Revelation 1:1-20 (Apocalypse of Christ)

Introduction

Do you believe the book of Revelation was written early (sometime before 70 AD) or late (around 95 or 98 AD)?

Are you a Preterist, a Futurist, a Historicist, or an Idealist?

Do you interpret Revelation “literally” or do you “spiritualize” it?

Are you a Postmillennialist, a Premillennialist, or an Amillennialist?

If you are a Premillennialist, what kind of Pre-mil are you? Historic Pre-mil view or Dispensational Pre-mil?

And if you are a Dispensationalist, then do you believe in a pre-trib, a post-trib, or a mid-trib rapture?

These are all the sort of questions that used to hinder me from spending too much time in the book of Revelation. I once thought that I had to understand all of these words, decide which ones best fit my own view, and only then could I even begin to make sense of what I might encounter in the book of Revelation.

I’ve read a shelf-full of books on eschatology (the doctrine or study of last things). I’ve heard many debates and conversations between folks from different camps. And I’ve listened to 2 seminary professors lay out their case for why they hold the millennial view they do.

But still, I was not sure that I had prepared enough to understand Revelation.

And then, a couple of years ago, I dove into it. We studied it together as a group during our Wednesday night Bible study… And I was (frankly) surprised.

I was surprised by how vivid the book is… describing Christ’s person and work in brilliant colors and with dramatic scenes.

I was surprised by how organized and yet dynamic the book is… there’s an obvious structure and pattern, but it isn’t rigid… it repeatedly changes shape.

I was surprised to learn that I didn’t have to choose my view beforehand… and (for the most part) I didn’t even have to declare my millennial view in order to study and even teach through the whole book.

I was surprised to learn (though I shouldn’t have been surprised) that the same basic rules of literature and interpretation apply in Revelation as they do in every other book of the Bible… Words and sentences still work the same… Poetry and story and letter still function as different kinds of literature… And the main things are still the main things (while there may be various details to study further).

In the end, I was surprised to learn that Revelation is actually not all that complicated. It’s actually pretty straightforward in the message it’s proclaiming throughout, and it’s not all that difficult (at least I don’t think) to understand how each part connects to the whole.

Brothers and sisters, it is my goal (for the rest of this year – Revelation should take us right through to the end of December)… it is my goal to stand on the text of Revelation and to point us all to the glory, the sovereignty, the wisdom, the power, the grace, and the justice of the triune God… and especially as such things are depicted here in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

You might say that my goal (because I believe it is the goal of Revelation) is to expose and explain a vision of Jesus that is completely unlike the stained-glass window (above me) in our auditorium. It was about four years ago (when I was preaching through Exodus) that I explained why I think that any image, picture, or depiction of Jesus is (at best) unwise… And I personally think it’s probably sinful. I know that Jesus was and is a man, but He is also God… He is today the resurrected and glorified God-man… and we are far too prone to forget His deity when we look only at His humanity.

And this (I think) is the main reason why visual depictions of Jesus are always a bad idea. They simply cannot convey who Jesus is. They always fall short, and sometimes they tell a terrible lie.

Friends, there is coming a day when “every eye will see him” (Rev. 1:7), and the picture described in the book of Revelation is not a hippy Jesus, collecting flowers or lambs from a field… No, Jesus is described as a righteous warrior, with eyes like fire, and whose robe is dripping with the blood of those He has conquered.

Jesus came the first time to die upon the cross in the place of sinners, but He will come again to strike down the nations and to tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God.

And the book of Revelation is all about what Christians (1) ought to know (about Christ, His rule, His purposes, His salvation, and His judgment) and (2) what Christians ought to do between Christ’s first and second coming.

Where is Jesus now? What is He doing? Why does it sometimes feel like the whole world is opposed to Christ and His people? How can Christians live with hope and endurance in the face of such tribulation?

The book of Revelation was written to answer questions like these, and I pray that the Lord will encourage us, sober us, and excite us… as we study through this fascinating book together.

Today, we will begin our expositional series through this book by reading and considering the entirety of the first chapter. It is here that we find the foundation, the method, and the message of the whole book summarized.

Let’s stand one more time together, as I read Revelation 1:1-20.

Scripture Reading

Revelation 1:1–20 (ESV)

1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.

