NOTES for Rev 1:9-20
9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. |
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, |
11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. |
12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; |
13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. |
14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; |
15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. |
16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. |
17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: |
18 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. |
19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; |
20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. |
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The revelation received by John begins with a meeting, a meeting with the risen Christ. According to the apostle's testimony, it happened on the "Lord's day" (in the Synodal translation, "Lord's day" became "Sunday"). It is hard to say exactly what kind of day this was: the phrase could refer both to the day of the Savior's resurrection and to certain traditional Yahwist feasts. But whatever feast was meant, in any case the day of the Lord was understood by the faithful as a day of God's direct intervention in the events taking place, as a day of theophany, and therefore, on the one hand, of Judgment, and on the other, of the visible and obvious triumph of God. For John, this day is revealed as the day of the triumph of the Messiah who rose from the dead.
Moreover, the Messiah appears before him just as He once appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration: clothed in shining garments, at least one of which, the long robe, has a direct relation to the Levitical priestly vestment. Christ clearly appears before the apostle first of all as the High Priest, as the High Priest who sanctifies the world. And this is no surprise: when the Kingdom enters the world, it first of all sanctifies it, and does so in all the fullness possible for creation.
Even before Christ's coming, sanctification had been the main goal of believing Yahwists. For its sake they came to the altar, for its sake they offered sacrifices and took part in sacrificial meals, for its sake they kept spiritual, moral, and ritual purity. But then, before Christ's coming, sanctification could only be temporary and incomplete. People changed when they approached the altar, and the world around them changed too, but only for a time; then, returning to ordinary, everyday life, they again became what they had been before. And the world was transformed only around the altar, around the Tabernacle, around the Temple. Now, however, the age has begun of the complete transformation of both the human person and the world as a whole.
A transformation capable of changing nature itself, returning it to the fullness proper to the world on the first day of creation, when evil did not yet have power over it. And then moving further, according to the plan God has in mind when He creates the world. For He has a certain plan connected with the future of His creation, and it is not at all like the future that fallen humanity is able to secure for itself. And now the King of God's Kingdom, appointed by God, appears before John, ready to act.
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