The author of Revelation, John, was one of the original twelve disciples called by Jesus. John and his brother James, along with Peter and Andrew, were fishermen whom Jesus invited to follow Him—“I will send you out to fish for people” (Matt. 4:18–22). John became “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:20) and wrote a Gospel as well as three epistles.

John had been walking with Jesus for nearly a lifetime by the time he wrote Revelation (v. 4). That’s why there is great spiritual depth even in his simple greeting in today’s reading. He offers “grace and peace” from the entire Trinity: God the Father, God the Holy Spirit (v. 4), and God the Son (v. 5). As the NIV note attests, “seven spirits” can be rendered “sevenfold Spirit,” which makes more sense. The number seven, here and throughout the book—it appears 54 times!—represents divine perfection.

The focus is on God the Son, Jesus Christ. He is the “faithful witness” who died to save us, the “firstborn from among the dead” who conquered death and rose again (Col. 1:18), and the sovereign “ruler of the kings of the earth.” John cannot help breaking into a doxology of praise here for Christ’s love and redemptive sacrifice and for how He has made us “to be a kingdom and priests” (vv. 5–6; Ex. 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9). Worship will be a major theme in this book.

The key theme and message, though, is Christ’s Second Coming (vv. 7–8). Christ is the telos or purpose of history, the “hinge” of God’s entire plan of redemption. The prophecies of Revelation are continuous with Old Testament prophecies: Jesus will return “with the clouds of heaven” (Dan. 7:13; 1 Thess. 4:16–17). “They will mourn for him” (Zech. 12:10; Matt. 24:30), the One they had pierced (Isa. 53:5).

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