32. JESUS CHRIST - WHO HE IS
1:5.The Faithful Witness: “Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness,
and the first-begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.”
In this passage Christ is shown to be The New Covenant, The Seed of David, The New Creation, and the
King of Israel. He is “the faithful witness” which title is
also claimed by Christ Himself in 3:14: “The
words of the Amen, the faithful and true
witness.” The word faithful
translates the Hebrew word ’âman,
other meanings of which are: “to sustain, support, as to support or carry a
child, to found or build up a building; to be faithful, trustworthy, sure,
certain; to be of long continuance, perennial, as of a covenant.” As a noun it
means “a workman, artificer.” As an exclamation it indicates confirmation of
the word of another and expresses a wish that that word be fulfilled. [i]
The word witness has been dealt with above in Revelation 1: 2. There is again, however, a difference in John as a “witness to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ” and Jesus Christ as the Faithful Witness, the Amen. John testifies of Christ but Christ also testifies of God because He is God.
Psalm 89:27 is a referent for this
phrase and may be a partial quote: “Also
I will make him my first-born, higher than the kings of the earth.” This
Psalm is a hymn concerning God’s faithfulness to the covenant with David. The Psalm abounds with such words as faithfulness, steadfast love,
established, firm, founded, foundation. The promise to the seed of David was:
(29)His seed also will I make
to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven. (36) His seed shall
endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. (37) It shall be
established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.
Again in Isaiah 55:3-4 the covenant with David is reaffirmed:
I will make with you an
everlasting covenant, my steadfast sure [a form of ’âman is used here] love for David. Behold I made him a witness
to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples, (RSV).
Christ is here, in Revelation 1:5, proclaimed
to be that promised faithful witness, the Seed of David, and His throne is established in the heavens
as the vision of Revelation 1:12-20 shows.
First-born of the Dead
Christ as the First-born of the Dead probably is similar in meaning to “the beginning of God’s creation” in
3:14. The resurrection for the Christians meant the beginning of the new
creation. Although Christ was indeed the
beginning of the original creation in Genesis 1:2 as Light, He is now the beginning of the new
creation as the Second Adam, Whose flesh has been translated into
immortality. (See Romans 8:19-23; 2Cor. 5:17; Galatians 6:15; Ephesians 2:15.) The Christian convert has been buried with
Christ and raised from the dead, (Gal.
2:20; Colossians 2:12-13). Since Christ is the
Seed of Promise, (Gal. 3:16), He is
the eternal Israel of God. By participation in His resurrected Body, we are
heirs together with Him, (Gal. 3:29), of this reborn nation.
1:5. Prince of the Kings of the
Earth: “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness,
and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.
Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.”
Jesus was mockingly called the “King of the Jews” and “King
of Israel” when He was being crucified, (Mark 15: 12, 18, 26, 32). His resurrection proved
that He was not only “King of the Jews”
but also the Son of God with all power, even over death, hell and the grave.
The passage from
Psalm 2:1-3: “The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel
together, against the Lord and his anointed” is quoted in Acts 4:26 as
having been spoken of Jesus Christ as “his anointed.” In Acts
the “kings of the earth and rulers”
is applied to Herod, Pilate and “the people of Israel.” We might, therefore, say that “rulers” applied to Herod and Pilate,
while “kings of the earth” applied to
“the people of Israel.” We will encounter the phrase "kings of the earth" later in our study of the Book of Revelation. It is important to know that this refers to the Jews for the Rabbis taught that all Jews were kings because they were descended from Abraham through Sarah who had the promise that "kings of people shall be of her," Genesis 17:16.
[i] Ges. Lexicon, 58-9.
This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book Revelation In Context.
My Book is available at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma and is also available online at www.amazon.com or www.xulonpress.com
Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net .
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