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 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

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.” (Re 14:6–7)

He refers to the messenger who runs throughout the church, which is spread far and wide and is to be extended even more. He uses the singular for the plural, or in the one [messenger] he is suggesting the unity of the single church; yet, at the same time, he is alluding to the preachers of eternal life. It rightly says that he preaches an eternal gospel, by which the preacher is taught to look forward to eternal salvation. And so the one who preaches is indicated by that which is preached. Therefore the psalm says, “He who makes the winds his messengers and burning fire his ministers.”

Although from the beginning of the Christian faith we have learned that the kingdom of heaven is said to be approaching, here, however, he proclaims that the hour of His judgment will come very soon and is virtually here already. And therefore he maintains that preaching of this kind must necessarily be made known to all people, as also the Lord said, “This gospel will be preached throughout the world, and then the end will come.” And to show that that moment of time takes place, when the adversity of the last persecution will draw near, he has rather added that the temporal power of the beast should best be regarded as insignificant and that the Lord rather be feared, whom every one of his creatures, whom he mentions, acknowledges to be eternal.

Primasius of Hadrumetum, Commentary on the Apocalypse 14.6–7

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.” (Re 7:9–12)

Whatever this multitude might be, by expressing these names he indicates the universal church.… Through the naming of these seven virtues, we are exhorted to inquire after the reason why he named those things here in which God desires His Church to participate. It is for this reason that when these are given to God in praise, they might confess that they have received each of them from Him. For we ought not consider that God alone is capable of the virtues named here, but that He has found them worthy also to give to the faithful. We rejoice that the Church of Christ is allowed to participate in all of these good things: blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might. It does not mention omnipotence or majesty or eternity, for God alone always rightly possesses these things. But in these seven we recognize all those virtues that could be granted to the faithful from Him who gave them power to become the sons of God. And so, if we have acquired any of those good things, we shall know with certainty that we have them by the generosity of God.

Primasius of Hadrumetum, Commentary on the Apocalypse