Revelation 1:1

‘And he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John.’

The meaning is ‘signified, revealed through signs’. The book constantly uses symbolism to get over its message. We are left to interpret that symbolism carefully and thoughtfully recognising that it is a message from Christ Himself.

‘By his angel’. The message was considered so important that it was committed to a special angelic messenger. ‘His angel’ means simply the messenger whom God chose.

‘To his servant John’. The early church accepted that this was John the Apostle which was why the book was accepted. He is described as Christ’s ‘servant’. We can compare this with Paul’s constant claim to be ‘the servant of Jesus Christ’ (Romans 1:1; Philippians 1:1) and a ‘servant of God’ (Titus 1:1). James says that he is ‘a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ’ (James 1:1), as do Peter (2 Peter 1:1) and Jude (Jude 1:1). Revelation similarly uses this title of Christians as a title of honour.