Chapter 1
Christ Appears to John
This first chapter of Revelation is introductory in nature. John was in theSpirit on the Lord’s Day when he heard a great voice like a trumpet behindhim. He turned to see the Lord clothed with a garment down to His feet, witha golden sash about His upper body. His hair was like wool and was as whiteas snow. His eyes were as a flame of fire, His feet like burnished brass, andHis voice sounded like many waters. He had seven stars in His right hand andout of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. His countenance was like thesun, and when John saw Him he fell at His feet like a dead man. There is nodoubt that this was Jesus for He is described as being like the Son of man,even though His appearance was such that John did not recognize Him. This isthe way He often referred to Himself when He was ministering while on earth.However, He did not have the same physical appearance that He did after Hisdeath, and during the forty days after the resurrection when He appeared tothe disciples and other followers in Jerusalem, on the road to Emmaus, by theSea of Galilee, to the women at the tomb, and at His ascension. Here He ap-pears to John in His glorified body as the second person of the trinity, and Heidentifies Himself to alleviate John’s fear (Re. 1:17-18).In Revelation 1:18 Jesus says:
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“I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death”.
Jesus is the first-fruit of many that will live, die, arise, and live forever. He tookthe keys of hell and death from Satan when He descended into the “
lower parts of the earth
” and took Satan’s “
captives captive
” (Eph. 4:8-9). Colos-sians 2:15 indicates that Christ triumphed over principalities and powers atthis time. It seems that Jesus Christ’s triumph stripped Satan of much of hisauthority by taking his prized captives, and removing his authority over deathand hell. These captives were apparently the redeemed who lived and diedunder the old covenant. Hebrews 11:13-14 describes these captives,
“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but havingseen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them,and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth”
The description of Jesus given in Revelation 1:12-16 is nearly identical tothe description of the messenger who answered Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 10:5-6. Daniel addresses this messenger as Lord, and the wording in this chapterseems to imply that he could be the pre-incarnate Christ. However, the“
Prince of Persia
” delayed this messenger on his way to Daniel, and even if weaccept the idea that Jesus visited Daniel to deliver this prophecy, it is difficultto envision Him being delayed by the Prince of Persia. We do find scriptures inthe Old Testament which seem to suggest the presence of Jesus in the form of a messenger, one of the most notable being that in Genesis 18:1, where He isreferred to as Lord. Also, Malachi 3:1 refers to the Lord (Adoni) as the “
mes-14
senger of the covenant
”, being sent in the end-times by the Lord (Yahweh).Vines Complete Expository Dictionary of the Old and New Testament statesthat "the relation between the Lord and the
angel of the Lord
is often so closethat it is difficult to separate the two. This identification has led some inter-preters to conclude that the
angel of the Lord
was the pre-incarnate Christ."Nevertheless, to imagine Jesus being detained by one of Satan’s chief princes,or needing assistance to break free from a delaying entanglement does not jibe with our view of Him from the NT. We know Jesus as the Christ in the NT,as our Savior and victor over Satan. No chief prince, nor could Satan himself,now frustrate the goals and intents of the
Lion of Judah
.In Revelation 1:19 Jesus told John to:“
Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, andthe things which shall be hereafter
”.It is common in Bible prophecy to have more than one fulfillment. In otherwords, a prophecy can have an earlier, partial fulfillment, and a later completefulfillment. We see this in the prophecy concerning the desecration of thetemple, which occurred first in 168 BC, and will again take place in the middleof Daniel’s 70th week. In the interpretation of many expositors, AntiochusEpiphanes brings about the earlier, partial fulfillment of this prophecy, which islater completed by the antichrist, when he erects the abomination of desola-tion in the temple. In Revelation 1:19 Jesus tells John that some of theprophetic vision has more than one fulfillment, and its application is to morethan one time. The early chapters (Chapter 2 and 3) obviously apply to John’s
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Chapter 01 - Revelation Commentary
Chapter 1 - The Revelation of Jesus Christ, A Layman's Commentary
Christ Appears to John.
Commentary written by Jesse C. Jones (shared by Sandra Crosnoe on Scribd upon the author's request and with his permission).
Christ Appears to John.
Commentary written by Jesse C. Jones (shared by Sandra Crosnoe on Scribd upon the author's request and with his permission).
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