Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Revelation 1:2

"who bare witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, [even] of all things that he saw." — Revelation 1:2 (ASV)

Two elements in the book are of chief importance: “The word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.” In referring to his visions as the “word of God,”John emphasizes his continuity with the prophets in the OT as well as the apostles in the NT (3:8, 10; 6:9; 12:11; 17:17; 19:9; 20:4). In 19:13 Jesus is himself identified with the name “the Word of God.” Here, in ch. 1, the reference is not directly to Christ but to the promises and acts of God revealed in this book that are realized through Jesus, the Word of God incarnate (cf. Jn 1:1-2). The church needs to be reminded that this book is the very Word of God to us. While John’s literary activity is evident throughout, he claims that what he presents he actually “saw” in divinely disclosed visions. And in the book God himself bears witness to the readers that these things are not the product of John’s own mind (1:1–2; 21:5; 22:6; cf. 2 Peter 1:21).

“Testimony” (GK 3456) can mean “witness,” “validation,” or “verification” (cf. 1:9; 6:9; 12:11, 17; 19:10; 20:4; 22:16–20). While “the testimony of Jesus” can mean John’s own testimony about Jesus, here it means the testimony that Jesus himself gives. John testifies both to the Word of God received in the visions and to the validation of his message from Jesus himself.