John Piper, in a sermon, “A Year-End Look at Jesus Christ”
The voice says in [Revelation 1] v. 11, “Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches.” This means that the vision John is about to get is meant not just for him but for us as well. And the point of writing it down is to transmit to us the same kind of experience of seeing Jesus that he had.
“Write What You See”
This is not easy to do—”write what you see.” It is easy to write words that you hear. But it is not easy to write in words glorious things that you see with your eyes. But it is possible, because Jesus said to do it. Jesus does not intend to come to each of the seven churches the way he came to John. He could have appeared to each congregation with this same vision. But he doesn’t. He appears to John and says, “Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches.” John gets the vision. We get the book.
But this is not because Christ wants to be distant and impersonal with his churches. It is because he wants to come to us in and through his Word. He wants us to seek him in his Word, and know him by his Word, and gaze upon him steadily through his Word. And when we do, the Lord stands forth from his Word in ways beyond the merely rational and intellectual possibilities of reading.
The primary way of gazing on Christ today is through his Word. That is the clear implication of these words in verse 11, “Write in a book what you see and send it to the . . . churches.” Why else write in a book what he saw except to transmit to the readers some of that same experience.
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 