|
1:1
In the Gospel we behold Jesus Christ as a man conversing with men, humble, poor, feeble, suffering; all that is there tells us of a victim about to offer himself as a sacrifice and of a man appointed to suffering and death. But the Apocalypse is the Gospel of Jesus Christ raised from the dead: he there speaks, and there acts as the conqueror of death, as he who marches forth from hell which he has despoiled, and who enters in triumph into the place of his glory, where he begins to exercise the omnipotence which his Father hath given him in heaven and in earth. (Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet) From these words arises the question, how St. John says the Father gave this revelation to Christ our Lord, just as if he was speaking only of some one of the prophets, or of some angel who came to announce the prophecy." ..." Thomas (Aquinas) thus replies: It is not to be understood as if these things were only then revealed to him, so as to imply that he was previously ignorant of them; but it is said, 'he gave,' for this reason, to show that the man Christ received not these things from nature, but from grace' (Francisco Ribera) The power of revealing to his servants, which Jesus Christ had not by nature, the humanity received by way of gift. (Rupert of Deutz) It is better to reply, that this revelation is said to be given, not as if he then received that which he had known from his conception, but that it was then made known to men; as to John through an angel, and to all others through John." ..."The Father gave to Christ this revelation, not at that time in which he signified it to John through an angel; but at the time when he was first conceived he taught him to make known these things to the churches in their due season. After the same manner does the Lord speak every where in the Gospel according to St. John. As in chap. 3: We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen ;'chap. 5: 'The Father loves the Son, and shows him all things whatsoever he doeth ;' chap, 18: 'The cup which my Father has given me shall I not drink it?' (Francisco Ribera) 'The revelation of Jesus Christ;'—as if he should say, This is, or here begins, the prophecy of Jesus Christ, revealed from God the Father not enigmatically, hut publicly and openly. For the Father speaks to Christ his Son clearly. ' Which God gave unto Him,'—i. e., to Christ, in his conception and incarnation; for from this was Christ full of all knowledge, wisdom, grace, and virtue. ' To show,'—that is, to publish and reveal, not openly, but in enigmas and symbols, to his servants." . . . "Hence, therefore, it is evident, that the Apocalypse was first revealed to the soul of Christ in his incarnation, and that clearly and perfectly, and to him alone, not to the prophets, nor even to angels. (Cornelius a Lapide) The revelation made by Jesus Christ, not that made to Jesus Christ." ..." The revelation was not made to Christ by the Father, as if he did not know it before, but it was given him from the Father, (for the Son has received all things from the Father) in order to reveal it to his servants. Whence it is that Christ does not give the Father thanks, for having revealed hidden mysteries to himself, but, ' I thank thee, O Father ! because thou hast revealed them unto babes.' Mt.11 (Estius) ' Which God gave unto Him,,'—He received it not as God; because in this quality he possesses every thing, and knows every thing; but he received it as man, who as such received from God all light and all grace in the moment of the hypostatical union of the Word with the human nature. The words read as if he received it at the time in which he discovered it to St. John, because previously it was concealed and unknown, and because in relation to us the Son has not received it, nor revealed it to us, but under the circumstance of a certain lapse of time. (Augustin Calmet) 'To his servants;' not to proud philosophers, not to unbelieving Jews, not to impure Christians. For holy things must not be given to dogs, nor pearls be cast before swine. Dogs are unbelieving persecutors of the holy faith, and who themselves bark against it. Serine are false Christians, haring a faith sufficient to make them credulous, but defiling themselves with sordid vices after the manner of swine. From both these, therefore, sacred mysteries are to be concealed ; from the former, in consequence of the blindness super induced by wickedness; from the latter, in consequence of their polluted life. To the servants of God, however, divine things are to be purposely made known, because the instructions given to them they patiently hear, and what they hear they devoutly practice. As therefore divine good is not given to be manifested to the evil, so likewise from those who are good it ought by no means to be concealed. And as it is a serious fault to reveal sacred mysteries to the wicked, so also it is a serious fault to hide them from the elect. Let not therefore the useless servant feel secure, who grows torpid in his duty of teaching; because in the day of judgment he will have to give an account of the gain he has derived from the talent committed to his care. (Richard of St. Victor) It is for one reason that enigmatical and symbolical visions are called mysteries or sacraments, for another that the sacraments of the new law or Christianity are likewise so called. The former are called mysteries and sacraments because they secretly signify things sacred, supernatural, and mystical; for they are as it were images, the whole intent of which is to signify and represent the things themselves, just as an image of Caesar is no other than a picture or likeness representing Caesar. The latter, however, are so called because they both signify and exhibit things sacred, and are not empty as those of the old law, but efficacious as those of Christ. (Cornelius a Lapide)
