NOTES for Rev 1:9-20
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.