An Empowering Vision: John's Commission to Write
Revelation 1:9-20
We rarely stay close to people from early in life. That’s why we go to high-school reunions, to reconnect with people we haven’t seen for a long time. Though these times of regathering and reminiscing can be positive and uplifting, they can also be depressing because of how people change. As years go by, high-school pals gain weight, grow wrinkles, and develop chronic health conditions. Some don’t even show up due to bad health – or they’re dead. Others bear emotional scars from broken relationships, failure, disappointment, and rejection. Thanks to hard times, your past pals change for the worse. That’s why high-school reunions are often more discouraging than encouraging.
The apostle John once experienced a reunion with a close friend and teacher from sixty years before, yet what he saw was not depressing. Though more than half a century had passed, John saw a man and a friend who was more impressive and inspiring than ever. He saw the glorified Christ who had died, risen, and sat down to reign from heaven.
Unlike our own depressing high-school reunions, this reunion not only inspired John to write the book of Revelation for churches in hard times, it empowered him persevere through his own suffering. In this way, his vision of Christ and the book that follows should empower believers in churches today to persevere for Christ through our own hard times. We find our hardships unbearable, and impossible to overcome not because they are this way, but because we’re not embracing an accurate, up-to-date perspective of Jesus.
If we take John's vision of Christ to heart, we take a major step forward in conquering our excuses of why life is too hard, temptations are too great, and Christ's demands are too unreasonable
We still view Christ more as the baby in a manger, corpse in a tomb, or man on a cross, yet these experiences of his earthly life do not fully portray his appearance today. He is the risen, ascended, conquering, and reigning Savior who watches over us daily and is steering our future to a certain and complete victory. What’s more, his glory is overwhelming. If we will take this vision of Christ to heart, we’ll take a major step forward in conquering the many excuses of why life is too hard, temptations are too great, and Christ’s demands are too unreasonable.
The Circumstances of John’s Vision (1:9-11)
In recording this vision, John does not describe himself in glowing terms. This was no, “I’m the apostle John so you should listen to me!” type of moment for sure. Instead, he identifies himself not with terms of superiority and privilege, but as a brother and companion, which are terms of empathy, equality, and partnership.
In what way was John an equal partner with church members throughout the world? He was in the same spiritual family. He was also an equal participant in “the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ.” This is a threefold description of the shared experience of Christians throughout the world, from the first century until now.
We should be neither depressed nor surprised when we suffer distressing things because we swear allegiance to the kingdom of Christ over the kingdoms of this world. This allegiance should inspire us to endure our sufferings with patience and confidence that remains faithful to Christ no matter what. It’s what we do as Christians; it’s a family thing. We suffer for Christ’s kingdom as we wait for his return. Like John and so many other brothers and sisters in this great and historic spiritual family of God, we don’t run from our suffering. We embrace it out of heartfelt allegiance to Christ.
When John experienced this reunion with Christ, he was on the island of Patmos, which was a rocky, rural island used by the Roman government to house criminals. It wasn’t a resort destination for sure, but neither was it Alcatraz. Some early Christian tradition claims that John had been forced by the Roman government to work in the mines on this island. Why was he subjected to this backbreaking work as man more than 70 yrs. old?
John had been banished to these uncomfortable, painful circumstances because of his faithful and influential gospel ministry, evangelizing the lost and teaching believers to live for Christ. (We get a first-hand look at what he taught when we read his gospel and three epistles.) As time wears on in this present age, we may increasingly identify with John’s experience. As followers of Christ who spread his teachings to others, we may also endure increased scrutiny, marginalization, rejection, and suffering. Yet John didn’t carry this experience with a grudge; he carried it with honor and dignity. Can you?
To receive the message of Revelation, John experienced a special spiritual phenomenon reserved for prophets and apostles. He was “in the Spirit,” a phrase that does not refer to the regular expectation for believers to be filled with the Spirit and to live with a spiritual mindset. Instead, it refers to a “trance-like” state in which John remained awake (he wasn’t dreaming in his sleep) while his spiritual sensitivities were heightened.
This experienced occurred for John on what he calls “the Lord’s Day,” which is a reference to how early Christians and Christians throughout the centuries have viewed the first day of the week, the day when Christ resurrected from the dead, on Sunday.
In this heightened spiritual state, John heard a loud voice (or sound) behind him. Such an outburst of loud noise would have startled him, and the trumpet-like nature of this sound would have signaled the giving of an important royal announcement, like a declaration of war. As such, this sound signaled the start of a press release to the churches from God.
