Who is Jesus in Revelation? (Revelation Series Part III)

This is the third entry in a series on the book of Revelation (BoR). I am doing it for several reasons. (1) I'm teaching this class at my church, and several who wanted to be there are unable, so this allows them to at least get a small taste of what we're doing in class. (2) I think there is a general interest in the BoR and very little popular-level resources for it. The popular-level material that is often shared with me is from TikTok and is...well... terrible, and mainly for the reasons I discussed in my last post.

Just to remind you where we've been and where we're going:

Part I: The Book of Revelation

Part II: Four Approaches to Revelation (and why one of the approaches is no good)

Part III: Who is Jesus in Revelation?

Part IV: The Significance of Seven

Part V: Seven Scary Scenes

Part VI: Three Ways to Conceptualize the Millennium

Part VII: New Heavens, New Earth

What I am going to attempt in approximately 2500 words is to discuss how Jesus is presented in the book of Revelation... yeah. We'll see how it goes. I think there is too much material here. But lately I've realized you can tell how well someone is acquainted with a subject based on how succinctly they can tell you about that subject. If I am having to use 2500 words, I guess that tells you a lot!

Christ as LORD

Throughout Revelation, Jesus is exalted to the place of God the Father in extremely significant ways within the context of Old Testament prophecy. In fact, the acronym “H.A.N.D.S.” made popular by Bowman Jr. and Komoszewski, although focusing on the gospels, fits with Revelation quite well.1 Jesus, often depicted as the Lamb throughout Revelation, accepts honors, displays attributes, receives names or titles, acts out deeds, and finally takes the seat of God (hopefully you caught the acronym in there) all within chapters 4 & 5. Those aren’t the only chapters discussing Christ as God, however, so I’ll start back in chapter 1 and mark some significant points throughout Revelation.

The Ascension in Chapter 1. You can miss it if you haven’t equipped your Old Testament lenses, but the first chapter of Revelation is all about Jesus’ ascension as covered in Matthew 28 and Luke24/Acts 1.2 One way I tried to talk about this in classes I teach is that Matthew and Luke/Acts describe the ascension exactly as they saw it, but Revelation describes it how you should see it. Or maybe think of Matthew and Luke/Acts as physical representations and Revelation as the spiritual representation—neither more “true” than the other, and neither more untrue.

The phrase “coming in the clouds” in Rev 1:7 is most often spoken of and imagined as Jesus riding in the clouds or the picture we have of Jesus’ return. But when John used the phrase in Rev 1:7, he is taking the phrase (and the phrase only, the rest of the verse is not from Daniel) from Daniel chapter 7, and it is meant to invoke the same image that Daniel is using. That image is one of the Son of Man being exalted to have authority over creation. What follows in chapter one is a description of Jesus that uses so imagery from Isaiah and Daniel, which are all meant to confirm attributes that belong to God (1:12–16). What John attaches to this image from Daniel are modifiers that can only be attributed to Jesus, and therefore imply the identification of the “son of man” from Daniel as Jesus.3

Walking Among the Lampstands in Chapters 2 & 3. Reading 1:13-16 gives a gnarly picture of Jesus. Some might even find it disturbing and too intimidating to even be recognized as Jesus. But who is this Jesus who walks in and among his churches? If you can keep that description in mind, you will see those descriptors pop up over and over as each letter to the seven churches makes reference to his chapter 1 description in some way. Koester notes that these descriptions may hint towards Jesus' disposition to each particular church, and Chilton notes a modified chiastic structure to them.4 I do believe the grand picture here, even when Christ is coming down harsher on a church, is that Christ is there among the churches. I do believe the how of this is solved later in the description of the Lamb. But it's still a good thing to ponder, “how does Jesus walk among the churches if he is currently in his resurrected body (which somewhat presumes locality)?” Regardless, he sees, hears, and will take action against false disciples/churches, and at the same time sees and hears the suffering his people go through and will strengthen them.

The Lamb Takes the Throne in Chapters 4-22. Without question, the lamb is John’s preferred metaphor for John (consider that the gospel of John is the only gospel to call Jesus “Lamb of God”), but who influenced whom? It’s my opinion that it is due to this vision that John adopts this as his primary metaphor.5 Throughout the remainder of Revelation, other than his brief stint as the Rider on the White Horse, Jesus is depicted as the Lamb. I think my favorite part of Revelation is here in chapters 4–5, as Christ with God is made the center of the entire vision. Yeah, it's not the center of the book, but it is certainly the center image of the book. As the Lamb takes the throne with God in these chapters, everything that occurs from here on out—seals, living creatures, horsemen, trumpets, etc—comes from the throne. It is meant to remind us who/what the center of all creation and recreation is–God in his throne.

The transition of power and authority from God to the Lamb between chapters 4 and 5 is worth noting. Beginning in 4:3, you have a description of God...well, kinda. In verses 3–6, God the Father is described without ever describing him—we only get descriptions of happenings and creatures around God. Precious jewels, a rainbow, 24 elders, lightening and thunder, burning torches, a sea of glass, living creatures, but no "image" of God. This is in stark contrast to the description of Jesus in chapter 1 and what we see in chapter 5 with the depiction of Jesus as the Lamb. What are some implications of this? I believe Jesus is here depicted as the image of God. Do you want to see God? You have! It is in the person of Jesus. But this is only part of the answer. For a Hebraic thinker, the absence of description is just as important as the description. Just as most Jews avoided saying the name "YHWH" they also avoided describing is eternal, spiritual nature (contrast this with descriptions of God in Gen 18 and other places where God takes on a body for temporary purposes).

