The View of Jesus Christ in Revelation

In my last article, “A Primer on the Book of Revelation”, I explained that the Book of Revelation is divided into three parts based on John’s visions. The first part is John’s vision of Christ. Part two is Christ’s revelation to John about the churches in Asia. The third part is John’s vision of what would take place soon after his first two visions. For this article (which is the second part of the Revelation series) we will focus on what John’s first vision tells us about Christ.

Jesus is Savior

At the very beginning of the prophecy John describes Jesus as the faithful witness and the one who freed us from sin by His blood (Revelation 1:5). This refers to Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross and His Resurrection. Proverbs 14:25 says “The truthful witness saves lives, but he who utters lies is a betrayer.” Christ is also referred to as the firstborn of the dead.

The Greek word for firstborn is prōtotokos. Christ died so that we might live, and we will follow after Christ and be resurrected. 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 says “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came also through a human being. For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life.”

Jesus is God

In Revelation 1:7 John describes Jesus as coming on the clouds. In my last article I noted how the phrase “coming on the clouds” is an allegorical term that refers to judgement elsewhere in scripture (Jeremiah 4:13). However another key takeaway about this term is that it is only God who judges. God is the only one uniquely described as coming on the clouds.

In Revelation 1:8 Christ describes himself as “The Alpha and the Omega”. These are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Christ is saying that He is the beginning and the end of all things. This unique title has only been ever attributed to God. Isaiah 44:6 says “Thus says the LORD, Israel’s King and redeemer, the LORD of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; there is no God but me.”

Verses 12 and 13 of Revelation 1 use some imaginative language to describe Jesus. One of the things listed is seven golden lamp stands. Elsewhere in scripture this same imagery is used to describe something particular. Zechariah 4:10, for example, described the seven golden lamps in this way: “These seven facets are the eyes of the LORD that range over the whole earth.” The lamp stands allegorically describe God’s omniscience. Therefore John invokes the language from Zechariah to describe Christ as omniscient. Only God is omniscient (Hebrews 4:13).

The number seven is oftentimes used in scripture to describe perfection. For instance God created the world in six days and on the seventh day He rested. Genesis also uses allegorical language that doesn’t mean that God created the world in six days in a literal sense; its metaphorical meaning is that God created the world and did so perfectly. The seven lamp stands are poetic language to say that Jesus is perfectly present at every moment.

Jesus is a Priest and King

Verse 13 describes Christ as wearing a white ankle-length robe and a golden sash around His chest. We find the exact imagery later on in Revelation 15 with the angels and the golden bowls. Revelation 15:6 says “and the seven angels with the seven plagues came out of the temple. They were dressed in clean white linen, with a gold sash around their chests.”

These robes and sashes are identical to what John sees Christ wearing. In Judaism, it was common for the high priest to wear a robe with sashes and use golden bowls in the liturgy (1 Chronicles 28:17-18). Both David and Solomon were kings and priests, and as Christ is the son of David, he was a king and a priest as well.

Christ is Eternal and All-Knowing

Verse 14 describes Christ’s hair as “white as snow” or wool and His eyes like a flame. Some people take this literally. It is not the best interpretation, though it would make a good visual for a scary movie! If we turn again to the books of the prophets, we see that this same language is used in the Book of Daniel.

Daniel 7:9 says, “As I watched, thrones were set up and the Ancient One took his throne. His clothing was snow bright, and the hair on his head as white as wool; His throne was flames of fire, with wheels of burning fire.” The language alludes to the “Ancient of Days” (an image of God the Father). In Revelation, Christ is described as receiving all that the Father has given Him in glory.

Christ is Our Ruler

Revelation 1:20 describes Christ as holding seven stars in His right hand. He also mentions the seven gold lamp stands and seven angels of the churches. As I mentioned elsewhere in the article, the number seven in scripture is usually always representative of perfection. Psalm 12:6 says “The words of the Lord are pure words; like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, filtered seven times.”

John’s depiction of the seven stars in Christ’s right hand alludes to the rulers of His church, and His whole church in general with the number seven. Some Roman coins as well as ancient depictions of the god Mithras used the imagery of seven stars in the right hand to describe their universal dominion. This same imagery means that Christ has universal dominion over and through His Church.