Christ: The Almighty Who Comes

John is given a vision where he sees Christ coming with the clouds as the Almighty God who judges mankind:

“‘Look, he is coming (erchetai) with the clouds,’ and ‘every eye will see him, even those who pierced him’; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.’ So shall it be! Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come (ho erchomenos), the Almighty.’” Revelation 1:7-8  

The context shows that the Almighty who is coming is the same One who has been pierced, i.e., Jesus Christ. The Apostle alludes to the vision of Daniel and the words of Zechariah in his description of Jesus’ return:

“I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And came near before Him. And to Him was given dominion, Glory, and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not be taken away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13-14  

“And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.” Zechariah 12:10  

This in itself affirms that Jesus Christ is God Almighty (though not the Father) since these OT texts are speaking of YHWH himself being pierced and/or of a truly Divine Person appearing as a man, whom all nations shall worship forever.

Further evidence that John is identifying Jesus as the Almighty comes from the conclusion of his Apocalypse, which serves as a bookend to the opening chapter:

“‘Look, I am coming (erchomai) soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End... I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.’... He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming (erchomai) soon.’ Amen. Come (erchou), Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22: 12-13, 16, 20

This section of Revelation functions as an inclusio with chapter 1 since John is reiterating at the end what he had stated at the beginning.

Note that the Apostle begins his revelation by identifying Jesus as the Alpha and the Omega, as well as the First and the Last,

“And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, ‘Do not fear; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.’” Revelation 1:17-18

And then concludes with Jesus claiming to be the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last and the Beginning and the End!  

The bookend also explains why people will mourn when they see the One they pierced coming with the clouds since this is the moment when Jesus descends from heaven to judge them for all they have done.

These two facts alone sufficiently prove that Jesus is YHWH Almighty since Christ has ascribed to himself what the Hebrew Bible attributes to YHWH.

The following OT citations announc that YHWH is the First and the Last that comes with his reward to repay each person for what s/he has earned:

“Behold, Lord Yahweh will come with strength, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him And His recompense before Him. Like a shepherd He will shepherd His flock; In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.” Isaiah 40:10-11  

“Thus says Yahweh, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts: ‘I am the first, and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.’” Isaiah 44:6

“Hear Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.” Isaiah 48:12

“Behold, Yahweh has announced to the end of the earth, Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation comes; Behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.” Isaiah 62:11

“I, Yahweh, search the heart; I test the inmost being, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his deeds.” Jeremiah 17:10  

The final line of evidence showing that Jesus is the Almighty who comes is that the verbal triplet, which the Divine Speaker uses, is employed of Christ by John elsewhere in his writings.

Note the wording once again:     

“‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come (ho on, ho een, kai ho erchomenos), the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8

The Apostle applies each of these phrases to the Lord Jesus in the prologue to his Gospel:

“In the beginning was (een) the Word, and the Word was (een) with God, and the Word was (een) God. He was (een) with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was (een) life, and that life was the light of all mankind... The true light that gives light to everyone was coming (een erchomenon) into the world. He was (een) in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him... The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, ‘This is the one I spoke about when I said, “He who comes (erchomenos) after me has surpassed me because he was (een) before me.”’) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:1-4, 9-10, 14-17

“No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is (ho on) in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God^[c] known.” John 1:18

