Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Seventh Sunday of Easter

And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. … “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:1–6, 12–20)

The good laborer receives the bread of his labor with confidence; the lazy and careless one does not look his employer in the face. We must, therefore, be zealous in doing good; for all things are from Him. He warns us: Behold the Lord comes, and his reward is before his face, to pay each man according to his work. He therefore urges us who believe in Him with all our heart not to be lazy or careless in any good work. Let our glorying and our confidence be in Him; let us be subject to His will. Let us consider the whole multitude of angels, how they stand and minister to His will. For the Scripture says: Ten thousand times ten thousand stood by him, and thousands of thousands ministered to him, and they cried, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts the whole creation is full of His glory.”  We, therefore, gathering together in concord in our conscience, also should cry out earnestly as with one voice to Him, that we may become participants in His great and glorious promises. For He says: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what great things the Lord has prepared for those who wait for him.

Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 34

He says, I am the root and the offspring of David, but it would seem to have been more appropriate to say, “I am the branch which has sprung up from the root of David.” But, on the contrary, He has now called Himself the root of David, and not only the root but also the offspring, as was said earlier. A root is also the origin of everything, including David, so that He is, and is considered to be, God; but He is also the offspring of David, sprung from Him according to the flesh, insofar as He is, and is considered to be, a human being. This is who He is. “To say the same things more than once is not irksome to me, but is safe” for those who read, as the divine apostle says somewhere of his words. So therefore He is “Emmanuel” in His divinity and in His humanity, each of the two natures being complete according to their respective qualities, without confusion, without change, immutable, unimaginable. We believe that after the inexpressible union there is one person, one hypostasis, and one activity, “even if the difference of the natures, from which we say that the ineffable union has been effected, may not be overlooked,” as well as the peculiar quality of each nature, according to the words of our blessed father Cyril [of Alexandria]. …

He says, The Spirit, that is, the prophetic spirit, and the bride—the whole church in every place—say, “Come!” We are enjoined to seek the second coming of the Lord, but also to put it into prayer. For the one who says, “Your kingdom come,” to God is asking for the kingdom of Christ, which is also the kingdom of the Father and of the Spirit. He says, And let him who hears say, “Come”: He means, “let everyone who hears the present words, including you, John, utter a prayer for the kingdom of the coming of Christ.” In saying this He is urging everyone to follow the works and practice of righteousness. For no one who is not himself conversant with righteousness could pray for the coming of Christ, since he will then be required to give an account of what he has done in his life.

Oecumenius, Commentary on the Apocalypse 22.15-19

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Sixth Sunday of Easter

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. … The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. (Revelation 21:9-14, 21-27)

What is the need of a temple when God is present with the saints and in a way sharing His life with them, and is seen by them face to face, insofar as He may be approached? For the divine apostle has called the knowledge of God in the present life as being “in a mirror” and “dimly,” but that in the future it will be “face to face.” One might reasonably ask, “Why did he mention God the sovereign Lord, and the Father, the Lord, and the Lamb, the Son of God, without making mention of the Holy Spirit?” To such a questioner one must reply, “My good man, by saying the Lord and God he has named the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit—for this is God—and by saying further, the Lord God, the sovereign of all, he indicated the Holy Trinity by the three titles.” But one might go on to ask: “Why, therefore, after mentioning the venerable Trinity in the words The Lord God, the sovereign of all, is its temple, does he separately specify for us the Lamb, who is Christ, so that we no longer think of the Trinity?” “This is nonsense,” I would tell him. This is not what we are being taught. By mentioning both the Holy Trinity and the Lamb, the account indicates both that the incarnate Son is one person of the Holy Trinity, and that the Son completes the Holy Trinity in his humanity and is not now apart from his humanity in heaven. He indicated, somewhat obscurely, the incarnate Son by the word God, who is the Son, and by the Lamb he again meant the same Christ, incarnate and of the same essence as we are, animated by a rational soul, in the flesh with which the Word is hypostatically united.

