Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Revelation 1:7

"Behold, he cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him. Even so, Amen." — Revelation 1:7 (ASV)

What Christ will do in the future is summed up in the dramatic cry: “Look, he is coming”—a clear reference to his return (22:7, 12, 20). The preceding affirmation of Christ’s rulership over the earth’s kings and the Christians’ share in the messianic kingdom leads to tension between the believers’ actual present condition of oppression and suffering and what seems to be implied in their royal and priestly status. So the divine promise of Christ’s return is given by the Father, and the response of the prophet and congregation follows in the words “So shall it be! Amen.” Or we might think of Christ as saying, “So shall it be!” and the prophet and the congregation responding, “Amen” (cf. 22:20). The promise combines Da 7:13 with Zec 12:10. Daniel 7 provides a key focus for John throughout the whole book (there are no fewer than thirty-one allusions to it).

Christ’s coming will be supernatural (“with the clouds”) and in some manner open and known to all (“every eye”), even to those who put him to death. “Those who pierced him” might be those historically responsible for his death (e.g., Pilate, Annas, and Caiaphas) and the Jewish leaders of the Sanhedrin who pronounced him guilty. Yet, when he comes, there will be mourning among “all the peoples of the earth.” From the NT point of view, Pilate, Annas, Caiaphas, and the others were acting as representatives for all humankind in crucifying Jesus. Thus the mourning mentioned here is probably that which results from the judgment Christ brings upon “all the peoples of the earth.”