1:4 Do you ask who are these seven spirits? We answer in the first place, Arethas, Primasius, Haymo, Bede, Rupertus, Ansbertus, and Thomas Anglicus, understand by them the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, i. e., the Holy Spirit himself who is the author of the seven gifts. For John does not here pray for peace and grace from seven gifts, but from the Holy Spirit. It is thus interpreted by Eucherius in his questions on the New Testament. See the last. ' These seven spirits/ says he,' are those enumerated by the prophet Isaiah, chap, ii., 2.' The spirit of wisdom and understanding, &c. (Cornelius a Lapide)
1:7 Great is the mystery which we believe to be signified by the word clouds, mention of which we see frequently made by the Holy Spirit in Divine Scripture. For it was with a cloud that the omnipotent God went before the children of Israel in their exit from Egypt, and led them to the land of promise; it was with a cloud that He descended upon the tabernacle of testimony. In a cloud it was that his glory appeared to men. Upon the holy mount, before three of his disciples, when the Incarnate "Word of God shone forth in the glory of his majesty, a bright cloud overshadowed Moses and Elias, and from the same cloud sounded forth the voice of the Father, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' It was with a cloud, when the apostles were beholding him, that he entered into the heavens, and it is in a cloud that he shall come in the end of the world, as it is written. . . . Inasmuch however as in this revelation we must not readily conceive of any tiling according to the letter, let us speak of those clouds which we know to be introduced mystically in the divine volumes, and with which we doubt not the Lord will come to judgment. Sometimes by the name of the same cloud is designated the illumination of the just and the obaecation of the wicked, as in Exodus we see fulfilled historically, and which is to be fulfilled figuratively, for the angel of the Lord went before the people of Israel in a cloud when coming out of Egypt, and the Egyptians pursued after them, &c.; 'And the pillar of cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them, and it came between the camp of the Egyptians, and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.' A very marvelous circumstance ! If the cloud was dark, how gave it forth light by night, except by giving the light of its brightness to the people of Israel, and blinding the eyes of the Egyptians, just as with the righteous and internal judgment of God, we see to be the case daily at present, and we believe will also be the case in the last days, so that from the same source from which the elect derive illumination, the reprobate will derive only darkness. (St. Ambrosius Autpertus)The cloud protecting the Hebrews, that is, the faithful, may be said to be the Holy Spirit; but blinding the Egyptians.'' "The bright cloud overshadowing the disciples may be said to be the eternal Power, or the Holy Spirit."—Origen. "The cloud, composed of an extremely thin and lucid air, and emitting light, signifies Christ, or the divine and shining beauty of truth in Christ."—Chrysostom, Ambrose, Jerome, Cyril, &c. "The very humanity of Christ is the cloud of day, in which God led forth his people from Egypt." . . "The cloud between the Hebrews and Egyptians is the Word of God, gently dropping the dews of wisdom upon minds endowed with virtue—a wisdom free from all ills."—Philo, Georgius Venetus. "Cloud is likewise called apostolical doctrine, in which Christ appears as a bow in the clouds, which designate the figures of the Old Testament."—Hilary, Isychius, Augustin, Bede, Jerome. "It is with these clouds that God covers the heaven. They are dark clouds by reason of their obscurity, but gave out light to the night of the ancient people. The depth of Scripture is likewise called a cloud; Matt, 24: 26." . . . "Our' forefathers were said to be baptized in a cloud, because they were baptized in a figure.'' . . . "The grace of God, the divine protection, divine consolation, and heavenly blessings may be also called a cloud, as long as the cloud of grace was in the tabernacle of the covenant."—Origen, Gregory, Tertullian, Gregory Nyssen. "The cloud in which the Son of Man will come will be a consolation and protection to the good." . . . "The cloud into which Moses entered may signify the secrets of the divine power and wisdom."