ACC ~ Revelation 19 v11 - 16

OVERVIEW:

The Word on earth is image and shadow; the Word in heaven is true. The words by which the divine Word opens heaven and makes known the higher things fight the irrational elements of the soul so that the Word in heaven might dwell in it with reason and justice. This Word is faithful and true and leads the soul higher than the words by which the divine Word speaks on earth, which are shadow, type and image. To be sure, we were introduced to the Word by his coming in our body. However, by his words he at the end destroys the material element of our thoughts and dispels all forms of falsehood by the illuminating clarity of God’s wisdom (ORIGEN). When Christ assumed his pure, white body, he came to conquer the powers of the air (BEDE) and to free us from sin and to endure patiently the sinner (APRINGIUS). In this struggle Christ is our strength and also the prize to those who conquer in him (PRIMASIUS). At the end of time, Christ will come with his celestial army to establish his kingdom (VICTORINUS) and like a mighty general will make war against his enemies with the armies of his saints, who are without any spot of sin (OECUMENIUS). In Christ the saints obtain the beauty of their own crowns (TYCONIUS), while Christ offers the glory and honor of the saints to his Father (APRINGIUS).

Through the commandments and his Holy Spirit (BEDE) God has illumined and made bright the righteous, for his all-seeing power is like a flame of fire (ANDREW OF CAESAREA) that sees all things and scrutinizes all humankind (APRINGIUS). For the sinner, however, the all-seeing power of God does not make bright but rather burns (ANDREW OF CAESAREA). Indeed, sinners and heretics have no knowledge of the Word who gives to the church what it is worthy to know in him (PRIMASIUS). In his works Christ is known by many names, for he is Shepherd, Light, Holiness and Redemption (ANDREW OF CAESAREA). However, in the incomprehensibility of his divine essence, the Son is unapproachable, and his name known only to himself and to the Father and the Holy Spirit (OECUMENIUS, PRIMASIUS, ANDREW OF CAESAREA). Yet even though the nature of the Word is invisible and incorporeal and his peace is beyond every creaturely understanding (BEDE), the Word is for us the interpreter of the Father’s wisdom. This Word, impassibly generated from the mind of the Father (ANDREW OF CAESAREA), appeared as man and instructed his church and gave to it knowledge and hope (PRIMASIUS, BEDE).

In the remission of their sins and with Christ suffering in them (PRIMASIUS), the saints, like a mighty army (BEDE), follow in the footsteps of Christ with bodies and minds made pure through the resurrection (APRINGIUS, PRIMASIUS). In this the saints are similar to the angels, who also are free from sin, pure by nature and bright in their union with God (OECUMENIUS, ANDREW OF CAESAREA). Indeed, in his incarnation the Word was in no way diminished as King and Lord (OECUMENIUS). Rather, united personally to the flesh taken from the Virgin (APRINGIUS, OECUMENIUS), the Word became Head of the church so that in Christ the church herself is a lord (CAESARIUS OF ARLES). Through faith Christ makes “sons” of God by adoption (APRINGIUS), and so by the posterity of spiritual offspring all the nations will be blessed (PRIMASIUS). These “sons” by faith are lords, for they have power over sin (CAESARIUS OF ARLES, ANDREW OF CAESAREA), they witness by a firm confession that Christ is King and Lord (APRINGIUS), and they will rule with Christ forever in the coming age (ANDREW OF CAESAREA).

In this age God instructed the humble by the Law and by persecution (PRIMASIUS, CAESARIUS OF ARLES). However, the proud are broken by the severity of God’s justice and are not purified or made new. God will punish such unrepentant sinners with righteous anger and cast them into Gehenna (APRINGIUS, OECUMENIUS, PRIMASIUS, CAESARIUS OF ARLES).