14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Main Idea:

Jesus Christ is the God-man who presently reigns, and though His people endure tribulation now, He is with them and will soon make His blessings and judgments known.

Sermon

1. The Last Prophet (v1-3)

As we will encounter again and again in this book of the Bible, there are short phrases and even single words that carry a lot of freight. One of the main difficulties in studying the book of Revelation is that of deciding when to zoom in and when to zoom out. For example, these first three verses seem to require a little zooming in… but v9-20 will be harder for us to understand if we keep the lens focused too tight. There we will need to let the broader picture inform us, and we will need to resist the urge to concentrate too hard on the details.

But here at the beginning, let’s do focus our lenses a bit tighter…

John says that this is “The revelation” or the “ἀποκαλυψις” or the “disclosure” or the “unveiling” “of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:1). In no uncertain terms, John is telling his reader that he has been given “the word of God” and the “testimony of Jesus Christ,” even various visions “that he saw” (Rev. 1:2). And all of it is the complete or final revelation about the person and work of Christ.

John is the “servant” (Rev. 1:1) and “witness” (Rev. 1:2) of Christ, who received the final revelation about Christ, which came to him from God, and was “made known” to John by Christ and by His “angel” or messenger (Rev. 1:1).

And John’s revelation comes along with a blessing and an implicit cursing… Look at v3 with me. John says, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it” (Rev. 1:3). The blessing is conditional – Blessed are those who “read” who “hear” and who “keep” or obey the words of this revelation. But there is an implied curse here too – Cursed are those who do not “read” or do not “hear” or do not “keep” or obey the words of this revelation.

It is also interesting to note that these same features are all repeated at the end of the book of Revelation. If you’re fast, you can turn there with me.

In chapter 22, John repeats his refrain that God “has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place” (Rev. 22:6). And Christ Himself proclaims, “behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book” (Rev. 22:7). “I am coming soon,” Jesus says, “bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Rev. 22:12). And finally, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates” (Rev. 22:14).

Friends, these bookends (the opening and closing of Revelation) establish John as the last biblical prophet. He was the last one to receive new revelation from God to explain who He is, what He’s doing, and what He commands. And just like the prophets of old, John announces the word of God with the promises of blessing for those who receive it and a warning of cursing for those who do not.

And just like the first Christians who read or heard these words, we want to receive them… we want to live in obedience to them… and we want to faithfully endure in this world as we cling to the hope-giving realities described by them.

The “time” of the complete fulfillment of John’s prophecy was “near” or “at hand” (KJV) in John’s own day (Rev. 1:3), and all the more so for us now.

2. The Prophet’s Method (v4-7)

These next several verses are a blessing and an announcement that (in many ways) set the stage for all we will encounter throughout the rest of this book. As a matter of fact, I’d like to point out 6 ways in which John shows us his method for the whole book right here. This section will probably be the most helpful for many of us to take notes and keep them with us as we continue our study of this book. We will revisit these features of John’s method many times.

First, John wrote to “the seven churches that are in Asia” (Rev. 1:4). Numbers are going to be a big part of John’s method in Revelation. Seven, twelve, and various multiples or modifications of these numbers are used throughout, and they all carry meaning. It is on purpose that there are “seven” churches listed here, and not six or eight.

We will get more into the meaning of the various numbers as we go, but we ought to note it here that this is no coincidence.

Second, John wrote to “the seven churches that are in Asia” (Rev. 1:4). Another feature of this book is that it is applicable to the original audience and also to those who have continued to read it throughout the centuries. If we ask, “Was Revelation written to specific churches in first-century Asia? Or was it written to all churches throughout time?” The answer is “Yes!” When dealing with prophetic literature in the Bible, this is called telescopic prophecy. A telescope has different lenses that can focus near or far, depending on how far out you extend the telescope. And the same is true with telescopic prophecy. You can focus (rightly) on objects in the near future and in the distance, and both are clearly visible from the same point of origin.

Again, we will see this and get more into it as we go, but we already see the book of Revelation getting us ready to view the rest of the book with a kind of “then and now and still to come” set of lenses.