—Gregory, Jerome, Eucherius. (Hieronymus Lauretus) Since, therefore, it was highly expedient that the providence of God should have been concealed, for that very reason the symbol of clouds was a most beautiful one to be chosen to signify that providence ; for on the one hand they indicate the presence of God, and on the other they cover the heaven, and intercept the light from reaching the eyes. And to indicate this deep secret wisdom, it was an act of great "wisdom that the cloud in which God exhibited his presence at the dedication of the tabernacle and temple, so filled the temple, that the priests could discern nothing whatever. From which we infer, that it was the design of God to show that his providence is most intimately present, and most profoundly hidden." "Clouds, therefore, partly by veiling and partly by unveiling, appositely figure forth the providence of God. Hence we observe, that clouds themselves may be thought of in two ways. First, as a chariot or seat, which does not prevent our view of the one that comes in the clouds ; secondly, as a covering, within which any one is concealed so as not to be seen. With the former agrees what is said in the Apocalypse 14:14, Sitting upon a white cloud; and Psalm 104:3, ' Who makes the clouds his chariot.' With the latter, what is said in Psalm XAiii., 11, 'His pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies / Psalm 97:2, ' Clouds and darkness are round about him;' Ezekiel 32:7, 'I will cover the sun with a cloud;' Exod. 40:34, ' A cloud covered the tabernacle:' with other passages of the same kind. "In the transfiguration and ascension of Christ and in the day of the last judgment, Ave have a still more apt method of philosophizing concerning clouds; so that they may be understood as clear signs to show that Christ is the supreme Lord and Governor of the world. For the proper signification of clouds is the exhibition of divinity in him who is as it were the Lord of the clouds, for he makes use of their services to indicate his providence, and either to conceal or reveal it, according as it may conduce the more to his glory. Therefore it is that the Scriptures make such frequent mention of clouds at the last judgment. This signification has such force in it, that even although Christ should not come to judgment in a material (corporeal) cloud, it might nevertheless be truly and beautifully said that he would come in clouds according to the language of sacred Scripture. Not that I therefore would deny that there will be true material clouds at the day of judgment; for I have no mind to innovation in what pertains to teaching ; I only mean to assert that the symbolical signification of clouds is so beautiful and apt, that although there should be no clouds, properly so called, Christ might nevertheless most truly and most significantly be said then to come in the clouds of heaven. And this I wish to say, the rather in order that it may be noted, that in the symbol of the clouds there is latent a much greater and more excellent mystery than any one might think, who considered only the grammatical sense of the word; a sense to which I see that some persons are too much addicted." ... After showing that the humanity of Christ, angels, preachers of the Gospel in the church, are all designated by clouds, he adds;— "The doctrine of the Gospel is a cloud which manifests the glory and the presence of God in the very darkness which it effuses upon the eyes of human reason, while concealing those things which nevertheless it affirms to be perfectly true; as was prefigured in the dedication of the tabernacle and temple. For the preaching of the mysteries of the trinity, incarnation, Eucharist, and death of Christ, is indeed to God himself a most glorious cloud, yet of such a kind as most perfectly conceals from us the very thing which it testifies, and brings the understanding in captivity to faith. . . . Now if that cloud was perfectly dark in which God showed himself to be present when he descended on Mount Sinai to promulgate the law, much more obscure and glorious is the cloud of the preaching of the Gospel. And in this is most truly fulfilled the words of Solomon, 'The Lord hath said that he would dwell in the cloud;' in that cloud, I say, which on the one hand convinces us, so that we believe the mysteries of our faith to be most certain and plainly divine, while on the other hand, by reason of its darkness and majesty it requires of us a mighty reverence and veneration of God, in believing those great mysteries while the veil is upon our eyes." Moreover, "clouds receive into themselves the brightness of the sun, and are highly illuminated from above; but they accommodate this brightness, and transmit it attempered to our vision. St. Dionysius intimates this when speaking of the celestial hierarchy, chap, 15., although he is there speaking of the angels; but it is true also with respect to the angels of the hierarchy of the church. and every eye shall see him;' Behold the Apocalypse sets before us the advent of Christ in the clouds of the preaching of the Gospel; by means of which God pours down his heavenly shower, that is, the spirit of grace and of prayers; and thus mil it come to pass that the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and they shall look upon Jesus the author and finisher of their faith. (Luis Alcazar of Seville) Him ought ye truly to glorify, because he it is who, to reward us, is to come with clouds—i. e., with holy men who have been clouds, by showering upon others doctrine and performing miracles. (Glossa Ordinaria)
