Revelation 1:1

Revelation 1:1. The book is a revelation, a drawing back of the veil which, to the merely human eye, hangs over the purposes of God; and it is a revelation of Jesus Christ, that is, not a revelation of what Jesus Christ is, but a revelation which Jesus Christ gives to His Church, even as the Father had given it to Him. As in the Gospel of St. John, God the Father is here the fountain of all blessing; but whatever He has He gives to the Son (John 7:16; John 12:49; John 14:10; John 17:7-8); and whatever the Son has He in His turn makes His people share, ‘Even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us' (John 17:21). We have thus Jesus introduced to us, not simply as He was on earth, but as He has passed through the sufferings of earth to the glory of heaven. He has been dead, but He is now the First-born of the dead; and as such He sends and signifies the revelation unto His servant John.

The object of the revelation on the part of Jesus Christ [for it is to Him that the pioneers ‘him,' ‘his,' and ‘he' in this verse must in each instance be referred] is to show certain things unto his servants. These are the members of the Christian Church, of the one Body of Christ, without distinction of standing or of office. St. John is a ‘servant' (chap. Revelation 1:1); the prophets are ‘servants' (chap. Revelation 10:7; Revelation 11:18); and all members of the Church are designated in the same way (chaps. Revelation 2:20; Revelation 7:3; Revelation 19:2; Revelation 19:5; Revelation 22:3; Revelation 22:6; Revelation 22:9). The things to be shown are things which most quickly come to pass. And the word of the original, which can only be rendered in English by ‘come to pass,' shows that it is not a beginning that is thought of but a full accomplishment. Nor can we fail to notice that they ‘must' come to pass. They are the purposes of no fallible or mortal creature, but of the infallible and eternal God. The words through his angel are to be connected with sent (comp. chap. Revelation 22:6); and the word signified must be allowed to stand in all its own absolute solemnity and force. It is by no means improbable that in this latter word there is special reference to ‘signs,' to the figures which are to be used in the book, and which need to be interpreted. The word may indicate not only prophetic intimation (John 12:33; John 18:32; John 21:19; Acts 11:28), but the manner in which such intimation was usual among the prophets (see especially Ezekiel and Zechariah), that is, by ‘signs,' significant acts, and parabolic words. Thus our Lord, by speaking of ‘being lifted on high' as the brazen serpent was lifted on high, ‘signified' by what manner of death He should die (John 12:33). On the only occasion in which the word is found in the N. T. in a more ordinary sense, it is employed by a heathen (Acts 25:27).

That St. John names himself here, while in his Gospel he only discovers himself to those who can read his name through the symbols in which he speaks, is easily explained. We are dealing with prophecy, and prophecy requires the guarantee of the individual who is inspired to utter it.