The loud voice instructed John to write what he saw and to circulate the written message throughout the churches. He would have written this message on a scroll, not a book as we imagine today, and made of paper rather than the more expensive leather alternative of that time. The scroll for this entire book would have been about 15 ft. long.
The original audience for this message was a group of seven churches in Asia Minor, which is Turkey today. Both here and in the sequence of smaller letters to these churches in Chapters 2-3, John lists these churches in their order on a circular postal route. The road connecting these cities in a circular, sequential order enabled travel to the most influential, strategic centers in this part of the Roman Empire, which was the center of the developing world at that time. From this we can see that God intended for this message to circulate to more than just these seven cities, but to churches throughout the world.
The Person of John’s Vision (1:12-16)
At this point John transitions from describing the circumstances of his vision to the person at the center of his vision.
First, he saw seven golden lampstands. These would have been hollow lanterns that burned oil for light, a source of light which was common for that era and culture. These lamps also resemble the seven golden lamps in Old Testament (OT) prophecy (Zech 4:2) and the seven-branched lamp in the OT tabernacle of Israel (Exo 24:31-40).
Each of these OT instances symbolized Israel’s role as a source of God’s light and a witness for him to the nations of the world, though here they represent churches instead, reflecting the central role that churches have today in spreading the news and extending the influence of God’s kingdom in the world.
Now, this encounter reminds me of when Joshua was surprised by an appearance of the captain of the Lord’s heavenly armies before going to battle against Jericho, assuring Joshua of victory (Josh 5:13-15).
The description of Christ that follows also reminds me of the statue Daniel interpreted for Nebuchadnezzar in Dan 2, only this is a far superior likeness. In Daniel, the vision portrays superpower nations of the world which, though impressive, would all be conquered by the Son of Man in the end. Here John does not view a symbolic statue, but the very person of the Son of Man himself.
Perhaps the most impactful way to view this experience, though, is in contrast with John’s previous experience with Christ. John had known Christ as a human being. He had roomed with Christ, walked with Christ, sat close to Christ at mealtimes, and watched him die on a cross. How would John have felt to see him now in this majestic, exalted state?
John identifies the person in his vision as the “Son of Man,” which is also mentioned in Dan 7:13-14 to refer to God’s conquering deliver who would come to judge the world and establish his everlasting kingdom. Jesus identified himself by this same title throughout his earthly teaching ministry (Mark 13:26), and it was in fact Christ’s most-used way to refer to himself in the gospels. Stephen made the same connection in the sermon that resulted in him being the first martyr in church history (Acts 7:56).
“Son of Man” is a messianic title that identifies Christ as the perfect epitome of a man who is from God. This identify qualifies him to be the judge and ruler of all people (John 5:27). Following this positive ID, John goes on to describe the visible appearance of this person.
This figure wore a long robe with a hem extending down to his feet. Some suggest that this reflects the priestly ministry of Christ, but this role or theme appears nowhere else in Revelation. This detail likely portrays the kind of robe mentioned in Ezek 9:2 when six angelic beings of high rank marked off the righteous residents of Jerusalem for protection before the angels carried out judgment on the unrighteous residents of the city. If this connection is valid, it foreshadows what unfolds in Revelation, as Christ prepares to judge Israel and the nations of the world while shielding church-age believers from his judgment. Christ’s high-ranking position, then, should reassure believers, not frighten them.
A golden belt (or sash) wrapped around the chest (the lower ribs section, not the waist), which also indicates a high rank and resembles the appearance of seven angels who will administer seven bowl judgements later in the sequence of events in this book (Rev 15:6).
The hair on the head of this figure was white like wool. This detail resembles a similar description of God the Father as the Ancient of Days (Dan 7:9), but here it refers to the Son. This demonstrates the equal deity, eternality, and majesty shared by both members of the Godhead. It also emphasizes the eternality, infinitude, timelessness, and longevity of Christ. All other rulers and civilizations rise and fall, but Christ has never risen and will never fall. His existence and reign are forever, as eternal and “ancient” as God the Father.
The eyes of this person were like flames of fire, resembling the man Daniel also saw in a vision (Dan 10:6). They portray the kind of penetrating sight that strikes terror in adversaries as a military general who sees through everything and cannot be deceived or thwarted in his military campaign.
The feet of this figure, just below the hem of his robe, looked like refined brass, which refers to a unique metal alloy used for making cutting edge military weapons at that time. This compound was especially hard and also stunningly shiny, with the added quality here of having just been removed from smelting and forging in the kiln, still showing the white-hot glow of heat from the flames. This imagery reappears in Rev 2:18 to portray Christ’s work of purging out immoral, ungodly teaching and influencers from the church and also contrasts sharply with the feet of clay in Daniel’s OT vision that portray the breakable, weak nature of future world nations.
