Rich Realities from Revelation
Studies in the Apocalypse that Give us Hope:
“John’s Vision of the Heavenly Christ” – Revelation 1
Rubel Shelly, in his commentary on Revelation (The Lamb and His Enemies), provides, in my opinion, an appropriate description of the challenges facing the Christians in the first century who received the Revelation of John: “Imagine… You are a Christian, and for that fact alone you are shunned, your business is boycotted, and your children are not welcome to associate with people their age in the city; the walls of your house are used frequently for vulgar graffiti, and you are liable to arrest” (Shelly, 19).
To give Christians the courage they need to face those challenges from within (false teachers) and from without (persecution by pagans), John begins with Jesus Christ.
In verse 1, John identifies this message as being a “revelation” (an “uncovering”) from Jesus Christ. This is as true as Paul said about his own writings: “I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:12; “revelation” is the same word as here).
The book of Revelation is identified in verse 2 as “testimony of Jesus Christ,” a term found also in verse 9. John was being persecuted on the island of Patmos for the same reason the Christians were being persecuted – bearing witness to the Gospel about Jesus.
To these Christians for whom persecution was on the horizon if not in reality, Jesus is identified as the “faithful witness, the first born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth” (1:5). “Faithful” is found 12 times; “witness” is found 5 times. “Dead” and “death” are used a total of 29 times in Revelation. Jesus is simply calling on Christians to imitate His faithful witness in the face of death. If Christians will stay faithful, just as Jesus was “born of the dead,” so will Christians.
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Jesus “loves” us and “released us from our sins by His blood” (vs 5). Citing Exodus 19:6 but applying it to Christians, John writes that Jesus has also made us a “kingdom of priests.” Rome is a kingdom but so are Christians with Jesus being the King. Yet Christians are also to mediate the sacrifice of Christ in the world, serving as priests (see also Romans 15:16; NASV).
Jesus will come again and all eyes will see Him, including the Jews who crucified Him (vs 7). Building on Isaiah’s terms “first and last” which referred to God, Jesus says He is the “alpha” and “omega,” the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Jesus is all that Christians ever need to be prepared for death and judgment. He is also the “Almighty,” the Greek equivalent of El Shaddai. The term is used nine times in Revelation.
So important and influential is Jesus of Nazareth that He has His own day (1:10) – the Lord’s Day. It is that day on which Christians assemble and remember the life, death, resurrection and second coming of Jesus through the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:20). Fifty-two times a year, then, Christians are reminded of what is truly important.
Beginning in verse 12, we have a composite picture of Jesus Christ. He is portrayed here in terms denoting a king, a priest, and a judge. He holds the “messengers/angels” of the churches in His hands, so that He knows everything that happens among His people. He also walks among the menorahs which symbolize the spiritual temple which are His people, the church. He is there to protect, defend, and snuff out the lamp should the church prove unfaithful in its witness (2:5).
Baptist scholar Ray Summers, in his commentary, Worthy is the Lamb, writes: “Here is the meaning of the vision: A living, holy, majestic, omniscient, authoritative, powerful Christ stands in the midst of the churches, holds their destiny in his hand and says: ‘Stop fearing. I was dead. I am alive forever. More than that, I hold in my hand the keys to death and the grave. You should not fear to go to any place to which I hold the key. You may be persecuted to death but I am still your king.’” (105).
What is the message of chapter 1 that gives us hope? Jesus is still king. He still manages and oversees His temple, the church. He still serves as judge of all that is right and wrong.
–Paul Holland
