Re 1:5
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- Re 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
faithful witness: Jesus is the Lord
- Jer 42:5 Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
the first begotten of the dead is word play:
- The word begotten מולדת is the word dead מות with a child לד or ילד inside .
- The meaning is that all born of Adam are born dead, and Jesus - born of God and of Mary - was the first living child on earth which is a prophetic riddle of his resurrection. He is also the first in resurrection or 'born of the dead'.
This is important. The virgin birth is not the focus of the prophecies concerning the virgin birth. All prophecy speaks of the cross. If prophecy A and prophecy B both are prophecies of the cross, they will share elements that make them look like each other. A does not prophesy B.
All mankind was dead in sin. Jesus was the first living child born outside of sin. Jesus is the first one in resurrection, having conquered death.
The virgin birth was not a critical part of the Gospel of Mark. But later, when Matthew had studied and remembered what Jesus had said, he included the account as part of the mystery which has been revealed. If we focus on the Virgin Mary, we are replacing a symbol with a symbol rather than with the reality that Christ is first in resurrection.
prince of the kings of the earth
- The king of kings, the ruler of the 'powers' of the earth.
him that loved us
- Though Christ continues to love us, John is referring to the single event (aorist tense) which was completed on the cross.
washed us from our sins in his own blood
