ACC ~ Revelation 7 v14

THE FLESH IS MADE CLEAN BY BAPTISM. TERTULLIAN: Then to every conqueror the Spirit promises now the tree of life and exemption from the second death; now the hidden manna, with the stone of glistening whiteness, and the name unknown (to every man except those who receive it); now power to rule with a rod of iron and the brightness of the morning star; now the being clothed in white raiment, and not having the name blotted out of the book of life, and being made in the temple of God a pillar with the inscription on it of the name of God and of the Lord, and of the heavenly Jerusalem; now a sitting with the Lord on his throne, which once was persistently refused to the sons of Zebedee. Who, pray, are these so blessed conquerors, but martyrs in the strict sense of the word? For indeed theirs are the victories whose also are the fights; theirs, however, are the fights whose also is the blood. But the souls of the martyrs both peacefully rest in the meantime under the altar and support their patience by the assured hope of revenge; and, clothed in their robes, wear the dazzling halo of brightness, until others also may fully share in their glory. For yet again a countless throng are revealed, clothed in white and distinguished by palms of victory, celebrating their triumph doubtless over antichrist, since one of the elders says, “These are they who come out of that great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” For the flesh is the clothing of the soul. The uncleanness, indeed, is washed away by baptism, but the stains are changed into dazzling whiteness by martyrdom.

SCORPIACE 12.

BAPTISM AND THE EUCHARIST MAKE WHITE. OECUMENIUS: And, it says, “they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” To be sure, one might think that robes dipped in blood would be red, not white. And so, how is it that they have become white? Because, according to the opinion of all-wise Paul,baptism is completed in the death of the Lord and wipes clean from every filth of sin, so that those baptized in him are made white and clean. However, the reception of the life-giving blood of Christ also gives the same grace, for the Lord said concerning his own blood that it was poured out “for many” and “for the sake of many” and “for the forgiveness of sins.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 7.9-17.

SOME ARE MARTYRS BY THEIR INNER CHARACTER. PRIMASIUS: When it says that a number of the faithful had come out of the great tribulation, what else is indicated except what we read elsewhere, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” Therefore, the apostle also said, “Brothers, let us not grow weary, for in due time we shall reap.”It is through the endurance of struggles that the number of the faithful are sifted out, just as by the weight of the press oil is prepared with diligent care and grain that is to be stored in a barn is collected through the threshing machine. That they wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb reveals their reward, so that the labor of the aforementioned struggle might be endured with equinimity. And he rightly adds that they made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. It is as though he said that the robes that some had befouled after the grace of baptism through neglect, ignorance or contempt, these had made white in the blood of the Lamb, that is, in the grace of Christ, or even in undergoing martyrdom. This reward is to be assigned especially to those in the church who have spilled their blood for Christ and have returned the robe of baptism with a greater brilliance by a better service of blood. But if this grace is to refer to all the faithful generally, we must finally conclude that if anyone is cleansed by the font of his Lord, is fed by his flesh and is enflamed by the call of the Spirit, he is in this manner made white as snow. For there are those who are proven to be martyrs before God by their inner character, even though they are not martyrs by way of a public act. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 7.13-14.

THE PEOPLE OF GOD MADE WHITE BY CHRIST’S BLOOD. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: These are not, as some think, only martyrs, but rather the whole people in the church. For it does not say that they washed their robes in their own blood but in the blood of the Lamb, that is, in the grace of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. As it is written, “And the blood of his Son has cleansed us.” EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 7.14, HOMILY 6.

THE MARTYRS RENDER THEIR BODIES WORTHY OF IMMORTALITY. BEDE: Martyrs wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb, while as for their members, which “seem to the eyes of the ignorant”[to be] defiled by the squalor of their pains, they instead have made [these members] clean of all contagion by their blood which is poured forth for Christ. In addition, they have rendered [their members] worthy of the blessed light of immortality, which is [the meaning of] their having made their washed robes white in the blood of the Lamb. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 1.10.

Rev