John's Mission

 ⁹ I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. ¹⁰ On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, ¹¹ which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”


In these verses John gives us a background on why he was on Patmos and the circumstances in which he was given the revelation.  He was on Patmos for proclaiming the word of God, as we already discussed Patmos was a Roman penal colony. He may have been meditating on the word of God when he hears a voice behind him telling him to write on a scroll what he will see and send it to the seven churches of Asia. The voice is loud, like a trumpet-not something that can be ignored. 


¹² I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man,^[d]dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. ¹⁴ The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. ¹⁵His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.


When John turned around he sees someone "like the son of man" standing among seven lampstands. The lampstands represent the seven churches. The person that John sees is Jesus Christ who described himself as the son of man. Jesus is standing among the lampstands because He is always with us. John recognizes Jesus, but He looks different. He is glorious and powerful, clearly in His exalted form. John then tries to describe what Jesus looks like. His clothing represent that Jesus is our high priest and He is the intermediary between us and God. His white hair symbolizes His wisdom and omniscience, and His eyes represent the fact that He sees all of the evil in the world and will soon respond with righteous anger.  His feet may represent the fact that He will subdue His enemies. In the ancient times, it was common to place your foot on the neck of your defeated foes to show your victory over them. His voice can't be ignored, it must be heard and obeyed. In His hand are seven stars, these represent the angels of the seven churches. These could be literal guardian angels or human messengers that were supposed to bring the message of the revelation to their churches; maybe the pastors of the churches. The sharp sword coming out of His mouth is not a literal sword. John  uses imagery to show that Jesus has come to conquer His enemies, the actual sword is the Word of God. His face is so bright like the sun, this means that John saw Jesus in the glory of full deity, this is the same brightness that was described at Christ's transfiguration.


² There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Matthew 17:2




 ¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.


John recognized that he was standing in the presence of Jesus and fell to the ground in worship. Jesus placed His right hand on John which signifies blessing. Jesus first calms his fears, then states that He has been in control since the beginning of time into eternity. He reminds John that He died and rose from the dead, and He has the power over life and death.


 ¹⁹ “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. ²⁰ The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels^[e] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.


Now that Jesus has established who He is, He tells John to write down what Jesus will be showing him. First Jesus explains to John the meaning of the stars and the lampstands. The first part of the vision is explained for him.