Oecumenius, Commentary on the Apocalypse 21.15–22

What an image there is in these words, that the city, which has no need of a temple, has no need of the brightness of the heavenly luminaries! And what is the reason for this? Because the glory of God gives it light. The glory of God, that is, the presence of His majesty, about which it is said: “We shall see him as he is.” Therefore, why would those who shall see God have need of sun or moon? – By the light, the Lamb is clearly shown to be the city’s lamp, and the kings and the nations will walk in his light. The prophet knew this and said: “In your light we shall see light.” The apostle also spoke concerning this light: “The night is far gone, the day is at hand.” The Evangelist also writes in a similar way: “The life was the light of people, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” This is to say, what the nature of our weakness had concealed and what the shadow of our humanity had rendered dark was made clear by the assumption of the Lord’s body. And while God, who is light, inhabits the lot of our flesh, He enlightens the whole by the greatness of His glory. For this reason the honor and the glory of the kings and the nations are given to Him, because all have been made glorious through Him, and the darkness of night shall not overcome His faithful, whom the presence of the Lamb and the Word of the ineffable, unbegotten Father illuminate.

Apringius of Beja, Commentary on the Apocalypse 21:24–26

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fourth Sunday of Easter

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen.”

Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:9–17)

By the sign of the sacred number he signifies the multitude of the elect, “whom God foreknew and predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” For those who come from the nations are made to be Israel and so by right are called sons of Abraham, not by flesh but by faith in that seed which is Christ, the cornerstone, of whom the apostle said, “He is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in the place of two, and so make peace, and might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross.”

Primasius of Hadrumetum, Commentary on the Apocalypse 7.9.

Those are the ones of whom David says, “If I should count them they will be more in number than the sand,” both those who had formerly struggled as martyrs for Christ and those who contested as of late with the greatest bravery from every tribe and tongue who, by the pouring out of their own blood for Christ, made the garments white by their own deeds, and those destined to make them white; and who hold in their hands the victory-designating branches of the useful and upright and white-hearted palm trees and dance around the divine throne of the divinely derived repose, and as grateful servants properly ascribe the victory against the demons to the Provider.

Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse 7.9-10.

He says, And they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Yet it should follow that robes dipped in blood would turn out to be scarlet rather than white. So how did they become white? Because baptism enacted into the death of the Lord, as Paul in his great wisdom said, purges all filth resulting from sin and renders those who are baptized in it white and pure. But participation in the life-giving blood of Christ also bestows this favor. For the Lord says concerning His own blood that it is being poured out “for many” and “on behalf of many, for the forgiveness of sins.” Thus these serve God for ever, and God dwells among them. Indeed, the dwelling-place of God, said one of God’s saints, is where the souls of His saints continually remember Him; therefore God naturally dwells with those who serve Him day and night.

Oecumenius, Commentary on the Apocalypse 5.7–8

“Everlasting joy,” says Isaiah, “shall be upon their heads.” Well, there is nothing eternal until after the resurrection. “And sorrow and sighing,” he continues, “shall flee away.” The angel echoes the same to John: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes”; from the same eyes indeed that had formerly wept and that might weep again, if the lovingkindness of God did not dry up every fountain of tears. And again: “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death,” and therefore no more corruption, it being chased away by incorruption, even as death is by immortality. If sorrow, and mourning, and sighing, and death itself assail us from the afflictions both of soul and body, how shall they be removed, except by the cessation of their causes, that is to say, the afflictions of flesh and soul? Where will you find adversities in the presence of God? Where, incursions of an enemy in the bosom of Christ? Where attacks of the devil in the face of the Holy Spirit, now that the devil himself and his angels are “cast into the lake of fire.”

Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh 58.

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to All Saints' Sunday

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”

So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Rev 7:9–17)

Those who are shepherded by Christ then, it says, will not be afraid of attacks by wolves, inasmuch as they [the wolves] will be sent to the “unquenched fire,” but instead they [who have washed their robes] will be spiritually shepherded towards the clean and clear fountains of the divine thoughts, being meant by the waters, characterizing the already abundant flow of the Spirit, as the Lord has said about “him who sincerely believes” in Him that “out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.” The saints, those watered by it abundantly, will live endlessly in great joy and gladness, the “partial knowledge” being abolished, and they will possess perfect and escape the change of corruption.

Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse 7.20

He says, And they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Yet it should follow that robes dipped in blood would turn out to be scarlet rather than white. So how did they become white? Because baptism enacted into the death of the Lord, as Paul in his great wisdom said, purges all filth resulting from sin and renders those who are baptized in it white and pure. But participation in the life-giving blood of Christ also bestows this favor. For the Lord says concerning His own blood that it is being poured out “for many” and “on behalf of many, for the forgiveness of sins.” Thus these serve God forever, and God dwells among them. Indeed, the dwelling-place of God, said one of God’s saints, is where the souls of His saints continually remember Him; therefore God naturally dwells with those who serve him day and night.

