Revelation 1:9-20
“A Vision of the Christ”
Revelation 1:9–20 9I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” 12I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” {13 Daniel 7:13} dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. 17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. 19″Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels {20 Or messengers} of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
In this section, we see a bit of what motivates John to write, we get a sense of his “prophetic” call. John clearly understands this letter not as his, but as a command from the living Christ. One of the additional features of this letter is the assertion that the Living Christ is still involved with his church, that he is not remote or disconnected but rather intimately involved.
This text also raises questions for us as to why we have not had such experiences, and such visions. While the biblical record is clearly filled with many similar accounts, there is no sense that this is considered the normal experience for every believer. If it were we would have a great deal more of such letters in the New Testament.
We also see a limited bit of information about worship in the early church, when the gathered and how they spoke of those times of worship. While the language that John is using here is somewhat difficult for us, it is by no means so clouded that we cannot understand nor draw from it any significant meaning. Remember that this is a specific type of literature, with its specific forms and language, just like a epistle or a gospel has its unique features, so does the revelation.
Prayer
I. John’s vision of Jesus the Risen Christ
a. Verse 9 serves as the beginning of an explanation of what is coming in the letter, and the authority for this letter. John writes, 9I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
i. John starts with a greeting that suggests some rather important understanding of the early church.
1. “Your brother and companion” John does not assume a relationship of superiority to those he is writing to, he does not claim the status of an older brother, simply a brother.
2. You see similar concepts in Paul when he writes of there being no difference between male and female, Jew and Gentile, slave and free in Christ
3. Brother and companion picks up that same sense of equality in Christ, and deemphasizes the cultural constructs of power, prestige and importance.
ii. There are three points where we see the equality of all believers
1. On is in suffering. It seems clear that there is a persecution of Christians taking place, it may be localized to Asia Minor, and thus to these seven churches, or it may be much broader in its focus, such issues will depend on when you date the authorship of the letter.
2. The next two points of equality exist in Christ,
a. The first is the Kingdom. In Christ Jesus we become part of the Kingdom of God, we are therefore no longer citizens of this culture, but we belong to God completely
b. The second is patient endurance. Patient endurance may seem to have more to do with suffering, but it is separated form suffering by the Kingdom. This inclines me to consider it as a benefit of life in Christ and one that is essential to living in the world. The kingdom to which we belong is not yet fully revealed, and while it may well be close at hand, it is not yet realized. So patient endurance is needed as we wait for the full revelation of Christ Jesus and his kingdom.
iii. The next portion of this verse is helpful as well. 9I, John . . . was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
1. John was on the island of Patmos when he received this vision, this revelation. Why was he there? John states because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
a. We could understand this as a preaching mission, an evangelistic effort. However, there is record of any Christians on the Island of Patmos, beside John at this point. So, if there is no church, and no church materializes, what was John doing there?
b. Christian tradition tells us that John was exiled there.
i. Why would John be exiled? Why not execute him? Peter was crucified, Paul was beheaded because he was a Roman citizen, what would be there reason for not executing John?
1. There is a tradition that the Romans attempted to execute John but were unable to kill him.
2. There is also another reason, and this has to do with the Roman legal system. If you were from the upper class and you did something requiring capital punishment, you would be exiled, deported or relegated to an island, rather than being killed.
ii. It seems that John may well have come from a rather wealthy family, likely one that had Roman Citizenship and was accorded the privileges of the Roman upper classes.
iii. What did John do to deserve death, the same things as Peter and Paul, they preached and taught a faith in Jesus that was expressly forbidden in the Roman world. In the words of John, he was there because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
iv. Now John tells us when this happened, 10On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,
1. The Lord’s Day may be read in a few different ways. There is no reason to read this as the Sabbath day, it is likely a reference to the churches practice of worshiping not on the last day of the week, Saturday, but on the first day of the week, Sunday.
2. There is a distinct possibility that this is Easter Sunday. There is a great deal of discussion about when the first day of the week became the known as the Lord’s Day. Some scholars make the argument that the first reference to the Lord’s day is Easter and that Sunday tradition develops form that.
