ACC ~ Revelation 1 v10 - 20

OVERVIEW:

Despite the weakness of his human nature, John was raised up to see the secrets of God (APRINGIUS). In the Spirit he wrote to seven churches which represent the one catholic church and whose names mystically indicate the struggle between truth and error in the church to the end of time (VICTORINUS, APRINGIUS). The vision of Christ who speaks to John reveals the invisible glory of the Father (IRENAEUS). Christ walks in the midst of seven lampstands, for he is the Light upon which the light of the churches rests (APRINGIUS). The churches are therefore called lampstands, not lights (OECUMENIUS).

Christ is “like” a son of man, for he is now ascended and united to the Spirit (VICTORINUS). Moreover, his two natures are indicated (OECUMENIUS), as well as the unity of Christ with the church (PRIMASIUS). Christ is dressed in the robe of his flesh (VICTORINUS) and wears a girdle about his breasts, which are the two Testaments (APRINGIUS) or the two Testaments that nourish Christians unto eternal life (CAESARIUS OF ARLEs). The girdle is about the breasts, not the loins, for the gospel deepens the commandments of the law (JEROME) and restrains the wrath of God by the benevolence of our High Priest (ANDREW OF CAESAREA).

The white head of Christ indicates that God is his head (VICTORINUS), that he is pure and merciful (APRINGIUS) and that the mystery of the gospel is ancient (OECUMENIUS). The white hairs indicate also the newly baptized who are the sheep of Christ and the new Jerusalem, which comes down from heaven as does the snow (CAESARIUS OF ARLES). The feet of Christ are the apostles who bring the good news (VICTORINUS) or the human nature of Christ, which is refined by the divine nature (APRINGIUS, ANDREW OF CAESAREA). Refined by fire, the feet refer also to the church of the endtime, which will be tested by afflictions (BEDE). The voice of Christ is like many waters, for God works in many ways and his preaching goes throughout the world (IRENAEUS, OECUMENIUS). The sword of his mouth is variously viewed as the law and the gospel (VICTORINUS), the Holy Spirit (FULGENTIUS OF RUSPE), the letter and the spirit of the divine teaching (JEROME) or the judgment (OECUMENIUS). The face of Christ is compared with the sun, for he died and rose again (VICTORINUS). Moreover, united to Christ, the church also will shine like the sun (BEDE).

At the vision of Christ, John fell down out of fear and humility (APRINGIUS), but Christ raised him up, for he died that we might live (OECUMENIUS). The seven stars are the church to the end of time (APRINGIUS), and the lampstands are the church, which bears the light of Christ to the world through the unity of its faith and preaching (IRENAEUS).

1:10 | A Voice Like a Trumpet

JOHN SAW THE SECRET THINGS OF GOD. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: He says that he was taken up in the spirit, that is, that he was raised up to the secret things of God, in order that he might see those things which he was to speak. Moreover, he says that he did not enter into the heights of heaven in a bodily manner, but that he entered in the spirit, recalling this word, “No one has ascended into heaven except he who has descended, namely the Son of man, who is in heaven.” The holy apostle Paul also says that he was taken up, but in what way? He says, “Whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know, God knows.” He writes that he had been taken up into ecstasy, in the spirit. But since the day of the Lord is mentioned in this passage, when he says that he had been taken up in the spirit, he is indicating that he had been cleansed of any work of a profane kind. For, on the Lord’s day the apostle could only devote himself to divine things and holy duties. … Concerning the preachers of the gospel, it is written, “Cry aloud, do not cease, lift up your voice as a trumpet.” And concerning the words “behind me,” the prophet said, “And they shall hear a voice from behind of one teaching.” Let all humanity be exalted to whatever degree of sanctity, in comparison to the holy acts of God and to the divine words, it can by no means ever stand as an equal before his presence and face. But our flesh, weighed down by a certain weakness, is instructed, as it were, from behind by the words of God. Therefore, in saying “behind me” he indicates the weakness of his human nature. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.10.