19:11 | He Is Called Faithful and True

THE WORD IN HEAVEN IS TRUE. ORIGEN: I think that heaven has been closed to those who are impious and who bear “the image of the earthly” but opened to those who are just and who have been adorned with “the image of the heavenly.” For the higher things have been closed to the impious, inasmuch as they are below and are still in the flesh. They cannot understand them or their beauty. They do not wish to perceive them, in that they are stooped over and do not devote themselves to lifting up their heads. But he opened the heavenly places with the key of David to be contemplated by the just, inasmuch as they have citizenship in heaven. The divine Word opens them and explains them by riding a horse. The horse signifies the words that proclaim the meanings. He is white because the nature of the knowledge is remarkable and white and luminous. And he who is called “Faithful” sits on the white horse, seated more firmly and, if I may so speak, royally, on words that cannot be overturned, words that run faster and swifter than any horse and that surpass every opponent in their rush, that is, every supposed word that is a dissembler of the Word and every dissembler of truth that seems to be truth. But he who is on the white horse is called “Faithful,” not so much because he trusts as because he is trustworthy, that is, he is worthy of being trusted, for according to Moses, the Lord is faithful and true. For he is also true in contradistinction to a shadow, and a type, and an image, since the Word in the opened heaven is such. For the Word on earth is not like the Word in heaven, inasmuch as he has become flesh and is expressed by means of a shadow and types and images. … This Word of God, indeed, who is called faithful is also called true, and he judges and fights justly. He has received the ability from God to impart what each creature deserves and to judge with absolute justice and judgment. … Now just as it is said that the task of the Word is to judge with justice, so also his task is said to be to fight according to justice, that by thus fighting the soul’s enemies with reason and justice, he may dwell in it and justify it when the irrational elements and injustice are destroyed. He casts out the hostile elements from that soul which, if I may speak in this way, has been taken captive by Christ for salvation. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.47-54.

THE LORD COMES WITH HIS CELESTIAL ARMY. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: It shows “a white horse and him who sat upon it,” namely, our Lord coming with his celestial army to establish his kingdom. At his coming all the nations will be gathered and will be slain with the sword. Those among them who are more noble will be preserved in order to serve the saints, and it will be necessary that these at the end of time, when the kingdom of the saints is ended, before the judgment and when the devil is again released, be killed. The prophets prophesy about all these things in a similar manner. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.1.

THE INCARNATE CHRIST IS PATIENT. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: The white horse is the body which [Christ] assumed. He who sits upon it is the Lord of Majesty; he is the Word of the most high Father; he is the only begotten of the unbegotten Father. Therefore, the true character of his person is expressed when he is called “Faithful” and “True.” For of God it is said, “God is faithful, in whom there is no iniquity.” And “in righteousness he judges and makes war.” For concerning him it is written, “God is a judge, just, strong and patient.” He makes war by freeing us from the adversity of sin; he is patient by enduring the sins we commit; he is called strong because he repels whatever opposes him. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.11-13.

CHRIST CONQUERS HIS ENEMIES LIKE A MIGHTY GENERAL. OECUMENIUS: The Evangelist now receives the revelation of the fall of the antichrist and of the arch-evil dragon. He sees moreover the punishment they will receive at the time of the end and their recompense, as well as the fall of those kings who at that time will oppose the servants of Christ. And see what it says: “I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse,” and the rider is faithful and true and just. He sees the Lord as he is about to join the battle and fight for the saints and make war against his adversaries. For this reason the vision depicts him in the form of a general, giving him a horse and a sword and the leadership of armies. “And, behold, a white horse” upon which the Lord was riding. By this the vision reveals that Christ depends upon no others than those who are pure and are not tainted by any stain of sin. For this reason, the Lord also said of that “chosen instrument,” namely, Paul, that he would “carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.” You see, therefore, that Christ depends upon and rides on such persons as Paul. “He who sat upon it,” that is, upon the horse, “is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.” He who is true is also faithful, as the apostle said concerning him: “He remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself,” and so he is the “Faithful” and “True.” And about him two assertions are made which address the same matter. The prophet was witness that he judges righteously and that he makes war on behalf of his servants against their visible enemies: “O God, give your judgment to the king, and your righteousness to the king’s son,” that is, to Christ—for the son of Solomon was Christ according to the flesh, to whom the psalmist was referring—and then it continues, “that he might judge your people with righteousness and your poor with judgment.” That he also makes war [the psalmist] shows when he speaks of him arming himself as a soldier: “Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one, in your comeliness and in your beauty, and bend [your bow] and prosper and reign.” Then he adds, “Your weapons are sharpened, O mighty one, the nations shall fall under you.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.11-16.

CHRIST IS HIMSELF THE PRIZE. PRIMASIUS: He judges as the King of all ages. He makes war as one who always suffers in his members. When he fights, he conquers; he crowns himself; he offers himself as strength to those who struggle; he promises himself as the prize for those who overcome. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.11.

