Describing Jesus

Day 343: Revelation 1:1-20

“and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.” - Revelation 1:5 ESV

This opening chapter of the Revelation to John, for the seven churches in Asia Minor, seems to be attempting to give us a better view of Jesus from every possible vantage point. When you first take a look at Jesus, you may see a first-century Jewish man from northern Israel. Yet as we see how he lived, died, rose, and ascended, we start to see so much more.

We don't have time here to run through all of the descriptions of our Savior given in this chapter, but here are 13 that John records:

Faithful witness >> shows us what God is like

Firstborn of the dead >> first to defeat death by His resurrection

Ruler of kings >> all authority is on loan (see Daniel 2:21)

One who loves us and frees us by his blood >> this is our redemption by His death on the cross

Long robe >> longer the garment, the more honored in ancient cultures

Gold sash wearer >> frees His arms for serving

White hair/head >> pure, glorious, beautiful

Fire-eyes >> He sees to the depths of who we are

Bright feet >> victorious over enemies

Thundering voice >> His voice rises above all others if we'll just listen

Commander of angels >> one angel for each church here

Sword-mouth >> this was a short, deadly Roman sword; it shows divine judgment/justice

Sun-face >> those with unredeemed sin cannot see it

This is just a glimpse of the tapestry found in Revelation, showing us just how incredible our Lord Jesus Christ really is. Doesn’t it make you excited to read on tomorrow?

”There is a sense in which Jesus may be observed here in his three ministries as a prophet (faithful witness), priest (conquering for man the wage of sin exacted against man through his victory over death), and king (ruling all other kings).” - Paige Patterson