1:11 | Write to the Seven Churches

THE SEVEN CHURCHES REPRESENT THE ONE CATHOLIC CHURCH. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: He mentions seven churches by the explicit use of their own names to which he has sent letters. He does this not because they are the only churches, or even the most important of the churches, but because what he says to one, he says to all. For it makes no difference whether one speaks to a cohort, in number only a few soldiers, or whether one speaks through it to the entire army. Whether in Asia or in the whole world, Paul taught that all of the seven churches which are named are one catholic [church]. And therefore, that he might preserve this understanding, he did not exceed the number of seven churches, but he wrote to the Romans, to the Corinthians, to the Ephesians, to the Thessalonians, to the Galatians, to the Philippians and to the Colossians. Later he wrote only to individual persons, lest he exceed the number of seven churches. … We read that this type was announced by the Holy Spirit through Isaiah [who spoke] of seven women who seized one man. However, this one man is Christ, who was not born of seed. And the seven women are churches who received their own bread and wear their own clothes but who ask that their reproach be taken away and that his name be invoked over them. The “bread” is the Holy Spirit, who nourishes to eternal life. It is “their own” because it has been promised to them through faith, and “their own clothes” refers to the promises which have been made to them and by which they wish to be covered, as Paul says: “It is necessary that this corruptible be clothed with incorruption and that this mortal be clothed with immortality.” And the words “that their reproach be taken away” refer to that first sin which is taken away in baptism when each person begins to be called a “Christian,” which is the meaning of the words “your name will be invoked over us.” In these seven churches, therefore, we are to think of the one church. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.7.

THE NAMES OF THE CHURCHES CONTAIN MYSTERIES. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: We have already said that he addressed one church which exists during the time of the whole world, that is, from that time when he spoke to the consummation of the world. Since he now mentions the names of these churches specifically, let us see what meanings they have. … There is a mighty mystery in the names which we will examine and discuss to the extent that God allows. Ephesus means “my will” or “my plan.” He wills that we know that the whole reality of our faith and the dignity of the catholic church is not to be ascribed to human merit, but they are the will of God and the disposition of the divine purpose. Smyrna means “their song.” And what else is the song of the perfect if not the celestial doctrine and the preaching of the gospel and the advance of the Christian religion, or the melodious confession of the catholic church? Pergamum means “to him who divides their horns.” This refers either to the insolence of the powers of the air, or to the arrogance of the heretics. And he teaches that the pride of the powers is always to be separated and divided from the congregation of the church, for the horns are either power or arrogance. He writes to Thyatira, that is “enlightened.” This signifies that, after the expulsion of heretical pride and after the defeat of temptations from the powers of the air, the holy church is deserving of the light of righteousness. Sardis means the “beginning of beauty.” The church is seized by the sun of righteousness and is illumined by the light of truth, so that she might have the beginning of beauty, the Lord Jesus Christ, and might always shine in perpetual light. Philadelphia means “preserving devotion to the Lord.” After possessing the sun of righteousness, after the illumination of holiness, after the comeliness of holy beauty, the church rightly is devoted to the Lord and preserves herself by an inviolable observation of devotion. Laodicea means either “a tribe beloved of the Lord,” or, as some would have it, “a birth is expected.” Both are meaningful, for she who has merited the beauty of faith and the sun of righteousness and knows that through faith the Lord cleaves to her, might also be a tribe whom the Lord loves, who is both loved by the Lord and preserved by the Lord. Furthermore, the church might well await her own birth, either the regeneration of baptism or the glory of the resurrection, whenever she preserves herself by humility and patience. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.11.