THE LORD CONQUERS THE POWERS OF THE AIR. BEDE: The Lord, who is “the Way, the Truth and the Life,” and to whom it is said through the prophet, “For you have done wonderful things, plans ancient and faithful, Amen,” mounts the throne of his white body, that is, his pure body, in order to conquer the powers of the air. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 19.11.

19:12a | On His Head Are Many Diadems

THE WORD WEARS MANY CROWNS. ORIGEN: As the flame is bright and at the same time illuminating, and further also has a nature that is fiery and consumes the more material elements, so the eyes of the Word, if I may speak in this way, with which he sees, and everyone who participates in him, destroy and obliterate the more material and gross elements of thoughts by grasping them by means of the spiritual powers inherent in him. Everything false, in any way whatso-ever, has fled the subtlety and precision of the truth. … If the lie were one and simple against which the Word who is “faithful and true” prevailed, who received the crown when the lie was overcome, the Word who became master of God’s opponents would also reasonably have been recorded to wear one diadem. But now, since the lies that profess the truth are many against which the Word has fought and is crowned, there are many diadems surrounding the head of him who has conquered them all. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.57-59.

ALL SAINTS ARE CROWNED IN CHRIST. TYCONIUS: In him “in whom we shall perform great deeds,” in him the multitude of the saints are said to have the beauty of crowns. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.12.

THE EYES OF GOD PERVADE ALL THINGS. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: As fire penetrates everything which contains it and leaves no portion untouched by the force of its burning heat, so the eyes of the Lord cannot be avoided, for they are everywhere and pervade all things, and seeing all things which people do, they investigate them with a holy scrutiny. … There are many [diadems] because he brings to God, who gathers all, all the glory of the saints and all the honor of the blessed. And these do not remain quiet, but bring forth praise and thanksgiving. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.11-13.

GOD’S POWER ILLUMINES THE RIGHTEOUS. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: The flames of fire come forth from his eyes, that is, from his all-seeing power. For those who are righteous, this fire does no harm but illumines and makes bright. However, for the sinners this fire burns but does not make bright. The multiple diadems symbolize either his kingdom, which is over all things in heaven and on earth—as many as there are ranks of angels and kingdoms upon the earth and assemblies among holy people—or they signify the victory against the sinners that was won for us by all of his acts of mercy, as a certain holy person said, “And you will gain victory when you are judged.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.11-12.

THE COMMANDMENTS AND THE SPIRIT. BEDE: Sometimes he speaks of the commandments as the “eyes of the Lord,” sometimes he is speaking of the Spirit. Of the commandments, he says, “Your word, O Lord, is a lamp to my feet,” and of the Spirit, he says, “I came to cast fire upon the earth.” EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 19.12.

19:12b | A Name Which No One Knows

THE LIVING WORD ALONE UNDERSTANDS ALL THINGS. ORIGEN: The living Word alone understands some things because of the natural inferiority in those who came into existence after him. None of them can contemplate all the things that he grasps. And perhaps also only those who share in the Word, in contradistinction to those who do not, know what the others are missing. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.60.

THE NAME OF THE ONLY BEGOTTEN REMAINS UNKNOWN TO EVERYONE. OECUMENIUS: In Exodus, God speaks to holy Moses: “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, being their God, but I did not reveal to them my name, the Lord,” showing that it is to be regarded as superior to any report of man. And for this reason, the Lord also handed over to his apostles how those who had turned to the knowledge of God ought to be baptized, saying, “baptizing them in the name.” And when he said “name,” he did not transmit the proper names—for he had no power to give utterance to their names. Rather, instead of the proper names, he transmitted relational and personal names, for he spoke names of relation when he said, “in the name of the Father and of the Son,” while he added a personal name, “and in the Holy Spirit.” Therefore, most definitely, also in the Revelation he allows the proper name of the Only Begotten to remain unknown to everyone. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.11-16.