Third, John proclaims “Grace” and “peace” upon his readers, “from” God the Father (“who is and who was and who is to come” [v4]), “from” God the Spirit (“the seven spirits who are before his throne” [v4]), and “from” God the Son (“Jesus Christ” [v5], who is praised with “glory and dominion forever and ever” [v6]). This poetic, symbolic, and distinctive description of the praise and the work of each person of the triune God is a big theme of Revelation.

The God of the Bible is one God who has revealed Himself as three distinct persons – Father, Son, and Spirit. And the book of Revelation teaches us emphatically that all three persons of the godhead have been working toward this same plan of salvation through judgment throughout the ages… and they (all three) will continue to do their work and deserve their praise up to and including the end.

Fourth, while God the Father is certainly glorified here and in the rest of the book, Jesus (who is the God-man) is most clearly the one in whom the triune God most gloriously and clearly makes Himself known. It is Jesus Christ here who is the specific object of John’s praise. Jesus is “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings on earth” (Rev. 1:5). It is Jesus who “loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood” (Rev. 1:5). It is Jesus who has “made us a kingdom [of] priests to his God and Father” (Rev. 1:6). And it is “to” Jesus that John ascribes “glory and dominion forever and ever” (Rev. 1:6).

We will note all throughout Revelation that Jesus is the particular person of the godhead who is being exalted, worshiped, feared, loved, and obeyed. So too, Jesus is the one (as the God-man, who came to die, and now reigns as the resurrected Lord)… is it Jesus who rules, who conquers, who judges, and who finally brings about the glorious salvation of His people.

If you love… if you worship… if you are in awe of Jesus, then you are going to delight in the book of Revelation!

A fifth method I want to point out here is one we will dive further into in just a bit, but let’s go ahead and see it already in this section. In most of the NT, when an author wants us to know that he’s referring to something in the OT, he says something like “it is written” or “the prophet says” or he explicitly names some person or event that OT readers would recognize. Not so with John in Revelation.

David Helm wrote the book on expositional preaching, and he says that “all the OT prophets rendezvous in the book of Revelation.” That is, all the images, the shadows, the prophecies, the themes, and the symbols of the OT prophets come together and find their completion in Revelation. This book is where all the prophets meet together after their term of service.

You can see an example in v5. John says that Jesus is “the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of earth” (Rev. 1:5). And this is a paraphrase of Psalm 89:27. A Psalm all about the “steadfast love of the LORD,” which is on display as God delivers His people from the “mocking” of their “enemies” and even from His own “wrath,” through the “strength” and wisdom of His “mighty” and “anointed one.”

Friends, John wrote far more than he knew in this Revelation from God. These pages are packed full of allusions and citations and references to all sorts of OT passages, and God has tied His whole canon together with expert literary genius. This last book of the Bible is like the climactic final chapter of an epic story where a ton of stuff you’ve heard and seen before all falls into place with glorious beauty and wonder.

We should not read Revelation with a newspaper in our hands to see how it all connects. We should read Revelation with our Bible’s open to the OT. This book is rich with OT connections, and we will enjoy it more when we see them.

Sixth, and finally, we should note here the urgency and the strong theme of judgment. In v3, we read, “the time is near” (Rev. 1:3). And in v7, we read, “Behold, he [the resurrected and glorified and reigning Christ] is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen” (Rev. 1:7).

Friends, whether you think the last day is far off in the future, or if you think today might well be the day Christ returns, the reality is that the final day is fast approaching… and it will be here very soon.

This coming day is one that John and other Christians welcome. John says, “Even so. Amen” (Rev. 1:7). “Amen” can mean “truly” or “this is true.” But it can also mean (when at the end of a sentence) “so be it” or “let it be.” This is how we use the word in prayer… “Amen, let it be.” Or “Amen, so be it.”

But that day when Christ shall return is not welcomed by everyone. In fact, the idea that Christ is “coming with the clouds” is a warning of judgment and a call to repentance (Rev. 1:7). When God spoke to the people of Israel through the prophet Jeremiah, He said, “Now it is I who speak in judgment upon them” (Jer. 4:12). Then Jeremiah said, “Behold, he comes up like clouds; his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles – woe to us, for we are ruined! O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved” (Jer. 4:13).