3. John could be saying this occurred on the anniversary of the resurrection of Jesus, and it would make a fitting time for such a revelation.
v. The next thing that John mentions is that he is “in the Spirit.” This is a phrase that can be understood in several ways, one would be much like Paul uses the spirit, in the sense of living in a fashion that is consistent with our profession of faith, being spiritual.
1. That does not seem to work well in this setting. We would assume that John live a life that was consistent with his profession of faith on a daily basis not only on Easter Sunday.
2. So, what is he saying? It would appear that John was in a trance, a prophetic trance to be specific. How he arrived at this state is not mentioned nor if it were a common experience for him.
vi. While in this state, John heard behind him a loud voice like a shofar.
1. Often times in the OT and the Intertestimental Literature, this would include the Apocrypha, and other Jewish and Christian literature, a loud voice heard from behind, is often a way of indicating that one has heard the voice of God.
a. To strengthen this notion, one only needs to look as far as the trumpet, or better yet the Shofar, the horn used in the Worship of God at the Tabernacle and latter at the Temple.
i. The voice like a shofar, from behind, unseen, suggests an experience with the Lord
ii. Now this is also state that John was in the Spirit, a prophetic trance, on the Lord’s Day.
b. The specific language that John is using here has a tradition in Jewish Apocalyptic literature as well as the OT. These forms and this language is specific to this type of literature.
b. In verse 11 we see John’s call as a prophet, his commissioning if you will. It takes the form of a command, 11which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”
i. John is called to write this “revelation” on a scroll and send it to seven specific churches, all located in Asia Minor.
ii. It is important not to think of seven church buildings in these seven cities, but of the church as al of the Christians in these seven cities, because they are the church.
II. Now, John encounters the one speaking to him. It begins like this, 12I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” {13 Daniel 7:13} dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.
a. John turned around to see the voice. One cannot see sound, but if you look in the OT, you will find on several occasions, people see the voice of God.
i. One commentator suggests that this is a reference to the Holy Spirit, but it does not make a great deal of sense.
ii. It seems the best understanding is that this is God, and looking to see the voice behind you is an expectation of encountering the Living God.
b. When John turns he does not see the voice, but rather lampstands. We know that John saw seven lampstands, he may have seen one lamp stand with seven branches, a menorah, or he may have seen seven menorahs, or may have seen seven individual lamps.
i. My first thought was that he was seeing a seven branched menorah.
ii. I am inclined to say presently that he is seeing seven menorahs. The primary reason is what comes next.
c. John saw Jesus standing among the seven lampstands. John quotes Daniel 7:13, “like a son of man” to identify Jesus. The image we see here does not begin with John, but it finds its origin in Daniel. Jesus is dressed in a long robe that reaches down to his feet, with a golden sash around his chest.
i. This is not Priestly garb of Israel, but there is a some common cultural icons present here. So what are we seeing? It may be a tradition about divine persons in the ancient world additionally, it may be something unique to John.
ii. There is no doubt about who we are seeing, it is the risen Christ.
d. John’s description of Jesus does not stop here, he goes on to say, 14His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.
i. There is an odd grammatical construction for contemporary English, his head and hair were white like wool. Yet, what you see is an ancient way of moving from the general to the specific. If we say a person is a red head, do we mean to say that they have a red head or do we mean that they have red hair? We mean red hair, of course.
ii. We see that type of usage here, a white head, specifically, white hair.
1. Now, why would we see Jesus with white hair? There is an expression, the Ancient of Days, a name for God.
a. If you would be to describe someone who is advanced in years, to the point of calling them ancient, what color would there hair be? White?
b. Why depict Jesus as Old, one this is not an upstart religion, Jesus is not innovative. In the ancient world innovation was not highly prized, the ancient was honored.
i. Old people were held in esteem, they were respected and honored
ii. All of this is a way of saying several things about Jesus. He is not an innovation, wisdom resides in him, he is to be respected and honored
iii. He is also from the beginning, remember John 1:1, In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. This is a way of saying, Jesus is the Ancient of Days.