1:12a | The Voice Speaking to John

CHRIST REVEALS THE GLORY OF THE INVISIBLE FATHER. IRENAEUS: Neither Moses nor Elijah nor Ezekiel, who all had many celestial visions, saw God. Rather, what they did see were likenesses of the splendor of the Lord and prophecies of things to come. It is evident that the Father is indeed invisible, of whom also the Lord said, “No man has seen God at any time.” But his Word, as he himself willed it, and for the benefit of those who beheld, did show the Father’s brightness and explained his purposes, as also the Lord said, “The only begotten God, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared [him].” … John also, the Lord’s disciple, when seeing the priestly and glorious advent of his kingdom, says in the Apocalypse: “I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And, being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in their midst One like the Son of man, clothed with a garment reaching to the feet, and wrapped around the chest with a golden girdle. His head and his hair were white, as white as wool, and as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass, as if they were forged in a furnace. His voice [was] like the sound of waters. He had in his right hand seven stars. Out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword. He looked like the sun shining at full strength.” For in these words he sets forth something of the glory [which he has received] from his Father, as the head. He sets forth something of the priestly office, as in the case of the long garment reaching to the feet. And this was the reason why Moses vested the high priest after this fashion. Something also alludes to the end [of all things], as [where he speaks of] the fine brass being forged in the fire, which denotes the power of faith, and constant prayer, because of the consuming fire which is to come at the end of time. AGAINST HERESIES 4.20.11.

THE VOICE WAS NOT SENSORY. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: He shows that the voice was not sensory when he says, “I turned,” not to hear but “to see the voice.” For spiritual hearing and spiritual seeing are the same thing. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.12.

1:12b | Seven Golden Lampstands

THE LIGHT OF THE CHURCH RESTS ON CHRIST. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: Resting on three arms, a lampstand raises the body of a single shaft, and upon this shaft there is placed a lamp of light. “For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ,” says the apostle, “from which the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love, according to the work and ability of each member.” This is that branch of which it is said: “There shall come forth a branch from the stump of Jesse.” Upon this branch a light is placed, that is, the light of the catholic church is made ready, so that seized by the truth of his light, she might herself bring forth perpetual light, and marked by the manifestation of one faith, she might be exalted by the light of the divine majesty. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.12.

THE CHURCHES ARE LAMPSTANDS, NOT LIGHTS. OECUMENIUS: As he himself will explain a little later, the seven lampstands are the seven churches to which he is commanded to write. He calls them “lampstands” since they carry in themselves the “illumination of the glory of Christ.” He did not call them “lamps” but “lampstands,” for a lampstand itself does not possess the capacity to shine, but it bears that which is capable of illumination. Likewise, Christ mentally illuminates his churches. For just as the holy apostle exhorts those who have received the Faith, “be as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life”—for indeed the lamp does not in itself possess light, but it is receptive of that light which comes to it—so also here the Evangelist saw the churches as lampstands and not as lights. For it is said concerning Christ, “You shine forth marvelously from the everlasting mountains,” probably meaning the angelic powers; and again he says to the Father, “Send out your light and your truth”; and again, “the light of your countenance, O Lord.” And so, those who partake of the divine light are described on the one hand as lights and on the other hand as lampstands. He says that the lampstands are “golden” on account of the value and excellence of those made worthy to receive the divine light. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.12-16.

1:13a | One Like a Son of Man

THE ASCENDED CHRIST IS MORE THAN SON OF MAN. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: It says that “in the midst of the golden lampstands there was one walking similar to a son of man.” It says “similar,” because death had been destroyed. For when he had ascended into heaven, and when his body was united to the Spirit of glory which he received from the Father, henceforth he could be called as though Son of God and no longer as though son of man. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.2.

CHRIST AND THE CHURCH ARE ONE. PRIMASIUS: “And I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man.” He saw Christ who rather often desires to be called by this name. He who is the enclothed Christ is the seven lampstands themselves. Whether the seven lampstands or the seven stars, both refer to the church. … On account of the exalted nature of the divine discourse, on occasion the genus cannot be described clearly, because it is more easily seen than expressed. … So also in this passage, among the seven lampstands he is describing the church in the Son of man. “For,” the apostle says, “the two shall become one flesh, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” As I said above, the genus is clarified through various species. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.12.

“LIKE A SON OF MAN” INDICATES THE TWO NATURES. OECUMENIUS: He calls him “son of man” who for our sakes humbled himself to the form of a servant, namely, Christ, who became “fruit of the womb,” as the holy psalmist says, that is, the womb of the unwedded and ever-virgin Mary. For since Mary is a human being and our sister, it is appropriate that God the Word, conceived virginally according to the flesh, is also called “son of man.” And he has spoken with precision, for he did not say “son of man” but “like a son of man,” since he is also God and Lord of all, the Emmanuel. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.12-16.

