John's response to this revelation was similar to Daniel's response to the vision God gave him (cf. Dan. 10:7-9). Jesus then proceeded to give John more information about what He wanted him to do.
1:17 This revelation of Jesus Christ in His unveiled glory took all the strength out of John. He could not stand in the presence of such an One. Paul had a similar experience on the Damascus road (Acts 9:4; cf. Job 42:5-6; Isa. 6:5; Ezek. 1:28; Dan. 8:17). However the glorified Christ laid His comforting, powerful hand on John and encouraged him to stop fearing (cf. Jesus' action following the Transfiguration, Matt. 17:7). He introduced Himself as the self-existent, eternal One. "I am"recalls Jesus' claims in the Gospels (cf. Matt. 14:27; Mark 6:50; John 6:20; 8:58) and connects Him with Yahweh (Exod. 3:14; Isa. 48:12). The title "the first and the last"is essentially the same as "the Alpha and the Omega"(v. 8) and "the beginning and the end"(22:13). All three titles stress the absolute sovereignty of God. The consoling words, "Do not be afraid,"came from a sovereign being.61
1:18 Jesus also presented Himself as the resurrected One and the One with authority over the state of death and the place of the dead (cf. Ps. 9:13; 107:13; Isa. 38:10; Matt. 16:18; John 5:28). He may have personified Death and Hades here (cf. 6:8). John saw his beloved teacher of Galilee, on whose chest he had laid his head, in an entirely different light than he had seen Him before, except in His transfiguration (Matt. 17:2; Mark 9:2; cf. Rev. 4:10; 10:6).
1:19 Jesus Christ repeated His instruction to John to write down the things God was revealing to him (v. 11). The repetition of write' from verse 11 indicates that the therefore' is resuming the earlier command where it left off.62Now Jesus gave John more specific instructions.
This verse provides an inspired outline of the Book of Revelation. Some of what John was to record he had already seen, namely, the Man standing among the seven golden lampstands with the seven stars in His hand (vv. 12-16). Some had to do with present conditions in the churches as exemplified by the seven churches (chs. 2-3). Some had to do with revelations about the times after conditions represented by the seven churches ended (chs. 4-22).63
1:20 Jesus Christ then interpreted the meaning of some of the symbolic things John had seen. They were mysteries, revelations previously unclear until the Lord interpreted them for John. The seven stars represented the messengers of the seven churches, perhaps their angelic guardians.64Some interpreters have taken these angels as expressions of the prevailing spirit that characterized each church.65Others view them as the pastors of these churches, but the plurality of leadership that was common in the early churches militates against singling out one leader among many. Probably these churches' human representatives are in view.66These would have been men such as Epaphroditus and Epaphras, representatives of the churches in Philippi and Colosse, who went to Rome to visit Paul. These representatives may have come to Patmos to visit John and carried Revelation back with them to their respective congregations. The Greek word angeloi("angels") frequently refers to human messengers (e.g., Matt. 11:10; Luke 7:24; 9:52; 2 Cor. 8:23; James 2:25).
The lampstands figuratively supported the corporate witness of the Christians in each church as they lived in a dark world (cf. 1 Tim. 3:15).
God interpreted many of the symbols He used in Revelation elsewhere in Scripture. Correct interpretation of this book, therefore, depends on a knowledge of the rest of God's previously given revelation. This is also true of every other book of the Bible.
