An author’s salutation is more than formal greetings; it usually contains a self-introduction and a description of the audience, which together define the relationship between the two. The author thereby deliberately creates the proper context for reading his composition as the word of God. In this light, then, John’s greeting, which actually extends through chapter 3, is of considerable theological and rhetorical significance for how one interprets the rest of the book.

The epistolary relationship between the author, John, and his audience, the seven churches in the province of Asia, is immediately established by the familiar salutation, grace and peace to you. John then embellishes this simple address, and reasserts the authority of his communication, by conveying the regards of the tri…