Footnotes

John 1:18 tc The textual problem μονογενὴς θεός (monogenēs theos, “the only God”) versus ὁ μονογενὴς υἱός (ho monogenēs huios, “the only son”) is a notoriously difficult one. Only one letter would have differentiated the readings in the mss, since both words would have been contracted as nomina sacra: thus qMs or uMs. Externally, there are several variants, but they can be grouped essentially by whether they read θεός or υἱός. The majority of mss, especially the later ones (A C³ Θ Ψ ƒ^1,13 M lat), read ὁ μονογενὴς υἱός. P⁷⁵ א¹ 33 have ὁ μονογενὴς θεός, while the anarthrous μονογενὴς θεός is found in P⁶⁶ א* B C* L. The articular θεός is almost certainly a scribal emendation to the anarthrous θεός, for θεός without the article is a much harder reading. The external evidence thus strongly supports μονογενὴς θεός. Internally, although υἱός fits the immediate context more readily, θεός is much more difficult. As well, θεός also explains the origin of the other reading (υἱός), because it is difficult to see why a scribe who found υἱός in the text he was copying would alter it to θεός. Scribes would naturally change the wording to υἱός however, since μονογενὴς υἱός is a uniquely Johannine christological title (cf. John 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9). But θεός as the older and more difficult reading is preferred. As for translation, it makes the most sense to see the word θεός as in apposition to μονογενής, and the participle ὁ ὤν (ho ōn) as in apposition to θεός, giving in effect three descriptions of Jesus rather than only two.

(B. D. Ehrman, The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, 81, suggests that it is nearly impossible and completely unattested in the NT for an adjective followed immediately by a noun that agrees in gender, number, and case, to be a substantival adjective: “when is an adjective ever used substantivally when it immediately precedes a noun of the same inflection?” This, however, is an overstatement. First, as Ehrman admits, μονογενής in John 1:14 is substantival. And since it is an established usage for the adjective in this context, one might well expect that the author would continue to use the adjective substantivally four verses later. Indeed, μονογενής is already moving toward a crystallized substantival adjective in the NT [cf. Luke 9:38; Heb 11:17]; in patristic Greek, the process continued [cf. PGL 881 s.v. 7]. Second, there are several instances in the NT in which a substantival adjective is followed by a noun with which it has complete concord: cf., e.g., Rom 1:30; Gal 3:9; 1 Tim 1:9; 2 Pet 2:5.) The modern translations which best express this are the NEB (margin) and TEV.

Several things should be noted: μονογενής alone, without υἱός, can mean “only son,” “unique son,” “unique one,” etc. (see 1:14). Furthermore, θεός is anarthrous. As such it carries qualitative force much like it does in 1:1c, where θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος (theos ēn ho logos) means “the Word was fully God” or “the Word was fully of the essence of deity.” Finally, ὁ ὤν occurs in Rev 1:4, 8; 4:8; 11:17; and 16:5, but even more significantly in the LXX of Exod 3:14. Putting all of this together leads to the translation given in the text.

John 1:18 sn Has made God known. In this final verse of the prologue, the climactic and ultimate statement of the earthly career of the Logos, Jesus of Nazareth, is reached. The unique One (John 1:14), the One who has taken on human form and nature by becoming incarnate (became flesh, 1:14), who is himself fully God (the Word was God, 1:1c) and is to be identified with the ever-living One of the Old Testament revelation (Exod 3:14), who is in intimate relationship with the Father, this One and no other has fully revealed what God is like. As Jesus said to Philip in John 14:9, “The one who has seen me has seen the Father.” New English Translation (NET; emphasis mine)

Here in John 1, Jesus is the one who was (een), the one who is (ho on), and the one who is coming (erchomenos).

What makes this so remarkable is, as the NET noted, the phrase ho on is employed in the Greek version of Exodus for YHWH:

“And God said to Moyses, “I am The One Who Is (ego eimi ho on). And he said, “Thus shall you say to the sons of Israel, ‘The One Who Is (ho on) has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14 (Translated by Larry J. Perkins,, A New English Translation of the Septuagint [Oxford University Press, including corrections and emendations made in the second printing in 2009; and corrections and emendations made in 2014], p. 53; emphasis mine)

Therefore, in applying the phrase ho on to Christ, John has identified Jesus as that very YHWH who appeared to Moses.

The foregoing data shows rather conclusively that Jesus is the Almighty God of Revelation 1:8.

Further Reading

Jesus Christ: The Being Who Eternally Is