1:13b | Clothed with a Long Robe

THE ROBE IS THE FLESH OF CHRIST. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: The words “in priestly garment” most clearly indicate the flesh, which was not corrupted by death and which possesses through his death an eternal priesthood. “A golden girdle was tied to his breast.” These words suggest that a vibrant knowledge and a pure spiritual understanding have been given to the churches. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.4.

THE GOSPEL DEEPENS THE LAW. JEROME: In the law, John had a leather girdle because the Jews thought that to sin in act was the only sin. … In the Apocalypse of John, our Lord Jesus, who is seen in the middle of the seven lampstands, also wore a girdle, a golden girdle, not about his loins but about the breasts. The law is girdled about the loins, but Christ, that is, the gospel and the fortitude of the monks, binds not only wanton passion but also mind and heart. In the gospel, one is not even supposed to think anything evil; in the law, the fornicator is accused for judgment. … “It is written,” he says, “in the law, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’” This is the leather girdle clinging about the loins. “I say to you, anyone who even looks with lust at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” This is the golden girdle that is wrapped around the mind and heart. HOMILIES ON MARK 75 (1).

LAW AND GOSPEL ARE GIRD BY THE PASSION. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: The breasts of the Lord are the holy teaching of the law and the gospel. This girding is a sign of the passion, concerning which the Lord himself spoke to Peter: “When you are old, another will gird you and lead you where you do not wish” The “golden girdle” is his everlasting power, washed in the blood of the Lord’s passion. There is a variety of this girdle in the diversity of powers, yet there is one power behind the multitude of wonders. Another interpretation: The golden girdle is the chorus of the saints, tested as gold through fire. Another: The golden girdle around the chest is the fervent conscience and the pure spiritual understanding refined as though by fire, and so it was given to the churches. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.13.

THE TWO TESTAMENTS NOURISH CHRISTIANS TO ETERNAL LIFE. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: He who is girded signifies Christ the Lord. By the two breasts understand the two Testaments which receive from the breast of our Lord and Savior as though from a perennial fountain and from which they nourish the Christian people unto eternal life. The golden girdle is a chorus or the multitude of saints. For just as the breast is bound by a girdle, so the multitude of the saints is bound to Christ, so that as the two Testaments encompass the two breasts they are nourished by them as by holy paps. EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.13, HOMILY 1.

CHRIST IS OUR BENEVOLENT HIGH PRIEST. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: He was clothed with a long robe, as a high priest of those things above “according to the order of Melchizedek.” Moreover, he was girded with a golden girdle, not around the loins, as other men are to check desires (for the divine flesh is not accessible to these), but at the chest, around the breasts, so that the boundlessness of the divine wrath might be restrained by benevolence and that the truth might be revealed girding about the two Testaments which are the dominical breasts through which the faithful are nourished. It is a golden girdle to indicate its excellence and purity and genuineness. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.12-13.

1:14a | His Head and Hair Were White

CHRIST IS ANCIENT AND IMMORTAL. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: By the “whiteness on the head” is shown his antiquity and immortality, and the source of his majesty, for “the head of Christ is God.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.2.

CHRIST POSSESSES THE PURITY OF GOD AND IS TENDER TOWARD SINNERS. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: The head of Christ is God, and he himself is white on account of the brightness of the purity of the Unbegotten and on account of the unmixed light of the Only Begotten and on account of the pure radiance of the Holy Spirit and the immaculate glory of his righteousness. And not without reason is he called white, because he is compared to white wool and to snow on account of his tenderness which he gives without ceasing to the sinners. As it is written: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; and though they are red as crimson, they shall become as wool.” TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.14.

THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST IS ANCIENT. OECUMENIUS: “His head,” it says, “and his hairs were like white wool, like snow,” for the mystery in Christ was new at its appearance, although to be sure eternal according to good pleasure. The holy apostle has written concerning this: “the mystery which was hidden from the ages and generations, which has now been revealed to his saints, to those whom he willed.” Therefore, the whiteness of his head, which is compared with wool and with snow, represents the antiquity of the mystery, such as relates to the good pleasure of God. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.12-16.