Oecumenius, Commentary on the Apocalypse 5.7–8

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to Reformation Sunday

Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” (Rev 14:6–7)

“Mid-heaven” signifies the exalted and sublime nature of the holy angel. He had “an eternal gospel.” The saving teaching that one should fear the Lord is from eternity, since the “beginning of wisdom is the fear of God, and its end is love.” But, it says, the harsh beast who works spiritual death, the antichrist, is not to be feared, even though he may threaten and do the most amazing feats. For “the hour of his judgment has come,” and He who is fearful to those who live on the earth will punish him in a way wholly unprecedented. Rather, we should worship Him who made every creature rather than worship the wicked devil who is hated by God.

 

Oecumenius, Commentary on the Apocalypse 8

 

The phrase “in mid-heaven” indicates that the angel that here appears is exceedingly lofty and heavenly. It has been sent from above to people who come from the ground, so that through this middle position it might be a mediator and lead them, in imitation of God, to heaven. And so the body of the church will be united to Christ, our head. The eternal gospel, which from eternity was foreordained by God, says, “Fear God, but have no fear of the antichrist who cannot kill the soul with the body; rather, fervently stand opposed to him who has power but for a short time, for the time of His judgment and the reward for what He has done is near.”

 

Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse 4.40

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday of Easter

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3–9)

What exactly are the blessings which God has given us in Christ? First, there is hope, not the kind of hope which He gave to Moses, that the people would inherit a promised land in Canaan, for that hope was temporal and corruptible. Rather God gives us a living hope, which has come from the resurrection of Christ. Because of that, He has given all those who believe in Jesus the same resurrection. This is a living hope and an incorruptible inheritance, not stored up here on earth but in heaven, which is much greater.

Oecumenius, Commentary on 1 Peter

Your place in the kingdom of heaven is ready, your room in the Father's house is prepared, your salvation in heaven awaits you. All you have to do, if you want to receive them, is to make yourself ready. But since no one can do this by his own efforts, Peter reminds us that we are kept in the power of God by faith. Nobody can keep doing good works in the strength of his own free will. So we must all ask God to help us, so that we may be brought to perfection by the One who made it possible for us to do good works in the first place.

Bede, On 1 Peter

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to All Saints’ Sunday

Jean Duvet, “The Apocalpse: An Innumerable Multitude
which stand before the Throne”

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen.”

Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Rev 7:9–17)

The innumerable myriads of the nations who received the faith of Christ and who had gained their share in blessedness were allotted the honored place of standing before the Lord and his Father’s throne, as was said earlier. Being clothed in white robes is a description of their purity during their life. The palm branches, which are a symbol of victory, indicate that they are promised the victory of Christ over their spiritual and earthly enemies. And they cry out, “Salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb!” confessing that salvation is with them, because they had preserved the servants of God who had been sealed from the total destruction of the world. At the end of this act of thanksgiving, the ranks of worshipers in heaven, together with the elders, answered Amen, giving their approval to what was said. Then the divine angels, too, offer their own praise to God, honoring him seven times with their worship, which, as has been mentioned earlier, symbolizes the ceaseless nature of the adoration of the angels; for seven is a perfect number.

When one of the elders asked the evangelist who these were from the nations who were clothed in white robes, he did not ask out of ignorance but as a challenge to find out about them. So he goes on to say, These are they who are coming out of the great tribulation. For it was not a slight contest but a truly great one which the righteous had in overcoming the Antichrist. He says, And they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Yet it should follow that robes dipped in blood would turn out to be scarlet rather than white. So how did they become white? Because baptism enacted into the death of the Lord, as Paul in his great wisdom said, purges all filth resulting from sin and renders those who are baptized in it white and pure. But participation in the life-giving blood of Christ also bestows this favor. For the Lord says concerning his own blood that it is being poured out “for many” and “on behalf of many, for the forgiveness of sins.” Thus these serve God for ever, and God dwells among them. Indeed, the dwelling-place of God, said one of God’s saints, is where the souls of his saints continually remember him; therefore God naturally dwells with those who serve him day and night.