At first John heard a loud voice, like the blast of a horn or trumpet. Now he describes the voice of this figure as “many waters.” To get the full effect of what this means, envision in your mind an amphitheater of waterfalls, 20-30 Niagara, Victoria, and Iguazu Falls all joined together, or the incessant pounding of tsunami-style waves at the beach, one after another after another. The voice John heard was a loud and imposing surround-sound experience more impressive and absorbing than any IMAX show. To speak in such a moment requires a person to yell, for a normal tone will not be heard. Or perhaps it’s best to be silent. Such a voice implies unmatched, overpowering authority and demands our attention. The voice of the Son of Man overpowers the voices of this world.
Next, John describes seven stars in the RH of this figure, indicating that whatever these seven stars represent, they are protected by Christ (see John 10:28) and in a place of favor (being at the right-hand indicates a favored position). This imagery also indicates delegated authority and high sanction for these stars as well.
According to Rev 1:20, these stars represent seven messengers who would carry and read the message of Revelation to the seven churches (represented by the lampstands). As they delivered this message on foot, in person, they would know they were authorized and protected by Christ in this risky assignment. Some interpreters suggest that these messengers were angels, while others suggest they were pastors of the seven churches in Asia Minor. It is my belief that they likely refer to the men who would be assigned to deliver this message to the seven churches under the looming threat of persecution.
The sword coming from this figure’s mouth emphasizes the decisive (or incisive) effectiveness of God’s Word, an image and illustration that describes God’s Word elsewhere in Scripture (Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12). This particular sword was a large, violent, broad sword, like the one that guarded the Garden of Eden and Tree of Life (Gen 3:24) and the one held by the captain of the God’s heavenly armies (Josh 5:13), rather than a thin, thrusting, lance-like sword. Think more like a bomb than a hand grenade.
Finally, John says that the countenance of this figure was like the sun in the sky. This describes his face and overall appearance. This resembles the way that the face of Moses shined brightly when he descended from God’s presence on Mount Sinai (Exo 34:29), and in a much greater way it resembles the kind of brief but overwhelming glory that Peter, James, and John witnessed on the mountain during Christ’s transfiguration (Matt 17:2).
When we envision this figure, the Son of Man, with eyes like fire, feet like glowing hot metal, and his entire countenance shining like the sun, we see what Tony Evans calls the “on fire” Jesus, and friends – that’s what we should take away from this vision of Christ.
To be entirely upfront as Bible students, we have to admit that we can’t say with certainty what all of these details in this vision represent. Can we say for sure, with exact precision and full dogmatism, that we know what the long robe “means,” what the belt around his waist means, and so on? Not really.
We can only point out what they bring to mind, and the more we know of Scripture and the more we can visualize these details in our minds, the more impressed and impacted we’ll be from this vision of Christ.
We know that the stars represent the messengers who would carry Christ’s message to the churches in Asia Minor, and we know that the lampstands represent the churches themselves because the text itself tells us so. Yet it leaves the other details to our imagination. What should impact us most is not making all sorts of precise connections to this and that, but the overall impact of the vision as a whole should capture our hearts and motivate us to persevere through whatever suffering comes our way. This glorified Son of Man is coming to rule and reign and this is who we are following and serving today. We don’t serve a meek and mild Jesus, we serve an overwhelming, overpowering Jesus.
The Outcome of John’s Vision (1:17-20)
After describing the difficult circumstances and overwhelming person of his vision on the Island of Patmos, John explains the outcome of his vision. How did he respond to what he saw and why did this vision come his way?
If you’re John on Patmos, how would you respond to such an overpowering, impressive person? Like Daniel in the OT who saw an overwhelming vision from God (Dan 10:7-9), he collapsed at this person’s feet. “As dead” indicates that he was motionless, speechless, and maybe even breathless.
Surprisingly, this person (Christ) reached out his right hand of favor and touched John’s shoulder to assure and comfort him. Remember, John was the disciple “whom Jesus loved,” with whom Christ had developed a close, friendly relationship, and who had sat nearest to Christ at their final Passover meal together. Here he told John, “Stop being afraid.” This closely resembles what he told the disciples when he walked to them on the water in the Sea of Galilee at night as they nearly capsized and drowned. This was a moment that John remembered well (John 6:20).