THE BAPTIZED ARE THE SHEEP OF CHRIST AND THE NEW JERUSALEM. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: The white hair is the multitude of those made white, that is, he is speaking of the neophytes who come forth from baptism. He speaks of wool because they are the sheep of Christ. He speaks of snow because just as snow falls freely from heaven, so also the grace of baptism comes apart from any preceding merits. For those who are baptized are Jerusalem, which each day comes down as though snow from heaven. That is, the church is said to descend from heaven because that grace is from heaven through which she is both freed from sins and joined to Christ, who is her eternal head and heavenly spouse. … The beast from the abyss is said to ascend, that is, an evil people is born from an evil people. For just as by descending humbly Jerusalem is exalted, so the beast, that is, that prideful people which arrogantly ascends, is cast down. EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.14, HOMILY 1.

1:14b | His Eyes Were Like Fire

CHRIST IS LIGHT AND JUDGE. OECUMENIUS: “And his eyes,” it says, “were as a flame of fire.” The flame indicates either his radiance, since Christ is indeed a light and calls himself this, saying, “I am the light and the truth,” or it represents his fearsomeness and the threat made against the seven churches to which the visions of the Revelations are being sent, since they are not perfectly following his laws. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.12-16.

1:15a | His Feet Were Like Bronze

HIS FEET ARE THE APOSTLES. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: “His feet were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace.” He is speaking of the apostles, because refined through suffering they preached his word. For those through whom the proclamation is extended are properly called feet. And the prophet understood this beforehand in saying, “Let us worship where his feet have stood,” because where they as the first stood and established the church, namely, in Judea, there all the saints will come together and worship their God. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.5.

THE FEET ARE THE TWO NATURES AND THE HARMONY OF PREACHING. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: And the feet are also the foundations of the church. And they are “like bronze incense,” which, the medical people say, possesses a good smell when burned, and which is called by them masculine incense. There is another interpretation: since the bronze refers to the human nature and the incense refers to the divine nature, through these is indicated the sweet odor of the faith and the unconfusedness of the unity. Or another interpretation: the bronze shows the euphony of the proclamation, while the incense shows the conversion of the nations, from which the Bride is commanded to come. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.15.

THE FEET ARE THE HUMAN NATURE OF CHRIST. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: The feet are the human nature which he possessed in himself which he assumed out of mercy for our salvation. For just as when copper ore is refined in a furnace there is no accretion or rusty buildup on the outside, so the most pure and perfect flesh of the assumed man, taken up by deity and remaining in deity, continues without any defect of human nature, without any guilt of the parent. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.15.

THE FEET ARE THE CHURCH OF THE END TIME. BEDE: The phrase “feet refined by fire” refers to the church of the end time, which will be examined and tested by terrible afflictions. For indeed orichalcum is bronze, which is brought to a golden color by a very hot fire and added elements. Another translation, which renders with “like burnished bronze of Lebanon,” signifies that the church in Judea, in which Lebanon is a mountain, will be persecuted, especially at the end time. For even the temple is often referred to as “Lebanon,” for it is said to it, “Open, O Lebanon, your gates, and let fire consume your cedars.” EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 1.15.

1:15b | His Voice Was Like Many Waters

GOD WORKS IN MANY WAYS TO FULFILL HIS PURPOSES. IRENAEUS: Thus, in a variety of ways, he adjusted the human race to an agreement with salvation. On this account also does John declare in the Apocalypse that his voice is “as the sound of many waters.” For the Spirit [of God] is truly [like] many waters, since the Father is both rich and great. And the Word, passing through all those [men], did liberally confer benefits upon his subjects, by drawing up in writing a law adapted and applicable to every class [among them]. AGAINST HERESIES 4.14.2.

HIS VOICE REACHES INTO ALL THE EARTH. OECUMENIUS: “And his voice was as the sound of many waters.” This is an appropriate way of speaking. For how would his voice reach into all the earth and the proclamation concerning him into the corners of the world, unless it were audible, and not merely by virtue of the perceptible voice but by the power of the proclamation? COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.12-16.

