A fear not of God
Fear Not, I Am the First and the Last
John, exiled on the rocky island of Patmos, turns to see the voice speaking to him and is confronted with the risen Christ in blazing glory, eyes like fire, face like the sun in full strength. Overwhelmed, he falls at His feet as though dead. Then a hand touches him, and the glorified Lord speaks: fear not, I am the first and the last.
“And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:”Revelation 1:17
The moment
This is the fear of a man undone by glory. John had once leaned on Jesus' chest at supper, but the Christ he now sees is transfigured beyond anything human, robed and radiant, holding stars, His voice like the sound of many waters. The sight collapses him; he falls as dead, the way frail flesh does before overwhelming holiness. There is fear in it, but perhaps also the deeper dread of an exiled old man watching the churches suffer, wondering how the story ends, whether evil finally wins. The vision is almost unbearable because it is so real. The One before him is not a memory but the living, reigning Lord, and John has nothing in himself to stand in that presence.
Why we need not fear
The same hand that once broke bread reaches down and rests on the fallen man, and the words steady him: I am the first and the last, I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore. Fear can be set down because the One who holds all of history, its beginning and its end, is the same One who died and rose and now cannot die again. He holds the keys of death itself. Whatever John fears about how the story ends is answered by the fact that the ending belongs to Christ. The first and the last has already passed through death and come out alive forever, and He is not against John but touching him.
How Christ answers this fear
Here the answer to fear is not merely from Christ but is Christ Himself in His risen glory. He is the first and the last, the one who spans and secures all things, and He proves it by being the one who was dead and is now alive forevermore, holding the keys of death and the grave. Every fear a suffering church could name, persecution, death, the apparent triumph of evil, is answered in a Lord who has conquered the grave and rules over the end of history. The touch of His hand on a man fallen as dead is the gospel in a single gesture: the glorious, living Christ stoops to the frightened and says, because I live, fear not.
Questions people ask
Why did John fall as dead in Revelation 1?
John saw the risen Christ in overwhelming glory, with eyes like fire and a face like the sun, holding stars and speaking with a voice like many waters. The sight of such holiness collapsed him; he fell at Jesus' feet as though dead, the frail human reaction to unveiled divine glory. Christ then laid a hand on him and said, fear not.
What does I am the first and the last mean in Revelation?
It is a title of divine eternity and sovereignty, declaring that Christ spans all of history, its beginning and its end, and holds it secure. He backs it by adding that He was dead and is now alive forevermore, holding the keys of death. For a fearful, suffering church, it means the outcome of the whole story belongs entirely to the risen Lord.