WHAT IS KNOWN BY THE SON IS KNOWN BY THE FATHER AND THE SPIRIT. PRIMASIUS: Perfect knowledge of the Word of God is revealed to those who are worthy to be the body of Christ and members [of him], since the Head especially gives knowledge of himself to the body, and he knows what the church is worthy to know in him. The apostle says, “He who is united to the Lord is one spirit, for the two shall be one flesh.” Neither the Jews nor the foreigners nor the heretics will ever know this name, for “if they had [known], they would not have crucified the Lord of glory,” and again, “The world has not known you.” And the Lord said again to his disciples, “You will see me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” And the disciples answered, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world?” Concerning the heretics, the Lord said, “To you it has been given to know the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not perceive.” He has a great name inscribed that no one knows except himself. However, we must beware lest by a purely carnal wisdom we think that the name of the Son is unknown to the Father or to the Holy Spirit. … If the Son alone is said to know something, the whole Trinity is also regarded as knowing it. Similarly, if the Father alone is said to know something, he is without doubt thought to know it together with his Wisdom, who is Christ, and with his Spirit, who is believed to be the Spirit of the Father and of the Son. For when the Father alone was said to know the day of judgment, certainly it was not denied that the Son and the Spirit also knew it. So also, when the Holy Spirit alone is said to know something, and the names of the Father and of the Son are unspoken, nevertheless it is declared that they know in the same manner. When the apostle says, “What person knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God,” it would be foolish to separate the Father and the Son from such knowledge. When he says elsewhere, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption,” he is not excluding the persons of the Father and of the Son from the work of our redemption, even though he does not mention their names. For through the undivided power of the one nature, we teach that the works of the Trinity are inseparable. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.12.

THE WORD IS WITHOUT NAME AND UNAPPROACHABLE. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: That his name is unknown signifies the incomprehensibility of his essence. By virtue of his works he is known by many names, such as Good, Shepherd, Sun, Light, Life, Righteousness, Holiness, Redemption. Similarly, he is called by terms of negation, such as Incorruptible, Invisible, Immortal, Unchangeable. However, according to his essence he is without name and is unapproachable, being known by himself alone with the Father and the Spirit. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.12.

19:13 | He Is Called the Word of God

WE WILL NOT FORGET HIS INCARNATION. ORIGEN: John does not see the Word of God mounted on a horse naked. He is clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood, since the Word who became flesh, and died because he became flesh, is invested with traces of that passion, since his blood also was poured forth upon the earth when the soldier pierced his side. For perhaps, even if in some way we attain the most sublime and highest contemplation of the Word and of the truth, we shall not forget completely that we were introduced to him by his coming in our body. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.61.

PARTICIPATING IN HIS WORD DIPPED IN BLOOD. PRIMASIUS: If no one is allowed to know his name, why is he now openly called the “Word of God”? When we read, “No one has ascended into heaven, but he who has descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven,” we are to understand that whoever of his members will ascend is allowed to ascend in the Head himself and through him. By promising this to his members, he has granted them hope, and by fulfilling this, he will give to them the possibility [to receive this]. So here, the Son alone is said to know what is allowed to his bride to know in him, through whom and in whom the church is instructed. In speaking of the robe sprinkled with blood, it is indicating the tokens of his passion, whether this be in the Head himself or in his body, which is the church. For this reason, the apostle teaches the Hebrews that from the beginning in the animal sacrifices demanded by the law there was no remission of sins with the shedding of blood. Concerning the church he says, “that in my flesh I might complete what is lacking in Christ’s sufferings,” remembering the words which he heard, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” For whatever the church suffers, Christ also truly suffers, and of him Paul says, “he suffered once to take away the sins of many,” however, he suffers frequently in his members. Isaiah spoke of the appearance of this robe in this way, “Who is this that comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah? He is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength. It is I who speaks righteousness and who am a fighter for salvation. Why then is your garment red, and your apparel as though freshly trodden in a winepress? I alone have trodden the winepress, and from the peoples no one was with me.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.13.

CHRIST INTERPRETS THE FATHER’S WISDOM. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: How is it that he who is without name and is unknown to all is here named “Word”? This is either to demonstrate his filial personhood and his impassible generation from the Father, just as our speech comes from our minds [impassibly], or his name suggests that he bears within himself the causes of all things, or that he is the interpreter of the wisdom and power of the Father. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.13.

NOTHING IN HIS NATURE IS VISIBLE OR CORPOREAL. BEDE: Apparently this passage refers to the passion, as his immaculate birth was indicated in the white horse and his innocent death is indicated in the bloodstained garment. “His name is called Word of God” because the same who in time appeared as a man who was going to suffer in the beginning was God with God. He is called “Word,” because nothing in the substance of his nature is visible or corporeal, or because through him the Father created all things. As it says above, perfect knowledge of his nature is known to himself alone, and to the Father. “For the peace of God passes all understanding,” that is, that peace by which God himself is peace unto himself surpasses every creaturely understanding, all human understanding and even the understanding of the angels. “His wisdom is without end.” When it says, “And to whom the Son chooses to reveal [the Father],” it means that one who knows the Son and the Father, knows them after the manner of the creature. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 19.13.

