Revelation 1:9-20--Vision of the Son of Man

Revelation 1:9-20
English Standard Version

Vision of the Son of Man
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.

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John calls himself a brother and partner in the tribulations that the Church (here identified as the Seven Churches--remember that seven is a number of holiness, completeness, and fullness--like the seven days of a week, and the seventh day being the Sabbath Day that is holy to the LORD).  He is also identified as a partner in the kingdom (of God) and that He too is patiently awaiting all of God's promises to come to pass.  Though John is an apostle with leadership over the Church, in this situation his message for them is, "I'm right there with you."  For those that didn't know (and this is great context for us as readers), John has been exiled to the island of Patmos to live out the rest of his natural life.  Rome hopes that by putting him in exile that they will discredit him and make it harder for him to minister to the Church, yet it is in this time and place that the Lord Jesus Christ appears to John to give him words of comfort and to show him the answer to some of the questions he has been asking since he walked beside Jesus during his earthly ministry.  John always wanted to know about the future things, and Jesus is going to start by showing John a glimpse of Himself because He is the Past, Present, and Future of His people--it's all about Him.

Jesus gives John instructions to write down everything he sees in a book (this book of the Revelation).  He is to send this book to the Seven Churches named here--Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.  We'll see individual messages to each of these seven in the upcoming, opening chapters.

So far, John has not seen the One who is speaking to him.  As he turns to look at where the voice is coming from, he sees the One who is our Great High Priest dressed in his priestly robes and ministering in the Holy Place, tending to the Golden Lampstand with the seven lamps that represent the Church that Jesus leads.  There is imagery of Him here that clearly points to images of God in the Old Testament as well.  If there was any doubt that Jesus was God, this passage should help us see that t what Jesus says is true, "I and the Father are One."  His heir is white as wool--not just a sign of Him being the Ancient of Days, but a sign of His wisdom and purity.  His feet were like burnished bronze (radiant and also strong and unshakable).  His eyes were like a flaming fire that showed that He is the one that comes to make war with His enemies and judge all sin and wickedness and rebellion.  His voice is like the sound of many running waters--no natural man can hear or understand it, but it is powerful and able to accomplish the impossible like making everything out of nothing.

In his right hand are seven starts (these will be explained to John later, but these are the pastors of the Seven Churches--which means he holds onto all pastors of all the local congregations since we are talking about a number of completeness).  In his mouth is a sword (the Word of God) that is ready to destroy His enemies.  All He will need to do is speak the Word and what was spoken into existence will be spoken out of existence.  More about this comping Day of the Lord later.  His face shows the full glory of God, brighter than the sun itself, yet John is able to look fully in His face and live (unlike what happened with Moses on the Mountain of God where the smoke had to veil Him from Moses' sight or with Peter, James, and John (this same John) on the Mount of Transfiguration where a cloud veiled the full glory of Jesus in that moment).  There is great hope to the Jewish readers who would read this and understand that one day they will able to look God in the face without dying--this was the desire of Moses and every Jew since then (now it is also the sure hope of every Christian).

John falls at Jesus' feet.  If we had any question as to if this was Jesus or an angel, we are told here by the fact that the person speaking accepts John's worship that it is God and no mere angel as angels do not accept worship and always redirect worship to God (we'll see that several times in the book of Revelation)--the same goes for the saints in heaven.  They too do not accept worship and are always redirecting worship to the only One who is worthy.  John falls down like a dead man (unable to move), much like Daniel did.  Jesus gives the message to John again, "Fear not," and "I AM the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last (or the Beginning and the End)."  He identifies Himself as "The Living One," not just to draw our attention to the fact that He is the Resurrection and the Life, but that everyone and everything that has life finds that life in Him and Him alone--those who are separated from Him are spiritually dead.

It seems clear that he intends for us to think of eternal life and eternal death (eternal separation from God) because He next identifies Himself as the one who holds the keys to Death and Hades (Hell).  We don't often think of Jesus being the one who is the Jailkeeper of the wicked souls who are awaiting eternal judgment, but that is exactly what He says here--he has total ownership over Death and Hades because He was crucified, but Death could not keep Him and the Grave could not contain Him.  He has risen to be victorious over Sin, Death, Hades, and all of His enemies.  He now has every right to judge them and one day throw them into the Lake of Fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels.

Jesus tells John that some things that He will show John are happening now and things that have not yet happened, but are coming in future (and soon in the future).  I could spend a lot of time here talking about how this one verse leads to so many different interpretations of this book and forms a basis for how people outline the book, but I want to stay focused on the message.  Jesus is the one who knows and holds the future and nothing is going to stop His plan from going forward and He is sharing the plan with John and with us so that we have comfort in the uncertain times that we are living in now and as we look to greater uncertainty in the future that we can be sure that He is King of Kings and Lord of Lord over things on earth and things in heaven both now and forevermore. 

Jesus then explains the mystery of the seven stars and the Golden Lampstand with seven lamps, which we've already spoken of.  Jesus knew John had this lingering question and that it was going to interfere with his ability to hear the message He wanted him to hear, so Jesus answered the question that John really wanted to ask but had not even spoken.  This is something we see more than once in the Gospels that shows us Jesus' deity--He knew the thoughts of men and answered their unspoken questions and their conversations that they were having with themselves in their hearts and minds.  

I want to emphasize that Jesus' message to John before He gave John this revelation is important.  He told John to "Fear not," and this is also something that we must take to heart as we study this book.  God has not given a spirit of fear to His people because there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  John is to hold on to the hope that no matter how bad things look, Jesus is always there in charge and watching over His Church and those who lead His people.  Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.