The “it is I” was used frequently by Christ to refer to himself in the gospels, most notably in John 8:58, when he claimed to be God, the Yahweh of the OT by saying, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” It identifies him as the God of Israel of Exo 3:14 who exercises full power and authority over the nations of the world, including super-powers like Egypt.
“I am the First and Last” has already been mentioned in concept in Rev 1:8, and then again in Rev 1:11 (in case you thought I skipped this earlier). Though in Rev 1:8 it identifies God the Father, here it refers to God the Son. In Isa. 44:6 and 48:12, the prophet Isaiah describes God the Father this way, now here John describes God the Son this way. This demonstrates total equality within the Godhead (Father, Son, and Spirit) and the full deity and eternality of Christ, which is a quality only God can possess.
Unlike the dead or inanimate gods of paganism and secularism, Christ has life as his very essence and though he once died he has also returned to life forever. As John describes, his death was real but temporary. Despite his death, he resurrected and will never die again. Thanks to his experience with death on our behalf, we know that he is not only superior to death but victorious over it.
As our conquering king, he cannot be threatened even by death in his march towards establishing his righteous and eternal kingdom. As our judge, he bears guilt for nothing for which death can claim a grip on him. He will not be blackmailed, defeated, or declared guilty of anything. What’s more, as the one who holds the keys of Hades and death, he is the one who’s ultimately in charge of death and the grave.
With this assurance in mind, this person (Christ) reiterates and further explains his instructions to John. He was to write down all that he had just seen (Rev 1), what Christ had to say about the present state of seven churches in Asia Minor and churches in general (Rev 2-3), and a variety of events that would unfold in the future (Rev 4-22) as he works out his perfect plan for the world and his people. This overwhelming vision of Christ would persuade John to follow Christ’s orders here and give him courage to do so.
Key Takeaways
Suffering for Christ in this world is a normal experience.
When we suffer hardship, marginalization, rejection, or persecution for our faith, our lifestyle, and our mission as followers of Christ, these experiences are not necessarily God’s judgment on us. They may, in fact, be an evidence that we’re right where we need to be, doing exactly what Christ has called us to do as his children.
John could have second-guessed his beliefs and direction in life as a seventy-year-old man grinding away in the quartz mines on Patmos Island, yet he remained focused in worship and service to the Lord no matter the suffering or cost he endured. The victorious Christian life is not a life devoid of suffering, but a life that perseveres through the suffering we endure as we wait for the coming kingdom of God.
Are you willing to embrace this experience of suffering shared by our brothers and sisters throughout the world, from the first century until today?
The overwhelming, overpowering vision of Jesus inspires us to persevere.
We need to keep this “on fire,” “white hot glory” view of Jesus clearly in view. Yes, Jesus came into this world as a baby in a manger, lived a gentle life on Earth, and suffered a humiliating death on the cross – but if our vision of him goes no further, we’ve embraced an incomplete perspective. We need to keep his present, glorified position firmly in mind.
If we would envision Christ today more as John portrays him here in Rev 1 rather than as the Renaissance artists painted him, we'd have a more accurate view of our ascended, victorious Christ. If we take this vision of Christ to heart, then we would take a major step forward in conquering our many excuses of why life is too hard, temptations are too great, and Christ's demands are too unreasonable.
As Yahweh appeared to Moses in the burning bush before unleashing the plagues on Egypt and parting the Red Sea, and as the Commander of God’s heavenly armies appeared to Joshua before Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land, so Christ appeared to John but on a much grander scale and to a much greater degree. If we would embrace this vision of Christ for ourselves:
- We’d be more obedient Christians
- We’d be more devoted Christians
- We’d be more victorious Christians
- We’d be more doctrinally sound Christians
- We’d be more humble Christians
- We’d be more grateful Christians
- We’d be more optimistic Christians
- We’d be more confident and courageous Christians
As Christ said to John on this occasion, touching him gently on the shoulder, this glorious appearance should not frighten us into silence, but it should motivate us to stand, to speak, to serve, to worship, and to persevere in following and serving Christ.
As we will see in future studies, John weaves elements of this vision of Christ throughout the following letters to the churches, showing us that this vision should impact how we move forward as a church. This vision should be so impactful that not even the threat of death should prevent us from doing what he has save and called us to do.
We should keep this glorious vision regularly in mind as we study Revelation together. What’s more, we should keep in regularly in mind as we persevere through difficult times. In an age of overwhelming headlines and discouraging world events, nothing should capture our minds or encourage our hearts more than our vision of the exalted and glorified Christ. May we read, remember, and reflect on this vision far more than we do and may it inspire us to persevere in our worship and service for him as a church.
