I, John, your brother, who share with you the distress, the kingdom, and the endurance we have in Jesus, found myself on the island called Patmos because I proclaimed God’s word and gave testimony to Jesus. 10 I was caught up in spirit on the Lord’s day and heard behind me a voice as loud as 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.” 12 Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, wearing an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest. 14 The hair of his head was as white as white wool or as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame. 15 His feet were like polished brass refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing water. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars. A sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth, and his face shone like the sun at its brightest. 17 When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead. He touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, 18 the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld. 19 Write down, therefore, what you have seen, and what is happening, and what will happen afterwards. 20 This is the secret meaning of the seven stars you saw in my right hand, and of the seven gold lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
John was exiled to Patmos by the Romans for proclaiming the word of God. He shares in the Kingdom established by Jesus Christ and shares the distress the Christian communities are experiencing while they continue their testimony with patient endurance. Christians are facing deadly persecution by the authorities. Enraptured in a vision by the Spirit of prophecy (1 Cor. 14:1) on a Sunday, John is commanded by a loud voice behind him to write what he saw to the seven churches (Ezek. 3:12). When he turned, he saw seven gold lampstands and a heavenly being in human form - son of man (Dan. 7:13; Mt. 8:20). The description of the son of man’s hair is similar to the description of God in the apocalyptic Book of Daniel (Dan. 7:9), and the description of his eyes and feet were like the description of the angel in Daniel (Dan. 10:5-6).
The seven stars in his right hand are the angels of the seven churches (v. 20), the word of God came from his mouth – a two-edged sword (Heb. 4:12), and his face shole like the sun (Mt. 17:2). John fell at his feet and the risen glorified Christ told him not to be afraid (Mt. 14:27) he is the Alpha and the Omega (Rev. 22:14). The author of life that was put to death (Acts 3:15) was raised by God from the dead and is living from eternity to eternity. John is again instructed to write down what he has seen and what is to come.
Almighty God, grant us the grace to understand your word and the courage to speak it. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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