Chapter 1 comprises John’s greeting to the seven churches and the inaugural vision. While John’s greeting checks all the boxes of a conventional greeting in an ancient letter, his greeting is also unique in that it also identifies the letter as apocalyptic (1:1) and prophetic (1:3). John’s greeting also includes a declaration about Jesus’s saving work (1:5-7).
Following the greeting John recounts his initial vision of Jesus himself, adorned like the Son of Man. The characteristics of Jesus in the vision affirm his divinity as well as his identity as the Messiah. The glorious vision of Jesus in chapter 1 sets the tone for Jesus as the one who is later revealed as the lamb who was slain, the faithful witness who fulfills God’s redemptive purposes for human history and ultimately all of the creation.
