ACC ~ Revelation 3 v5

THE RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH IS THE ROBE OF HOPE. TERTULLIAN: We have also in the Scriptures robes mentioned as allegorizing the hope of the flesh. Thus in the Revelation of John it is said, “These are they who have not defiled their clothes with women”—indicating, of course, virgins, and such as have become “eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake.” Therefore they shall be “clothed in white raiment,” that is, in the bright beauty of the unwedded flesh. In the Gospel even, “the wedding garment” may be regarded as the sanctity of the flesh. And so, when Isaiah tells us what sort of “fast the Lord has chosen,” he adds a statement about the reward of good works. He says, “Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your garments shall speedily arise,”where he has not thought of cloaks or clothing, but means the rising of flesh, of which he declared the resurrection, after its fall in death. ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH 27.

THOSE WHO CONQUER THEIR PASSIONS. OECUMENIUS: “He who conquers” the passions will wear white robes in the age to come, for he has promised in the Gospels that the saints will shine as the sun and the moon. The pure, he says, will be inscribed in the book of the living, for that blessed and eternal life. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 3.1-6.

WE ARE CALLED TO PRESERVE THE ROBE OF BAPTISM. BEDE: He calls all to the imitation of those who have preserved the silken robe of baptism without blemish. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 3.5.

THE ANGELS BELONG ALSO TO CHRIST. OECUMENIUS: “And I will confess your name before my Father and his angels.” He will confess them as his faithful servants and as house slaves who are well-disposed [toward their master], for indeed also in the Gospels he says that whosoever should confess “me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven.”And that he speaks of the Father and his angels does not suggest that the holy angels are not also his. For at times he speaks of the angels as the Father’s, and at other times he speaks of them as his. For he says in Matthew: “Then the Son of man will send his angels with a loud trumpet sound, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 3.1-6.