1:16a | In His Right Hand Were Seven Stars

THE STARS ARE SEVEN ANGELS. OECUMENIUS: I think that he calls the holy angels “stars” because of the abundant brightness of Christ which they have in themselves. They are in his right hand, for they were found worthy of this most exalted status before God and, as it were, they rest upon the hand of God. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.12-16.

1:16b | From His Mouth Issued a Sharp Sword

THE TWO-EDGED SWORD IS THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: The phrase “a sharp two-edged sword issued from his mouth” shows that it is he himself who earlier gave to the whole world knowledge of the law through Moses but now gives the blessings of the gospel. And since by the same word every human race will be judged, whether of the Old or of the New Testament, he is called a “sword.” For a sword arms a soldier, a sword kills the enemy, and a sword punishes the deserter. And that he might show the apostles that he was announcing judgment, he said, “I have not come to send peace, but a sword.” And when he had fulfilled all the parables, he said to them, “ ‘Have you understood all this?’ And they said, ‘Yes.’ And he said, ‘Therefore, every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings of his treasury what is new and what is old,’” by the new things meaning the words of the gospel, and by the old things meaning the law and the prophets. That these had come from his own mouth he told to Peter: “Go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel—that is two denarii. Give that for me and for you.” And David spoke in a similar way through the Spirit: “Once has God spoken, twice have I heard this,” meaning that the Lord once decreed from the beginning what was going to be unto the end. Therefore these things are the two Testaments which, according to an understanding of time, are called either two denarii, or new things and old things, or a sharp two-edged sword. And finally, since he himself is made judge by the Father, he wishes to show that people will be judged by the word of [his] preaching, and so he said, “Do you think that I will judge you on the last day? The word which I have spoken to you, that will judge you on the last day.”And Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in view of the antichrist: “Whom the Lord will kill by the breath of his mouth.” This is, therefore, the two-edged sword which issues from his mouth. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.4.

THE SAINTS HAVE THE TWO-EDGED SWORD OF THE LETTER AND THE SPIRIT. JEROME: “Let two-edged swords be in their hands.” They who sing for joy upon their couches—this means the saints surely, perfect men—what else do they have? “Let two-edged swords be in their hands.” “Two-edged swords”—the swords of the saints are two-edged. We read in the Apocalypse of John—which, by the way, is read in the churches and is accepted, for it is not held among the Apocrypha but is included in the canonical writings—as I was saying, it is written there of the Lord Savior: “Out of his mouth came forth a sharp two-edged sword.” Mark well that these saints receive from the mouth of God the two-edged swords that they hold in their hands. The Lord, therefore, gives the sword from his mouth to his disciples. It is a two-edged sword, namely, the word of his teachings. It is a two-edged sword, historically and allegorically, the letter and the spirit. It is a two-edged sword that slays adversaries and at the same time defends his faithful. “A two-edged sword”—the sword has two heads. It speaks of the present and future world. Here below, it strikes down adversaries; above, it opens the kingdom of heaven. HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 59 (PS 149).

THE SWORD IS THE HOLY SPIRIT. FULGENTIUS OF RUSPE: Hold most firmly and never doubt that the same Holy Spirit, who is the one Spirit of the Father and the Son, proceeds from the Father and the Son. For the Son says, “When the Spirit of Truth comes, who has proceeded from the Father,” where he taught that the Spirit is his, because he is the Truth. That the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son, the prophetic and apostolic teaching shows us. So Isaiah says concerning the Son: “He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.” Concerning him the apostle also says, “Whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth.” The one Son of God himself, showing who the Spirit of his mouth is, after his resurrection, breathing on his disciples, says, “receive the Holy Spirit.” “From the mouth,” indeed, of the Lord Jesus himself, says John in the Apocalypse, “a sharp two-edged word came forth.” The very Spirit of his mouth is the sword itself which comes forth from his mouth. LETTER TO PETER ON THE FAITH 11.54.