19:14 | The Armies of Heaven

CLOTHED WITH THE REALITIES OF THE DIVINE WISDOM. ORIGEN: All the hosts of heaven follow this Word of God. They follow the Word who leads them and imitate him in all things, especially in having mounted white horses like him, for all things are open to those who understand. And just as “pain and grief and groaning fled” at the end of things, so, I think, obscurity and dismay fled when all the mysteries of God’s wisdom burst forth with precision and clarity. And consider the white horses of those who follow the Word, clothed in “pure white linen.” [What does this mean] unless the linen garments, since linen comes from the earth, are types of the languages on earth in which the sounds have been clothed, which indicate the realities in a pure manner? COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.62-63.

BODIES MADE NEW IN THE RESURRECTION. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: We interpret the armies of heaven to be the bride herself, who above was said to be prepared for the marriage of the Lamb. When it says that they were “on white horses,” it is speaking either of the purity of faith, or it is alluding to the members of our bodies made new through the resurrection. [The fine linen] is the righteous works of the saints. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.14.

THE HOLY ANGELS ARE PURE BY NATURE. OECUMENIUS: [Christ] is the commander-in-chief of the heavenly powers. The Lord in fact called himself that when bearing the name of Jesus, son of Nun, he said, “I, as commander of the army of the Lord have now come.” The horses that belong to the holy angels are also white, for the angels too rejoice over the pure deeds of humankind, since they are pure by nature and free from every stain. This is symbolized by their raiment of fine linen, which is pure and white. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.11-16.

THE CHURCH FOLLOWS THE FOOTSTEPS OF CHRIST. PRIMASIUS: In heaven the churches, as though “with unveiled face beholding the glory of God,” all being pure in heart and made whiter than snow by grace, are said to follow Christ. … They always go forward on white horses, that is, with pure bodies and minds, following the footsteps of Christ, who is going before and to whom it is said in the Song of Songs, “We run after you for the aroma of your ointments.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.14.

THE ANGELS ARE BRIGHT BY THEIR VIRTUE. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: [The heavenly armies] signify the heavenly orders that are resplendent with the excellence of their nature, with the sublimity of their thoughts and with the brightness of their virtues and their intimate union with God. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.14.

THE CHURCH IS CALLED AN ARMY. BEDE: With pure white bodies the church imitates [Christ], for because of the battle of her struggles, it receives by right the name of army. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 19.14.

19:15 | He Will Rule the Nations

CHRIST WILL JUDGE THE NATIONS. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: The sharp sword that issues from his mouth is the authority of the law and the severity of the judge. It remains sharp for justice, so that he might separate all things and reckon the deeds of every person. Then it says, “so that he might smite the nations with [the sword].” To smite means to strike, to determine, to free, to damn, to justify, to rescue, to save. … The rod of iron is the discipline of power by which he will make right all nations, equally changing them and judging them. … The wine press is hell, and the wine is the judgment by which those are restrained and subdued upon whom the righteous anger of God will have come. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.15-16.

PUNISHMENT AWAITS THOSE WHOM THE WORD DOES NOT REFORM. OECUMENIUS: The vision places [the sword] in the mouth. In this way it is indicated that all things have their existence by the Word of God and that whoever in any way disobeys him will not remain unpunished. “So that with it he might smite the nations.” Which nations? Those that are arrayed with the antichrist for war against the servants of Christ and have been gathered under him. “And he will rule them,” it says, “with a rod of iron.” Since he is intrinsically good and merciful, the Lord desired to rule these nations … with a staff of comfort, as would a shepherd and to lead them to “green pastures and to nourish them with the waters of rest.” But since they did not wish this, they will be governed with a “rod of iron,” that is, with severity and death. For certainly punishment awaits those whom the Word does not reform. To indicate that the rod of iron is that of severity and punishment, the prophet suggests the rule of the Romans about which Daniel spoke in saying, “Arise, devour much flesh,” when he spoke to God, saying, “You will rule them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces as a potter’s vessel.” However, when there existed a favorable time, God ruled them with the former rod, but at the last time, he will rule them with this latter rod. “He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.” In the Gospels, the Lord says of his own Father, “The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son.” Most appropriately, therefore, it says in the Revelation that “he will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God.” For through the judgment and recompense of the wicked, he fulfills the will of his Father in that he fulfills the righteous anger of the Father. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.11-16.

