THE VISION OF THE RISEN CHRIST IN REV. i. 13 ff.: THE DEBT OF AN EARLY CHRISTOLOGY TO AN ASPECT OF JEWISH ANGELOLOGY

Abstract

τ: 1ΗE impact which Jesus of Nazareth made upon his followers was such that various ideas derived from contemporary religious and philosophical usage were employed to convey the significance of his person and work. All these ideas, in one way or another, were intended to impress upon readers and hearers the significant, indeed unique, status of Jesus in the relationship between God and man. Very quickly titles such as Messiah (Mark viii. 29; John xx. 31; and Acts iii. 20) and even divine attributes like creative power (Col. i. 15 ff.; Heb. i. 2) were bestowed upon Jesus, in order to express the importance of his life, death, and resurrection. The study of New Testament Christology has concentrated on the titles used as a reasonably accessible means of ascertaining the character of the earliest beliefs about Jesus.1 Yet the use of titles was but one way of speaking about Jesus' relationship with God. Investigation of the way in which the first Christians expressed their convictions about Jesus' unique mediatorial function need not be confined to the study of Christological titles. In this respect the Christo phany which functions as the commission to John of Patmos in Rev. i. 13 ff. offers us a Christology of some sophistication, whose importance does not depend on the presence of exalted Christological titles. In this passage it is the language used in describing the appearance of the Risen Christ which particularly demands our comment and attention.2 Many elements in the Christophany are taken from the description of the angelophany in Dan. x. 5 ff. This is particularly apparent in Rev. i. 13 {όνδίδυμίνον ποδήρη και πΐρΐΐζωσμίνον προς τοΐς μαστοΐς ζωνηνζωνην χρυσάνχρυσάν cf. όνδΐδυμόνος βύσσινα καί την όσφύν πΐρΐΐζωσμίνος βυσσίνω) and 14 f· {καί οί οφθαλμοί αύτοΰ (lis φλόξ πυρός, και 01 πόδΐς αύτοϋ όμοιοι όμοιοι χαλκολιβάνω ώς iv καμίνω πΐπυρωμίνης, cf. και 01 οφθαλμοί αύτοΰ ώσΐΐ λαμπάδΐς πυρός . . . και 01 πόδΐς ώσeι χαλκόs iijaστράπτων). But