Revelation 1:4-8

These verses must be held together, and grasped comprehensively to get the proper view-point. "John to the seven churches which are in Asia." What he writes, he writes to those seven churches; and this includes the whole book rather than the two Chapter s of special messages. In the closing passage of the book, Revelation 22:16, he writes: "I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches," thus embracing the whole book in his message to these churches. The rest of this passage to the end of the eighth verse is a characterization of Jesus Christ in his outstanding features as God and Saviour.

It is to show who is giving this revelation; what authority and power belong to him. It is holding before the minds of the readers and hearers Jesus Christ as our God, our Saviour, our Judge, and as the one in whose hands repose our welfare on earth and our destiny in eternity. Here in the beginning Jesus Christ is stressed with every exalted characteristic and prerogative; just as in subsequent verses 13-16, his peculiar relation to the church is set forth in the most striking terms.

Observe the range and significance of this characterization. "He was" before all worlds; "He is" living and reigning now; "He is to come" the judge of all the earth. Then follow his witness, his resurrection, his kingship, his atoning death, his power to reward, his everlasting glory and dominion, his coming again, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and ending, which is and was, and is to come, the Almighty. Here is the grand panegyric setting forth Jesus Christ as the source and authority in this revelation.

Now it is quite unscientific to take just one feature of this encomium and exalt it into the dominant note and specific purpose of the book of Revelation. A recent writer says, 'The salutation strikes at the outset the dominant note of the book. It is the note of Christ and his coming. Here is the theme of the Revelation in a nutshell. The book has to do preeminently with the end of this present age, and with the coming again of Jesus Christ as the supreme and tremendous climax of the age."

All this is superficial and misguided, and misses the point of the whole book. It lacks comprehensiveness of grasp and confuses a detail with the main purpose. It makes an item of paraphernalia the guide and goal of interpretation. The coming is one feature of the exaltation of the Revealer, not a snapshot of the contents of the book. In Revelation 1:7 we read, "Behold he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him; and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth (or tribes of the land) shall wail because of him."

What coming is here referred to? There are some who will refer this entirely to his coming to judge and destroy Jerusalem. And it is certain that the destruction of Jerusalem bulks more largely in the prophecies of the New Testament than our premillennial friends are wont to admit. The bulk of Matthew 24:1-51; Mark 13:1-37, and Luke 21:1-38 concerns the destruction of Jerusalem. Moreover Christ said; "There are some standing here who shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom," and "This generation (Christ's generation not some future one) shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled." All this shows that Christ used this language to describe some near event which he called a "coming of the Son of Man." It may be so in this verse seven, "And they also which pierced him;" very probably many of his crucifiers lived to see the judgment executed upon Jerusalem. But while the New Testament recognizes these nearer comings, it also contemplates a final coming when the Son of Man shall "come in his glory" and judge all "nations" or people, and appoint their "eternal" destiny.

There are some trustworthy expositors who regard these verses as referring to both, the near and the final comings; the one suggesting the other as seems altogether probable in Matthew 24:1-51. In such case the imagery of the verse is borrowed from both. But if we concede that Revelation 1:7 refers to the final coming, and it may well be so, then it is just in line with the rest of this passage, showing Christ's great power and exalted character, and that he who will judge the world at the last day will judge the persecuting powers in that or any other age. This reference to the coming is therefore one element in the exaltation of the Revealer, but not "the theme of the Revelation in a nutshell." It matters not whether Revelation 1:7 refers to judgment on Jerusalem or to the final coming, its purpose is descriptive of Jesus Christ and not indicative of the purpose of the book to teach a pre-millennial coming. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending." Christ was the beginning as Creator. He is the ending as Judge. This is more than antedating all created beings and outliving them all as the Arians afterward taught. It is exalting Jesus Christ as Lord. As the first chapter of Genesis sets God before and above all creation, so this first chapter is particularly employed in setting up Jesus Christ as omnipotent and Lord of all.

These Christians, many of whom lived in Christ's day, were not to think of him as once they had seen him, in hunger, and thirst, and weariness and weakness, arrested, fainting under the cross, crucified and buried; but as Lord of heaven and earth with all power in his hand, able to overthrow their enemies, able to deliver them from the fiery furnace, and exalt them to the throne of God. The day was not far distant if not already begun when they should face persecution and martyrdom. In such scenes they must not forget that this Jesus whom they professed was their Creator and Judge; and that their destiny and the world's destiny were at his supreme command.