Again and again, as we read and study through this book, some of us may be surprised to learn that it is God Himself (specifically Christ) who is the one depicted as bringing destruction upon nations and peoples. The world and the devil have their parts to play in this story, to be sure… and their role is to make war against the Lord and against His Christ (Ps. 2). But the most devastating scenes in the book of Revelation are those where Christ is the one doling out the violence.

Just a quick recap… We see several features of John’s method right here at the beginning – (1) symbolic numbers, especially seven and twelve; (2) telescopic prophecy, that has multiple, general, and ultimate fulfillment; (3) the praise and work of the triune God; (4) an emphasis upon the glory and reign of Jesus Christ; (5) OT citations and allusions, that we will increasingly recognize, the more familiar we are with the OT language and story; and (6) the urgency of Christ’s return and the emphasis upon His judgment when He does.

We will see all of this and more as we go, and we see it presented to us right here in the rest of the chapter.

3. The Prophet’s Emphasis (v8)

This single verse is the first official prophecy of the book of Revelation, and it is more profound than I can explain. I’ve given this verse its own section in my sermon, because I want to emphasize what I believe is THE emphasis of this book.

John quotes “the Lord God” here (“I am the Alpha and the Omega” [Rev. 1:8]), and there’s a phrase repeated from v4, which John used to especially refer to God the Father – “who is and who was and who is to come” (Rev. 1:8; cf. 4). But the “son of man” (Rev. 1:13), who “died” and “behold” is now “alive forevermore” (Rev. 1:18) says the same thing (with slightly different words) at the end of v17. He says, “Fear not, I am the first and the last” (Rev. 1:17).

And I’ve already noted that Revelation ends much like it begins (some of you Bible study nerds might even geek out on the possibility that the entire book is a great big chiasm). In Revelation 22, Jesus clearly joins both of these affirmations into one. I read it to you earlier. Jesus says, “I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Rev. 22:12).

So, what are we to make of v8? Is this Jesus talking, or is it God?

Good Christians can answer differently here… but my own perspective is that the speaker (in v8) is Jesus… and that He is claiming to be “the Lord God,” “the Almighty” (Rev. 1:8). And the implicit reality that Christ is the main person in focus here becomes explicit in the rest of the chapter.

You don’t have to agree with me about Jesus being the speaker in v8 to conclude that the emphasis of this verse (in its context) is to shout to the reader that God (Father, Son, and Spirit) is the sovereign over all things, and that He (Father, Son, and Spirit) is emphatically present now, even as He was and will be.

It will become clearer (Lord willing) at the end of the chapter but notice the way the language is already (in v8) emphasizing for us the right now reality of the presence of God. If we were to speak of the unfolding of time, we would likely say, “past, present, and future” or “was, is, is to come.” This is how the worshipers around God’s throne say it in Rev. 4. They never stop saying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Rev. 4:8).

But that’s not the way it’s recorded here. The emphasis in the way it’s phrased (twice!) at the beginning of Revelation is on the “is” (Rev. 1:8).

As I said, this is more profound than I can explain. What we read in v8 is a statement of God’s (and probably a specific reference to Christ’s) utter and complete sovereignty over all things, because He transcends all creation and rules over time itself. But there is an emphatic highlight here… not just of the otherness or holiness or distance of God from His creation (He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Almighty)… but of the nearness or imminence or presence of God with His creation… or more specifically with His people (He is the one “who is”!).

4. The Prophet’s Revelation (v9-20)

Now some of you might be thinking, “Marc, you’re past the 30-minute mark, and we’ve only gotten to v9. How in the world are we going to finish the chapter without you surpassing Barry’s record of a 72-minute sermon?” Well, I think we will still clock in at around my normal 48-minutes or so… but the rest of the chapter is doing what I’ve been describing, and I think it won’t take us long to see what I believe we are intended to see here.

Verses 9-16 give us a picture of what the first 8 verses have already been telling us. And verses 17-20 explain the picture so that we can know for sure what we’re looking at. This is another feature of John’s method throughout this book – he will both “see” and “hear” in quick succession, and the one will often explain the other. Let’s dive into John’s first “vision” or “revelation.”

