Revelation 1 Footnotes

1:11 The seven local churches listed were not the only churches in Asia Minor at that time (see Col 1:2; 4:13). These churches were chosen as examples of what was happening in their midst at the time and because they were located on the connecting roads of a circular postal route.

1:12-18 John had seen Jesus Christ in a similar glorified state at his transfiguration (Mt 17:2), and he had seen his resurrection body after he was raised, until the ascension (Jn 20; Ac 1:2-11). In this vision, the veil was lifted and John saw the one he had known in the flesh. Even though John had been as close as any of the disciples to Jesus, John had not begun to comprehend the majesty of the one with whom he had walked with during Jesus’s three years of ministry. The impact of Jesus’s appearance was overwhelming.

1:20; 2:1,8,12,18; 3:1,7,14 It is possible that the “angels” of the churches were human messengers, since the Greek aggeloi was occasionally used that way (e.g., Jms 2:25). However, the overwhelming usage of aggeloi in the book of Revelation is in reference to spirit beings (e.g., 1:1; 5:2). Perhaps these angels functioned like so-called guardian angels (Heb 1:14).