The part that is tricky is the "he made it known bu sending his angel to his servant john".
Is this an angel after john?
Is this angel a hologram of jesus with his words and appearance?
What are your thoughts?
Let's also not forget that Revelation is written in a series a scenes and while in an ecstatic state. The major pictures of Revelation have linguistic cues that the reader does well to pick up on since they appear to be the way John is communicating a change in perspective.
Notice in the first chapter, Jesus Christ did not personally come to John but sent an angel/angelic messenger (ala the Messenger of the Lord in the OT.) The first three verses here are the preface to the text.
Then the transition occurs and we see that John uses a fairly standard epistolary introduction to the churches he is addressing this apocalyptic letter to and then a big transition. In 1:10 he is taken
en pneumati "in the Spirit" which is the first extra-ordinary indicator where John is taken, perhaps physically or simply existentially, into an alternate reality where he then sees and receives visions. (So much for cessationism.)
This term
en pneumati becomes a substantial marker for the rest of the text. When John does see Jesus it is in this vision/trance-like state. He then also sees pictures and events which defy explanation to a first century Jew who does his best to explain these ontologically shaking events in the primary lens he can, which often is Second Temple acopalytic eschatology associated with Qumran.
The challenge here is showing that Jesus is the messenger because the text, and John's descriptions, vary and almost go out of their way to show there is a difference in his revelators (angels) and when he encounters Jesus in Revelation. Eschatologically and Christologically it is impermissible to say Jesus returned to the Isle of Patmos to speak with John. Way too many problems there. When John does encounter Christ in Revelation it is always on a different temporal plane than his earthly confinements.