John introduces himself for the second time here. The first time was as the “servant” of Christ who is the one “bearing witness” to “the word of God,” the “testimony of Christ,” and to “all that he saw” (Rev. 1:1-2). But here, John tells his reader that he is “your brother and partner in the tribulation” (Rev. 1:9). John wants to underscore that he too is suffering the “tribulation” or affliction or distress that is common among Christians in the world.

In fact, John was exiled on the island of Patmos, which is still a small island between Greece and Turkey in the Aegean Sea. He was there as a banishment because he was considered dangerous to Roman society… because he was a faithful preacher of the gospel and because he was aiming to follow Christ consistently in a world that did not appreciate such things.

John says that it was there (in his exile) that he “heard” and “saw” a revelation of Jesus Christ…

It was a Holy-Spirit-enabled revelation that happened on one Lord’s day. John “heard” a “loud voice like a trumpet” (Rev. 1:10). And here again, I already need to remind you that one of the difficulties of studying the book of Revelation is deciding when to zoom in and when to zoom out. From here on through the rest of the book, there are going to be biblical themes and allusions buzzing right by our ears, and we may or may not even realize it. What we’ve got to do here (and in many places in Revelation) is not ignore all of these details, but try to take as many of them in as we can… all at once… That’s what Revelation is!

It’s like the final chapter of an epic story, where the author ties up all the loose ends and even makes you realize that there was important stuff that you didn’t think much about when you were reading the story the first time. It’s like the sort of book you finish, and then you want to start it over right away, because now you can notice all the cool stuff you didn’t even know was cool.

Revelation is a dynamic and fast-moving panorama of all that God has been doing and what He is doing in His plan to bring salvation through judgment to believing sinners everywhere. The key to benefitting most from Revelation is (very often) to try to zoom out and take it all in… to see the characters and shapes emerge… not in precise lines and colors… but as echoes and reflections and strange-but-familiar figures that leap right out of the OT.

So, John “heard” a “loud voice like a trumpet” (Rev. 1:10), and the voice said, to “write down what you see… and send it to the seven churches” (Rev. 1:10), and then each is listed by name. These churches were real congregations in the first century that all existed in a sort of circuit in the far western portion of Asia Minor. The town names are not the same today, but you can find Izmir, Turkey, on a world map and go about an inch or two southeast to see where they were.

John “heard” his commission to send his prophecy to these churches (Rev. 1:10-11), and then he “turned to see the voice” that had spoken to him… and “on turning [he] saw…” a brilliant picture of the glorified Christ (Rev. 1:12).

John “saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man…” (Rev. 1:12-13). Now this is an allusion or reference to a vision the prophet Daniel received back in the OT. Daniel was himself an exiled man, long after the fall of Israel to Assyria in 722 BC. In 605 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon chose Daniel and several other young men to serve in his court. Daniel’s story is an interesting one in the OT, and most of us probably know him from his miraculous escape from the lions’ den.

But Daniel also received visions from God, telling of a day when “one like a son of man” would come “with the clouds of heaven” (Dan. 7:13). In Daniel’s vision, the “son of man” approached another character called “the Ancient of Days” (Dan. 7:13). That phrase “Ancient of Days” doesn’t appear anywhere else in the Bible, but it is clearly referring to God. The “son of man” was “presented” before the “Ancient of Days” (Dan. 7:13). And the “Ancient of Days” gives “dominion and glory and a kingdom” to the “son of man” (Dan. 7:14).

All of this is fascinating by itself. And Jesus’s claim to be the “Son of Man” was what made the Jewish high priest and all his court rage with fury and condemn Him to death… because they knew that claiming such a title was full of meaning.

But John doesn’t merely repeat Daniel’s prophecy here, saying that Jesus is the “son of man” (Rev. 1:12). We already know that! No, John received a revelation of his own, that was an echo of Daniel’s prophecy, but also a dynamic transformation of it!

John says that he’s looking at “one like a son of man” (v12), but the way John describes Him is very much like Daniel’s description of the “Ancient of Days” (Dan. 7:9-10). John and Daniel both observe “white” and “pure” “hair” and “clothing.” Daniel’s “Ancient of Days” and John’s “son of man” both have “fiery flames” beneath and around them. And both of these characters are the center of authority and power in the cosmos.

