Revelation 1:5

ἀπὸ, κ. τ. λ., another grammatical anomaly; as usual the writer puts the second of two nouns in apposition, in the nominative. ὁ μ. ὁ π. Jesus not merely the reliable witness to God but the loyal martyr: an aspect of his career which naturally came to the front in “the killing times”. ὁ πρωτότοκος (a Jewish messianic title by itself, Balden-sperger, 88) τ. ν., his resurrection is the pledge that death cannot separate the faithful from his company. The thought of this and of the following trait (cf. Matthew 4:8 f.) is taken fröm Ps. 88:28, κἀγὼ πρωτότοκον θήσομαι αὐτόν, ὑψηλὸν παρὰ τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν τῆς γῆς. On the two allied functions of ruling and witnessing (Isaiah 55:4) cf. the different view of John 18:37. At the inspiring thought of Christ's lordship the prophet breaks into adoration ἀγαπῶντι κ. τ. λ. The eternal love (cf. Revelation 3:19) which Christ bears to his people is proved by his death, as a revelation of (a) what he has done for them by his sacrifice, and (b) what he has made of them (so Ephesians 5:25-26 = Revelation 19:7-8). The negative deliverance from sins (cf. Psalms 129:8) at the cost of his own life (ἐν instrumental) is a religious emancipation which issues in (6) a positive relationship of glorious religious privilege. βασιλείαν, ἱερεῖς, a literal (cf. Charles on Jub. xvi. 18) and inaccurate rendering of ממלכת כחנים (Exodus 19:6) to emphasise the royal standing of the Christian community in connexion with their Christ as ἄρχων, κ. τ. λ., and also (Titus 2:3) their individual privilege of intimate access to God as the result of Christ's sacrificial death. καὶ ἐποίησεν, the harsh anacolouthon breaks up the participial construction, ἡμᾶς, emphatic. “We Christians are now the chosen people. In us the Danielic prophecy of a reign of the saints is fulfilled and is to be fulfilled.” This is a characteristically anti-Jewish note. Persecution (cf. 1 Peter 2:5) deepened the sense of continuity in the early Christians, who felt driven back on the truth of election and divine protection; they were the true successors of all noble sufferers in Israel who had gone before (cf. the argument of Hebrews 11:32 to Hebrews 12:2). In the Apocalypse the Christian church is invariably the true Israel, including all who believe in Christ, irrespective of birth and nationality. God reigns over them, and they reign, or will reign, over the world. In fact, Christians now and here are what Israel hoped to become, viz., priest-princes of God, and this position has been won for them by a messiah whom the Jews had rejected, and whom all non-Christians will have to acknowledge as sovereign. According to rabbinic tradition, the messianic age would restore to Israel the priestly standing which it had lost by its worship of the golden calf; and by the first commandment (Mechilta on Exodus 20:2), “slaves became kings”. There may also be an implicit anti-Roman allusion. We Christians, harried and despised, are a community with a great history and a greater hope. Our connection with Christ makes us truly imperial. The adoration of Christ, which vibrates in this doxology (cf. Expos. ver. 302 307), is one of the most impressive features of the book. The prophet feels that the one hope for the loyalists of God in this period of trial is to be conscious that they owe everything to the redeeming love of Jesus. Faithfulness depends on faith, and faith is rallied by the grasp not of itself but of its object. Mysterious explanations of history follow, but it is passionate devotion to Jesus, and not any skill in exploring prophecy, which proves the source of moral heroism in the churches. Jesus sacrificed himself for us; αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα. From this inward trust and wonder, which leap up at the sight of Jesus and his grace, the loyalty of Christians flows.

This enthusiasm for Jesus naturally carries the prophet's mind forward (Revelation 1:7-8) to the time when the Lord's majesty will flash out on mankind. He resumes the line of thought interrupted by the doxology of 5 b 6.