And when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead; and he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; *I* am the first and the last,
John is a prisoner on Patmos, and the risen Christ appears among the assemblies in judicial majesty. The sight flattens the disciple who once leaned on His breast — and the same Lord lifts him with a hand and a word.
The vision was not of a stranger. The same Jesus John had known now appeared as Judge, and His holiness emptied John of strength.
He had leaned on the Lord's breast at supper. He had enjoyed His confidence and His love. These were so real to him that he called himself "The disciple whom Jesus loved." Had that love changed? Far be the thought! Then why is he so overcome? It was because of the fiery holiness he saw among the assemblies. He saw the Lord shining in the full splendour of His supreme majesty as the divine Judge. Who could stand before Him like that?
Falling is not failure here. What flattened John is what fits a servant for the Lord's use.
The sight of this puts John at His feet as dead (v. 17). Yes, John, who could lean on His bosom in the days of His flesh (John 13), falls at His feet as dead. Such, dear friends, is the condition of soul that the Lord can use — "a broken vessel." True, His love cheers His servant with "Fear not." But I do ask: is a soul "trained for the ministry" if it can stay unbroken in the presence of the Lord's majesty?
The Lord does not wait for John to recover on his own. He reaches out first, and He reaches out with power.
"He laid His right hand upon me," relates the Seer. The hand of power. On the mountain the touch of the hand and the voice of Jesus instantly dispelled the fear of the disciples (Matt. 17:6-7). Here, too, the hand and voice of the glorious One restores the disciple from his death-like faint. It was more than a touch, "He laid His right hand upon me." How that hand, pressed on him in life-giving energy and strength, would thrill "the disciple whom Jesus loved." This was the very same Jesus in time and eternity, on earth and in heaven.
The command rests on something outside John. The cross has already settled what he is.
How the Christ of the gospel comes out here! What words are more characteristic of Him than this, "Fear not"? "Perfect love casts out fear," and such love belongs to Him who speaks. He says it not only to John here, but to all who feel His majesty more than His grace. They would push Him back into the distance and darkness out of which He has come to us. What we are is no longer in question; the cross has fully shown that. All for us now lies in what He is; and the cross has revealed that too.
The title Jesus gives Himself is not new. It is Jehovah's own name in Isaiah, and it settles who is speaking.
"I am the first and the last." This is essentially a divine title. Jehovah claims it for Himself alone three times in the prophecy of Isaiah (Isa. 41:4; 44:6; 48:12), and Christ claims it three times to match in this book (Rev. 1:17; 2:8; 22:13). To apply this Jehovah title to the Son of Man is absolute proof of His deity… As the "FIRST," He is before all, and above all, and from Him all proceed. As the "LAST," He is after all, and in Him all things centre… Calmly consider this magnificent title, claimed and borne by Jesus of Nazareth glorified in heaven. Then fear disappears like mist before the rising sun.
John is about to hear terrible things. The hand and the voice come first, on purpose.
He does not turn away the more-than-homage of His servant. He reassures the man whose nature had withered before Him. He is Jehovah, yet man. But if He had not died, we would not have known Him in the blessed character and energy of life that He has now proved — life more abundantly. Who then could say "Fear not" as He could? … John is going to hear about judgments, and about the schemes, power, and anger of Satan beyond anything men had known before. But he knew that the right hand of the One alive for evermore had been upon him, and he had heard the words of His mouth. That knowledge would give him strength and courage for everything to come. He wrote the book in this spirit, and we should read it in the same spirit.
Writers apply the "Fear not" past Patmos to the reader's own day.
The blessed Saviour would not have him cast down. He would cheer and strengthen and encourage him. He laid His right hand upon him and said, "FEAR NOT!" How often he had heard those words fall from His gracious lips before, and they banished all terror from his heart. And those words were spoken for us. May we be able to hear them, for we surely need them. The state of Christendom has not improved; things have become worse and worse; the assemblies have not returned to that first love which they so early left; nevertheless, "FEAR NOT!"
- Sight — John saw the holiness and judicial majesty of Christ among the assemblies. Even the disciple who had leaned on His breast fell as dead.