We might say to John, “Wait, wait, brother… We know you’re referring to Daniel 7 here, but you’re telling it wrong. You’re mixing them together… These are two distinct characters – the ‘Son of Man’ and the ‘Ancient of Days.’” And John might say back, “YES! That’s what I’m doing! And now you’re getting it!”

Friends, John’s vision here is depicting Jesus as both the “son of man” AND as the “Ancient of Days”! He is the God-man who presently reigns, and John catches this glimpse of Him as He is right now.

What a different picture this is from the ones we often see depicted on screens, framed on walls, or etched in stained glass. Jesus did come to seek and to save the lost… He did come to live and to die for sinners… He did conquer the grave to give hope to all those who would turn from their sin and trust in Him… but He is not suffering today! Jesus is not humbly enduring humiliation anymore!

No, He is the victorious King of kings and Lord of lords, and His eyes burn like a flame of fire as He oversees the unfolding of all human history. From His mouth erupts the “roar” of power and proceeds the “two-edged sword” that divides right from wrong, true from false, the righteous from the wicked… And Jesus Himself offers a word of great comfort to His people who remain in a world that so often seems to make this vision of Jesus hard to imagine… much less to believe.

Look down to the last four verses to see the explanation of what we’re seeing here. “When” John “saw” this brilliantly glorious and terrifyingly powerful “son of man,” he “fell at his feet as though dead” (Rev. 1:17). This is reminiscent of the OT prophet Isaiah, when he encountered the God who is “holy, holy, holy” (Is. 6:3). And just like Isaiah before, John here was comforted by God’s promise of grace and forgiveness. God said to Isaiah, “your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for” (Is. 6:7); and Jesus said to John, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades [or “Death and The Grave”]” (Rev. 1:17-18).

Brothers and sisters, Jesus is the ruling and reigning one, and His people have nothing to fear, because He Himself has died and is alive forevermore… and He has the keys… He is in charge of our worst enemy… What should we fear?!

Ah, but there’s one last comfort to point out here, and it’s explained in v20. There we see Jesus’s own explanation of “the mystery” of the symbols John saw in his vision of the “son of man.” I said that there’d be “seeing” and “hearing,” and that the one would often explain the other. Well, Jesus tells us right here what to make of the “stars” and the “lampstands” of John’s vision. He says, “the stars are the angels [or “messengers”] of the… churches” and the “lampstands are the… churches” (Rev. 1:20).

I think Jesus is referring to the elders or pastors of the churches when He calls them “angels” or “messengers” (Rev. 1:20), but we can be absolutely sure that Jesus is referring to “churches” when He calls them “churches” (Rev. 1:20).

In John’s vision, the churches are depicted as “lampstands,” …but where is the “son of man” (v12)? He is “in the midst of” them (v12)!

Brothers and sisters, this is the tandem comfort of the book of Revelation… either one by itself is a great comfort indeed… but the combination of the two is a powerful tonic… It will make timid Christians bold… It will make weary Christians endure… It will make lazy Christians active… It will make waffling Christians sure… And it will make suffering Christians remain faithful.

The tandem comfort we see in the opening chapter of this incredible book is that (1) Jesus Christ is the God-man who presently reigns… and (2) though His people endure tribulation now, He is with them and will soon make His blessings and judgments known… both in the church and in the world.

May God help us to be the sort of people who read and hear and keep the words of this book… May He help us to believe that Christ is reigning and that He is with us (even as He will soon return)… and May God help us to live with hope and obedience to His commands… so that we will be ready to meet Him.

Bibliography

Aland, Kurt, Barbara Aland, Johannes Karavidopoulos, Carlo M. Martini, and Bruce M. Metzger, eds. Novum Testamentum Graece. 28th ed. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012.

Beale, G. K., and David H. Campbell. Revelation: A Shorter Commentary. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2015.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. Logos Research Edition. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.

Dodd, Damon C. The Book of Revelation. Randall House Publications, 2000.

Lange, John Peter, et al. A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Revelation. Logos Bible Software, 2008.

Sproul, R. C., ed. The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition). Logos Research Edition. Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2015.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Logos Research Edition. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009.

The Holy Bible: New International Version. Logos Research Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984.

The NET Bible First Edition. Logos Research Edition. Biblical Studies Press, 2005.