Revelation 1:17

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last, and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

I fell at his feet ... Paul fell at the feet of Jesus revealed to him as a supernatural person (Acts 26:14); and the phenomenon occurs frequently throughout the Bible, especially in connection with receiving visions. See Ezekiel 1:28; Daniel 8:17; 10:9; and Matthew 17:6.

Fear not ... How fully in the character of the beloved Jesus are these blessed words to the terrified apostle. With similar words he comforted the apostles that night when they were struggling to navigate Galilee, and on the night of his betrayal, "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." This is the message that heaven has often shouted to earth, but the need to hear it is perpetual. The night the shepherds beheld the angelic band speaking of "Good tidings which shall be to all people," their message began with, "Fear' not."

I am the first and the last, and the Living one, etc. ... Again, we are reminded of that holy Being who IS and WAS and SHALL BE for ever. See more on this under Revelation 1:8.

This writer has made a practice for many years of reading these two verses as the final committal at the graveside, with only one deviation from the text here, using J. B. Phillips' translation "death and the grave" instead of "death and of Hades," as here.

The Living one ... This is particularly interesting, because it is a title of God himself. This is really the most important title in the verse, because it is as the Living one that Christ holds the keys of death and of the grave. Christ, like the Father, possesses life in his essential nature. "As the Father hath life in himself, even so gave he to the Son to have life in himself' (John 5:26).