- Broken — that collapse is no disqualification. A broken vessel is what the Lord can use.
- Touch — the right hand is the hand of power, laid on him with life-giving strength.
- Word — "Fear not" rests on what He is, because the cross already settled what we are.
- Title — "the first and the last" is Jehovah's own name in Isaiah, now claimed by the glorified Son of Man. Facing it, fear burns off like mist.
and the living one and I became dead, and behold, I am living to the ages of ages, and have the keys of death and of hades.
John falls at the feet of the glorified Christ as though dead, and the first thing he hears is a command not to be afraid. The words that follow are the ground for that command — a name, a history, and a set of keys.
Before He mentions His death, Christ names Himself "the Living One." The title belongs to Him as God:
"The Living One" is the next divine title. He was, is, and ever shall be the source of life. He is the Living One independently of the creature. His incarnation did not originate life, but showed what already existed (1 John 1:2). "The Living One was the name the Hebrews used to mark off the true God from all false ones." The eternal life of believers has its source in Christ, "the Living One." So does the eternal existence of unbelievers, and so does the immortality of angels.
Some translations read "I became dead" rather than "I died." Commentators find weight in that wording:
He agreed not only to become man, but just as willingly to die, whatever it cost. His death did everything needed to blot out the evil and prepare for all blessing. The phrase is the strongest way of putting the matter. It is not merely that He died: that is not quite what He says here, though it is said elsewhere, and very truly. He says that He "became" dead. This strongly implies He was willing to die, since He became what was never His own.
No one handed the keys over. Christ took them on enemy ground. One writer puts the Lord's words to John like this:
I have been down there where you were as sinners, under the sentence of death. I was there without sin, and death had no claim on Me. But in grace I went right down into the very scene of death's dominion, the very stronghold of Satan's power. And I have overcome him in his stronghold, which was death… I have gone through the dark tunnel of the grave. On my way through that tunnel I met the one who had the power of death — symbolised by the keys. I have pulled the keys from his belt. I have wrenched the sceptre from his hand.
Death and Hades are not the same thing. Each holds a different part of a person:
But this Living One has died, gone into death to become its Conqueror. Alive for evermore, He has the keys of death and of hades. Death holds the body; hades holds the soul of the dead. So man's condition is sounded to the very bottom, for death is the seal of that condition. Only what meets the condition can break its seal.
Note the order: death first, then Hades. Holding both keys means nothing lies outside His control:
Hades follows death, and does not go before it… The Lord says that He has the keys of death and of hades. He shows by this that He is the absolute master of all that might threaten man, whether for the body or the soul. Satan's power in this respect is annulled; Christ has it all.
His own life is now beyond death's reach, and keys open as well as lock:
He spoke of the completeness of the victory He gained by His death. Death has no more dominion over Him. He has annulled the one who had the power of death. He has authority (pictured by the keys — Isa. 22:22) over both Death and Hades, and will summon both at the appointed hour to give up their solemn charge.
John was about to see judgments, wrath, and the power of Satan. He meets the One holding the keys first:
John is going to hear about judgments, and the schemes, power, and wrath of Satan beyond anything men had known. But the right hand of Him who was alive for evermore had rested on him, and he had heard the words of His mouth. Knowing that would give him strength and courage for everything to come. And as this is the spirit in which the book was written, so it should be read.
- Person — "the Living One" is a divine title that marks out the true God. All life comes from Him: life in believers, life in angels, even the endless existence of unbelievers.
- Path — He "became dead": the wording points to willingness, not misfortune. He chose to go in, and He came out alive forevermore.
- Prize — He went into death's stronghold and took the keys from the one who held them. He won them in battle; no one granted them.
- Power — Death claims the body, Hades holds the soul. He keeps both keys, so nothing that threatens a person lies outside His hand. One day He will call both to give up what they hold.
- Peace — Christ says this to a man lying face-down and afraid, before He shows him anything terrible. Read the rest of the book the way John received it: from under that right hand.
Write therefore what thou hast seen, and the things that are, and the things that are about to be after these.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.