THE SWORD IS AN IMAGE OF JUDGMENT. OECUMENIUS: “And from his mouth issued a sharp, two-edged sword.” Therefore, the holy David said to the Lord: “Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty One.” For he did not yet at that time command to us the evangelical precepts, the transgression of which was destruction. Therefore, the place where the sword was put suggests the delay of punishment, for it was not prepared for slaughter. But now the sword comes forth from the mouth, the image showing that those who are disobedient to the evangelical commandments will have a threat to their souls to be cut into two by the sword, which the Lord indeed mentions in the Gospels. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.12-16.

1:16b | His Face Was Like the Sun

THE SON DIED AND ROSE AGAIN. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: “The brightness of the sun was in his face.” His face was his appearance by which he conversed with man face to face. For, although the glory of the sun is less than the glory of the Lord, yet because of the rising and setting [of the sun] and its rising again, the Scripture says that his face was like the glory of the sun, because he was born and suffered and rose again. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.3

THE CHURCH WILL SHINE AS THE SUN. BEDE: As he appeared to his disciples on the mountain, so will the Lord appear after the judgment to all the saints. For at the judgment the impious will see him whom they pierced. And this circumstance concerning the Son of man is true also of the church, with whom Christ himself was made one nature, since he gives to her the priestly honor and the power to judge that she also might shine as the sun in the kingdom of his Father. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 1.16.

1:17 | John Fell as Though Dead

THE LORD STRENGTHENS THE FAITHFUL AND HUMBLE. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: Thoroughly terrified by fear of his weakness, insignificance and inferiority, he fell down, not falling only to some degree, but wholly giving himself over to the Lord in humility and faith. And, therefore, the Lord also felt compassion in view of this most pious devotion. “He laid his right hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not.’” Here he both rewards faith and strengthens the faithful, who is terrified not by unbelief but by an awe-filled wonder, and he urges John not to fear. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.17.

1:18 | The First and the Last

JESUS, THE WELLSPRING OF LIFE. OECUMENIUS: The holy John would not have been strong enough to survive his astonishment had the saving right hand of the Son of God not touched him, which by the mere touch had accomplished so many wonderful things. And he said to me, “I am the first and the last,” which is as though he had said, “I am he who for the salvation of you all sojourned among you in the flesh at the end of times, even though I am the First and the firstborn of all creation. How is it possible that anything evil transpire from my appearance? For if I who am living and am the wellspring of life became dead for you, and trampled death underfoot and lived again, how is it possible that you who are living become dead on account of me and my appearance? And if ‘I have the keys of death and of hades,’ so that I make dead and make alive those whom I wish, and that I will bring down to hades and bring up again, as it is written concerning me, and that, as the prophet says, escape from death belongs to me, I would not have sent my own worshipers and disciples to an untimely death.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.17-19.

1:20 | Seven Stars, Seven Lampstands

THE STARS ARE THE ENTIRE CONGREGATION OF THE BLESSED. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: The stars placed in the right hand of God are the souls of the saints, or, what is the same thing, the entire congregation of the blessed who have been and who will be until the consummation of the world. In a similar way, we have said that the seven lampstands are the one true church that has been established during the seven-day period of this world, which is founded by faith in the Trinity and which is made strong by the sacrament of the heavenly mystery. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 1.20.

THE WHOLE CHURCH BEARS THE LIGHT OF CHRIST. IRENAEUS: But the path of those belonging to the church surrounds the whole world. It possesses the sure tradition from the apostles and allows us to see that the faith of all is one and the same, since all receive one and the same God the Father. All believe in the same dispensation regarding the incarnation of the Son of God. All are cognizant of the same gift of the Spirit. All are conversant with the same commandments. All preserve the same form of ecclesiastical constitution. And all expect the same advent of the Lord and await the same salvation of the complete man, that is, of the soul and body. Undoubtedly the preaching of the church is true and steadfast, in which one and the same way of salvation is shown throughout the whole world. For to her is entrusted the light of God. Therefore the “wisdom” of God, by means of which she saves all people, “is declared in [its] going forth; it speaks faithfully in the streets, is preached on the tops of the walls, and speaks continually in the gates of the city.” For the church preaches the truth everywhere, and she is the seven-branched candlestick that bears the light of Christ. AGAINST HERESIES 5.20.1.