2. Why does Jesus have no shoes on? Why can we see his feet? Do you remember when Moses encounter God at the burning bush, God told him to take off his shoes. If you look in Exodus at the priestly garments made for Aaron and the priests, you will find no mention of shoes. Additionally, most ancient statues of gods in the Greek and Roman traditions depict their gods with no shoes.
3. Jesus feet seem to be glowing, like bronze in the furnace. This is an odd comment, and as to the metal in question, bronze, brass or some suggest zinc, but the important point is that Jesus does not have feet of clay.
iii. White hair, bronze skin and red eyes, but is that what John is saying, red eyes? A fire is often associated with red, but the flames are often orange, yellow and there is a great deal of jumping and the flame seems to dance and shift and jump. In the first century world, dull eyes, eyes that didn’t sparkle and flash were assumed to be bad, the person was not regarded as being well. Eyes that are sparkling, suggest a person of vitality and intelligence, are the eyes of flame or are the eyes dancing and vibrant. I’m inclined to go in this direction. Otherwise we are left with Jesus looking somewhat like an albino and I don’t think that is at all what John hand intended.
iv. The last thing that John mentions here in this description is his voice, like the sound of many rushing waters. Like a waterfall, think Niagara. Commanding, powerful, authoritative and clearly in charge. The voice of the king of the universe.
e. The next few descriptions are also rather vivid. John writes, 16In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
i. What are the seven stars. Later, Jesus tells John that the seven stars are the seven angels of the seven churches. Is this the only image to de drawn from this vision.
ii. An additional image that would have come to the minds of first century people would be the seven visible planets, including the earth, the sun and the moon. It creates a image of Jesus holding the universe in the palm of his hand, which furthers the image of potency and power.
iii. We also find the sharp double-edged sword coming out of his mouth. The word of God is referred to in several places in the NT as a double edged sword that can cut and separate between soul and spirit, joint and marrow.
1. It may be best to consider this as the power of the speech of Jesus.
2. The biblical creation story has God speaking the world into existence, the voice of God, the word of God is a powerful thing.
iv. If you recall from reading the OT, Moses ends up wearing a veil over his face because it glowed, because he had spent so much time in the presence of God. Here we have the face of Jesus glowing, shinning with all the brilliance of the sun, it speaks to issues of holiness and intimacy with the Father.
III. This passage is full of images of power and danger, splendor and being in the presence of God. John behave appropriately in such a situation, he tells us, . 17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
a. When John sees Jesus, he falls at his feet as if he were dead, a sign of respect and humility, of respect and honor.
i. John may well know who he is talking to, but Jesus introduces himself again, his name is not used, but rather a series of titles.
ii. The First and the Last, the Living One, both beginning with I Am, part of the name of God given to Abraham, I am who I am.
1. Then Jesus says, “I was dead, but behold I am alive forever and ever.”
2. He does not say, “I am Jesus” but with such an explanation there can be no doubt of who we are talking about, a resurrection and living forever.
3. This also again speaks against those who would say that Jesus was only a spirit, he was dead, but is not alive.
iii. Jesus offers this bit of information, that he holds the keys of both death and Hades
1. As Paul insists Jesus conquered both death and Hades, here we find John saying that Jesus is in control of both.
2. For those who are bound in Hades, they are no longer subject to Hades, but to Jesus.
IV. These things are not intended to be a mystery, this is a revelation, and a revelation reveals. Jesus then tells John the meaning of the stars and the lampstands, he says, . 19″Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels {20 Or messengers} of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
a. John is instructed to write these things down, what he has seen and what he will see, and what is to take place.
i. The seven stars are the seven angels of the seven churches
ii. The seven lampstands are the seven churches.
1. Jesus subtly tells us that the church is to be about in the world, a source of light and life.
2. Remember in Matthew 5, Jesus said that “You are the light of the world.” Not to an individual, but to the church. Same idea different image, here it is the holy lamp stand from the temple, in the very presence of the Living God.
Scripture, Church and Life 