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more: formerly those from the nations went through every trial; but now they will be sated with innumerable good things. He says, Nor shall the sun strike them: in some places of the divine Scripture the sun metaphorically stands for temptation, as when the prophet says, “The sun shall not burn you by day, neither the moon by night,” or as when the evangelist writes that the sun shone and scorched the seeds which had sprung up on stony ground, interpreting the sun as temptation. Therefore he now says that temptation would in future never harm them, for they had been found worthy to be shepherded by Christ and nourished at the waters of life. And God, he says, will wipe away every tear from their eyes. So those who have lived and struggled with unprofitable cares have no need of a tear, nor of “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” but deserve everything good and wonderful.

Oecumenius, Commentary on the Apocalypse 5.3

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Third Sunday of Easter

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.” (Revelation 5:8–10)

The preaching of the Old Testament joined with the New reveals the Christian people singing a new song, that is, the proclaiming of their public confession. It is new that the Son of God became man; it is new that He was given over into death by people; it is new that He rose again on the third day; it is new that He ascended in the body into heaven; it is new that He gives the forgiveness of sins to people; it is new that people are sealed with the Holy Spirit; it is new that they receive the priestly service of supplication and await a kingdom of such immense promises. The harps, whose strings are stretched on its frame, signify the body of Christ, that is, the flesh of Christ bound to his passion. The bowls represent the confession of faith and the extension of the new priesthood. The praise is “of many angels,” indeed, it is of all who bring the thanksgiving of all the elect to our Lord for the deliverance of the human race from the destruction of death.

Victorinus of Petovium, Commentary on the Apocalypse 5

The song sung to God incarnate is new, since it had never been invented before the incarnation. What was the song? You are worthy, he says, to effect this salvation for human beings, You who were slain for us, and with Your blood you took possession of many from among those under heaven. Very correctly he said from every tribe and tongue and people and nation: for He did not acquire possession of everyone (for many died in unbelief), but only those who were worthy of salvation. The prophet also said something similar, “Arise, O God, judge the earth, because You” will place “your inheritance among all the nations,” where he does not simply say “all the nations.” And he made them kings and priests to our God, and they shall reign on earth. You can indeed understand this literally, for the kings and leaders of the churches are faithful people and servants of Christ. But you can also understand kings to be those who control their passions and are not controlled by them. And you can understand priests to be those who present their own persons “as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,” as Scripture says.

Oecumenius, Commentary on the Apocalypse 5

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday of Easter

John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. (Revelation 1:4–8, 12–18)

He means that it was to Him who loved us that glory and might are due. For how did He not love who “gave Himself as a ransom” for the life of the world? And to Him who washed us from our sins by his blood: for He Himself removed “the bond which stood against us with its legal demands, and He nailed it to the” wood of His “cross,” paying for our sins by His own death, and with His own blood setting us free from our transgressions. He did this by “becoming subject unto death, even death on the cross,” and so healing our disobedience. And appointed a kingdom for us: and what is the advantage of our becoming, as he says, priests to God and His prophets? That human beings should have been considered worthy of these both confirms for us the kingdom to come and promises ineffable glory in the present. For this is greater and more wonderful than washing away our sins in his own blood, and deserves to be called the gift of God, just as our appointment as priests and prophets of God without having made any kind of previous offering is the mark of such a gift.

And His feet, he says, were like burnished bronze: he refers to the bronze mined on Mount Lebanon as being pure even in itself and as rendered even purer when it has been refined in a furnace and cleansed of its slight impurity. In this way the steadfastness and constancy, as well as the brightness and glory, of faith in Christ is signified when it has come to assurance. For the apostle calls Christ “a rock,” and Isaiah calls Him “a precious stone” in the foundations “of Zion.” Else he means that the burnished bronze is the copper-colored frankincense which medical men are accustomed to call male. This is fragrant when burnt; for the fiery furnace represents the symbol of the burning of incense, which is the foundation of the preaching of the gospel—for the feet are the foundation of the rest of the body, which is Christ. For He is fragrant, and with spiritual fragrance he gives charm to the things in heaven and the things on earth. Paul, too, calls Christ “a foundation” in writing the first epistle to the Corinthians, saying, “Like a wise master-builder I have laid a foundation, and another builds upon it. Let each one take care how he builds on it. For no one can lay any other foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

Oecumenius, Commentary on the Apocalypse 1.13, 27