PERSECUTION AND CALAMITY SERVE TO PURIFY THE CHURCH. PRIMASIUS: The sharp sword symbolizes either the two Testaments or what we read concerning wisdom, “She carries law and kindness on her tongue,” namely, judgment and mercy. On the other hand, the rod of iron symbolizes the unbending standard of justice. … As the action of threshing separates the wheat from the chaff so that it is stored in the barn, so also the weight of the pressure of the winepress purifies the wine as it is separated from the grape skins or the oil from the dregs. The prophet referred to this when he said, “He dug out a wine vat in her.” This occurs in the church when persecution arises or some other kind of calamity happens. Then, some like dregs will run down by an irremediable fall, while others will shine more brightly by their faith which now is tested. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.15.

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: The two-edged sharp sword is the power of Christ by which the righteous are defended and the unrighteous are punished. The rod of iron is the righteousness of God by which the humble are instructed but the proud are broken to pieces as though they were a clay pot. … He treads [the winepress of God’s wrath] even now, when he permits the evil to persecute the good and leaves them to their own desires. However, later he will seek repayment, when he sends those into Gehenna who have not repented. EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.15, HOMILY 17.

19:16 | King of Kings and Lord of Lords

THROUGH FAITH THE SONS OF GOD CONFESS CHRIST. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: Christ is the basis and the foundation on which Paul builds as an architect. Christ is the good Shepherd “who gives his life for the sheep.” Christ is the head of every dominion and power. He is himself the head of the church, wherefore it is said, “the head of man is Christ,” because he is the head of the church. He is the father, because by him through baptism all the nations of the earth are born again. His thigh, on which his name is written, are the believers whom the Son of God, that is, Christ, has willed to name “sons” through the adoption of faith. His robe is the assumed man, and because there is one person of two substances, we recognize his divinity in his robe, that is, in the sacrament of the Lord’s body. Upon the vestment of his body it is said that his name was written, “King of kings and Lord of lords.” Indeed, it is written on his thigh, because all who are called “sons” through faith witness with an unswerving confession that he is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.15-16.

THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST DID NOT DIMINISH HIS RANK. OECUMENIUS: The robe symbolizes the flesh of the Lord, which was endowed with a rational soul. The holy angels spoke of his flesh through Isaiah, “Why are your garments red and your apparel as if from a trodden winepress, utterly stained by trodden [grapes]?” Moreover, the thigh indicates his birth in the flesh, for it is written in Genesis, “All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, who came out of his thighs.” Therefore, when the vision shows that on the robe and on the thigh it is written that the Immanuel is king of all, it shows that the Word, united personally to the flesh and having undergone a fleshly birth from a virgin, was in no way established less a King and Lord of all things in heaven and upon earth; nor was he diminished in rank by virtue of his incarnation. For even as such he was God and is and shall be God. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.11-16.

THE SPIRITUAL OFFSPRING OF CHRIST. PRIMASIUS: [The name is inscribed] on his robe, that is, on the church with which Christ is clothed and which, according to the apostle, “he cleansed by the washing of water with the word, that he might present to himself a church glorious, without spot or wrinkle.” He cleansed the robe that it might have no spot, and he stretched it that it might have no wrinkle. The thigh symbolizes the posterity of his offspring, by which all nations will be blessed, according to the apostle who teaches, “It does not say, ‘and to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘and to your offspring,’ which is Christ.” As though to a dead brother, according to ancient custom, the same apostle raises offspring spiritually, saying, “Lest any one should say that you were baptized in my name,” since he says that from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum he has done all things for the gospel, so that he might truthfully say to the Gentiles, “I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” Therefore, on this thigh, as though on children, the knowledge of Christ is written “not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts,” which confess him to be the King of kings and the Lord of all lords. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.16.

IN CHRIST THE CHURCH IS LORD. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: This is a name that the proud do not know. For by serving [Christ], the church reigns in Christ, and she is lord of lords, that is, she conquers vices and sins. EXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE 19.16, HOMILY 17.

THOSE WHO RULE THEIR PASSIONS. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: This name reveals the unity of the divine incarnation. For in this unity he who is God suffered in the flesh, and although man, he is King of kings and Lord of lords. Those who have ruled the passions and in cooperation with Christ have possessed the authority and power over sin shall also rule with him in the coming age. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.16.