An unusual discrepancy happens several times in Revelation. John hears/sees something only to see/hear something contrary or expansive to his first sense. In 5:5, John is told (auditory) to look as the “Lion of Judah” approaches, only to witness (ocular) a Lamb that looks to have already been slaughtered. Both of these images carry theological weight. The Lion of Judah is naturally a reference to Jesus' Davidic lineage, while the Slaughtered Lamb is a priestly image from Leviticus. What you have here then is a reference to Jesus as Priest, King, and, due to his presence with God, a Prophet.6 This slaughtered lamb takes the throne and begins receiving praise, prayers, and worship just as God had received in chapter four. What John never explicitly says, but which is indicated in these chapters, is how Jesus is able to take the throne. Bauckham makes the case, and I concur, that the Lamb depicted as slaughtered functions as the explanation for his glorification.7 Christ is exalted by God over all creation because Christ has sacrificed himself for it. This is also going to be a theme with the martyrs in Revelation as well. Because the martyrs have participated in the same suffering as the Lamb, they will be glorified similarly as well (this is a point of christology in several other NT books as well (Matt 5:10–12; Rom 8:17–18; 2 Cor 4:16–18; 1 Pet 4:12–14; 5:1).

Names of Jesus/God. Another clear depiction of Jesus as LORD is the titles Jesus takes from himself or is given to him. I will point out the four that Bauckham does.8

1.     “The Alpha and the Omega.” Two titles given to God are attributed to Christ. God declared in 1:8 that "I am the Alpha and the Omega" (like saying "A to Z" in English) which has a pretty clear definition of God as "first and last" just with different wording. However, just in case we missed it, God will clarify in 21:6 that "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end." What is WILD about this is that Jesus goes on to give himself the same titles: (1) "I am the first and the last" in 1:17 (which is the same as describing himself as God as already described himself), and (2) then taking the exact, word-for-word description in 22:13, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." I wont get into numerology just yet, but notice these titles appear 7 times.

2.     “The One Who Is and Who Is To Come” This title is not as striaght forward because it takes different shapes throughout the letter. It appears in various forms in 1:4, 8; 4:8; 11:17; 16:5. "John changes the structure and therefore the intent of the divine name to show not God’s preeminence, but God’s relation to the world. His name is about time, something only his creation experiences." This relates to Exod 3:14 which most probably refers to his commitment to be who he will be in history with his people. Again, not getting into numerology just yet, but the name with three titles is used three times ("the one who is and who was and who is to come"), and the one with two, twice ("the one who is and who was").

3.     “The Lord God Almighty." A big surprise here, but this title occurs seven times (1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22), but not including any type of abbreviated form like "God the Almighty" that occurs in Revelation. The Hebrew of this title in El Shaddai, the "El" is the divine title for God you most often find in the Old Testament prophets. Connected, this "God Almighty" usually denotes God's power over created thingOften connected to the divine name in the OT prophets denoting God’s power over created things and the course of historical events.

4.     “The One Who Sits on the Throne.” Used seven times in full (4:9; 5:1, 7, 13; 6:16; 7:15; 21:5) and several other times in part (4:2, 3; 7:10; 19:4; 20:11). Considering the Throne imagery from chapters 4 and 5 we know that it is a central image for the letter. In those chapters the throne is a cultic symbol and throughout the letter it takes on political symbolism as well. I think it is significant that both God and Christ share the throne. If there is any confusion over “who is in charge” this seems to remove any doubt. The Triune God acts for the other. Christ is sacrificed on behalf of his enemies for the glory of God and God subsequently exaltes him as Lord over creation.

All the Books in the World. This is not comprehensive by any stretch of the imagination—I only made it through chapter 5! I think I have made my point though. These are some of the major strands of Christ’s divinity in Revelation without rolling into the Millennium or chapters 21 and 22.

I hope this has been worth your time. If it has been, I would love to hear your thoughts! What surprises you about Revelation or what questions are you thinking through? Chances are, if you’re asking it, someone else is too. I’d love to help you think through those things as well hopefully stretch my own imagination and understanding of Revelation.

May God bless you!

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer. (Rev 6:1–2)

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1. Robert M. Bowman Jr. and J. Ed Komoszewski, Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ (Kregel Publications, 2007).

2. As a reminder, Luke and Acts are from the same author to the same recipient, and they have a pretty strong tradition of being read together. I typically speak of them as the same book, hence the “Luke/Acts” title.

3. Beale and Campbell give further analysis of Jesus’ description in chapter 1. However, although outside the mainstream, I think David Chilton does the best with digging into what these images mean, so I highly recommend his commentary. G. K. Beale and David H. Campbell, Revelation: A Shorter Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2015); David Chilton, The Days of Vengeance: An Exposition of the Book of Revelation (Ft. Worth, TX: Dominion Press, 1987).

4. Some get hung up on chiasms, but I suggest caution with that. As a refresher, a chiasm is a pattern ancient authors would employ to highlight or simply structure their thoughts—and we need to keep that in mind. Often, the fact that a text repeats A-B-C-B-A, or whatever pattern, doesn’t necessarily imply emphasis. It could just be a way to structure one's thoughts.

5. This would assume that Revelation is written first and the Gospel of John later, definitely not a scholarly-majority view, but my view nonetheless.

6. The "Priest, King, Prophet" typology regarding Jesus is well into mainstream theology now but goes back as early as Eusebius of Caesarea (Hist. eccl. 1.3.8, in Philip Schaff, ed., Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series (New York, 1890), 1:86.) in the 4th cen. John Calvin and the Protestant Reformation used it as a key theological descriptor of Christ's role (Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2.15)

7. Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the book of Revelation, New Testament theology (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1993).

8. Ibid. This whole section on "Names" is from Bauckham.