Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Third Sunday of Easter

And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.”

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice:

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:

“Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”

Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever. (Revelation 5:1–14)

When it says that no one in heaven was found worthy, it indicates that [opening the scroll] exceeded the capacities of the angels. This was not because they were ignorant of the future mystery of the Lord's incarnation and work but because this was not to be completed through an angelic creature. For the Son of God, who through the assumption of true humanity was going to redeem humanity, wishes to fulfill all things through Himself. Therefore Isaiah said, “Neither an angel nor a messenger but the Lord Himself saved them.” When it says that no one on the earth was worthy, it means that no one of the just remains perfect in this life, for in order to be re-created man requires the assistance of him who alone is Creator. And that no one could be found under the earth means that no one among the saints who had died was found worthy to open the scroll or even to see it. Here “to see” means “to comprehend,” and therefore Paul says that he preaches the unsearchable riches of Christ to the Gentiles of which the Lord spoke, that is, the glory of the New Testament that was hidden in the law and that Christ reserved for his own presence. And so, no one was able to see this with an adequate sight, so that he might be able to effect it, since Christ had the power to fulfill it by His own dispensation. For it could only be foreseen by them, but it could not be effected.

Primasius of Hadrumetum, Commentary on the Apocalypse 5.3

He shows that the living creatures and the elders are the church when they say: You have redeemed us by Your blood. He shows in which heaven these living creatures and elders are, when they say: You have made us a kingdom and priests for our God, and we shall reign upon the earth. Moreover, he shows the reason why the church receives the book in Christ, when, having been redeemed from every people and tribe and nation and tongue, they do not say: “You are worthy and you have received” but: You are worthy to receive. For this “authority in heaven and on earth,” which Christ received when He rose again, [the church] herself receives up to the end, rising again through baptism and always staying attached to Christ. In her the Lord completes what He began. Therefore, in her He receives what He gave, and He is crowned in her whom He crowns. For there is nothing that He does or has without his body.

Tyconius of Carthage, Exposition of the Apocalypse 2.5.9–10