire of their enemies, John wrote his book disguised in the secret code language of apocalyptic. In that respect it resembles the secret code of inmates planning to break out of prison. It is filled with secret code language, bizarre images, and far-out symbols, the exact meaning of which remains hidden to us today. The images and symbols are the equivalent of the late-night clanking on water pipes, the tapping on the dining room plates, the door left ajar, and the stones left in odd patterns that made up the secret code of the inmates in prison. To the outsiders it is a hidden code. It is only so much random noise and routine activity without any meaning or significance. But to the privileged insiders, to those who have been able to crack the code, it is the secret language of the gospel. It is the good news. It is hope for those who were without hope.

 But we don't live at the end of the first century. To a large extent we remain outsiders. We don't have the "dictionary" or ability to crack the code and its rich and complex system of meaning. That is why much of Revelation remains an unsolved mystery. Some if the images are so bizarre that it almost seems as if John was in some kind of trance or high on drugs.

This was typical of the apocalyptic literature of the day. This kind of literature was widespread in the ancient world. People back then, just as many of us today, wanted to know what the future held. They felt helpless in a world they did not understand and were powerless to do anything about. They may have looked to apocalyptic literature just as we look to the zodiac or palm readers, desperate for a word that will prepare us for the future and help us to unlock the mysteries of life.

 In that first-century world many looked at the universe as a two-story building. What happens down here on the ground, on the first floor, in the tangible world that we can see, feel and touch, is a reflection of what has already happened in the world above, on the second floor, in the invisible and intangible world of eternity. Of course, what has gone on in the world above is hidden and invisible to us stuck on the first floor. Apocalyptic literature pulls back the veil, opens the curtain, lifts up the window, so that we can see what has happened on the second floor, in the realm of eternity. Such literature "revealed" the truth of what lies behind events of this world. Hence the title of the book of Revelation.

The world of eternity was often filled with all sorts of bizarre creatures and odd places that seemed to be utterly unrelated to what was going on in this world. A prophet might offer a revelation filled with such images. But someone was needed to crack the code and interpret the vision. Without being able to crack the code, the revelation would remain an impenetrable mystery. Unfortunately for many today the book of Revelation remains just that, an impenetrable, if not frightening, mystery.

 All is not lost. Though much of it remains a mystery, though its frequent frightening imagery makes it a disturbing and even scary book, we do have the key that can crack the code. We do have the key that can unlock the door and take us inside the world of those persecuted first-century Christians and see that this book is not simply a warning for a frightening future but a word of comfort for a glorious future.

 The key to cracking the code is right there in today's reading at the very beginning of this marvelous and mysterious book:

... Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. — Revelation 1:5-6

Even though John, as a visionary and prophet, is pulling back the veil and giving us a glimpse into the realm of the eternal, he actually is redirecting our attention to a different place. He directs our attention to Jesus, to his life, death, and resurrection that took place here, in this world, in this time and space, down-on-the-ground. John claims that the worldly suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus was more than what it appeared to be. It was more than just another execution of another criminal by the brutally efficient Roman empire. It was a first-floor event with second-floor consequences. It pulled back the veil and opened the window so that we could see the real meaning not only of Jesus' life but of our lives.

 Even though those first-century Christians were suffering much at the hands of their enemies and the empire, the conflict was already over. God had already defeated all the forces of this world: sin, death, and the power of the devil. The mighty and brutal Roman empire had already been put down. All those things that would destroy God's people and tear them away from his care had been overcome. The death and resurrection of Jesus defeated all those enemies. John's revelation tears back the veil. The window is opened. Eternity is revealed. What did John's revelation show them? The lamb who shed his blood for the world now sits triumphantly on his thrown in heaven.

I am the Alpha and Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. — Revelation 1:8

Christ is the key to cracking the code. Christ enables us to not only unlock the mystery of the book of Revelation, but he enables us to unlock the code of our life in all of its mystery, confusion, and pain.

Our life on the first floor, in this world, often seems like a mess. It is filled with confusion, suffering, and death. An unexpected disease shatters our plans. A pink slip slams the door on a career that we thought was so promising. A collapsing stock market abruptly thwarts our plans for retirement. Our best friend is killed in auto accident because he just had to have one more beer. We are continually reminded, if not ridiculed, that we do not have what it takes to succeed. Shrill voices, angry faces, biting criticisms, all shred our self-esteem. We can identify with John on Patmos and all those first-century Christians who were persecuted for simply trusting in Jesus. We long for a word of comfort and consolation. Is there any sense in this madness? Or is it all random, aimless, without rhyme or reason?

 It is then that today's reading cracks the code. It pulls back the veil. The window is opened. The truth of what was really going on "upstairs," on the second floor in eternity, is "revealed."

Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. — Revelation 1:7

In a world where suffering and "persecution" are too much a part of our lives, where fear and uncertainty make living with hope so difficult, where so much seems random and senseless, at last the mystery is solved. At last the code is cracked. Christ has triumphed. On Good Friday and Easter, God defeated all that would separate us from his love. All this suffering, hurt, pain, confusion, and persecution are just the "mopping up" actions of a war that has already been won.

The code is cracked. So now we can see things that remain invisible to the world. It is only so much random noise or meaningless chatter to our captors who don't have a clue. Water is poured at the font "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Bread is broken. Wine is poured. "This is my body given for you. This is my blood shed for you." A hand is offered. A smile is shared. "The peace of the Lord be with you ... And also with you." Sins are forgiven. Prayers are spoken. Time and talent and treasure are freely offered. Casseroles are baked and delivered. Tears are wiped away. The heartbroken are hugged.

To our beleaguered and embittered world and our captors who think we are just a bunch of fools, it only seems like clanking water pipes in the night. It is only so much tapping on our dinner plates. That door left ajar? Someone must have forgotten to close it. Those stones oddly arranged in the recreation yard ... someone was just bored. But for us, those for whom the code has been cracked, those who know the truth of eternity, those who know what has really happened upstairs on the second floor, this is a "revelation"! This is good news! This is what happens when you have cracked the code! Amen.