1:8 'I am Alpha and Omega.' It is the whole Trinity that is speaking and which inspired into John these words, 'Behold, he Cometh with clouds’ &c. And as he had strongly affirmed it, saying also Amen, he now gives the reason of it, as if he should say, 'In like manner as I am the first of all and have created all men, so also I am the end to whom all shall come to be judged, and to receive according to their works;' which will then be brought to pass when Christ shall appear at the end of the age; to whom God hath committed the power of judging. (Giovanni Stefano Menochio)
1:10 Haymo observes: 'Hence it is now clearly shown that the blessed John saw this vision not after a corporeal manner (or in the body), but in the spirit. Not as if he was in a dream, but as wrapt into an ecstasy, as was the case also with Ezekiel, who, when he was sitting in his house, and the elders of Judea were sitting before him, was in spirit led to Jerusalem. This is the view of the subject taken also by Ambrose and others. But we may ask further, why such a form of expression is used. John is said to be in spirit in order, as I think, to express the contrast to being in the body. For to be in the body is to live after a corporeal manner, and to use the members and the senses of the body. But John is said to be in the spirit, not because he was out of the body, but because while he was then in the body, he nevertheless did not make use of the body or of its senses, but was wrapt and elevated above the body. Rightly, therefore, did Haymo say, that he saw nothing, heard nothing, perceived nothing, understood nothing through the body; that he entirely forsook the flesh when he saw this revelation; that for the purpose of his instruction his spirit was taken up by the Spirit who was teaching him, in order that he might behold things high and mystical. (Francisco Ribera) ' I was in the spirit,' i. e., in spiritual vision, ' on the Lord's day;' for as Gregory testifies, the quality of things is wont to be denoted by the time. Abraham saw an angel at mid-day, because he was fervent in faith. Adam beheld him sustaining the person of God after mid-day, because he had fallen from the warmth of innermost love. Lot, at the perdition of Sodom, beheld him in the evening, because the perdition of this city was soon to come. Solomon received wisdom at night, as not being long to continue in it. In the present case, John was in spiritual vision on the Lord's day, as if he should say, he was in a state of open illustration. As, therefore, the person, the place, and the cause commend the truth of holy love, so also does the character of the time; for the more sacred the day, the more suitable is it to divine revelation; and the more tranquil it is by reason of cessation from outward labor, the more calculated is it, by the rest it imposes, for profound internal contemplation. (Richard of St. Victor) 1:10-11
Do you ask why this voice is represented to John as being behind? . . . Ambrose, Thomas Anglicus, and Ribera reply, that John heard this voice from behind because he was about to hear things which were unknown to the church; since that which is behind us is considered to be unknown to us because no one can see it' . . . (Ribera says, p. 25 ;—'John, therefore, heard this voice behind him, because hitherto he had not possessed a perfect knowledge of the mysteries which were then revealed to him.') . . . This voice was heard from behind to signify, first, that this was a revelation from the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is not seen by men; and, therefore, when he presents himself to them as a teacher and monitor, he seems to cause the ears to hear a word behind them, Isaiah 30:21. Secondly, because God, here speaking to John, cannot in this life be seen clearly face to face. "Whence in Exod. 33, he said to Moses, ' My back parts thou shall see, but my face thou canst not see.' . . . Mystically—rightly is the providence of Christ described as being behind us; because though we discern him not, he nevertheless discerns us, keeps us always before his eyes, defends and protects us. Thus also Origen and Jerome on Ezekiel 3: 12. Tropologically, the faithful are here warned to turn from earthly things, and be converted unto God and heavenly things. (Cornelius a Lapide) By this turning we understand that in the apprehension of divine revelation, the mind must be turned away from earthly things, and be turned towards heavenly. (Nicholas of Lyra)
1:12 The candlesticks are called golden because of their strong and durable nature, and because of the excellency of charity and of celestial doctrine, which has no admixture of false doctrine, like that of the philosophers. (Francisco Ribera)
1:13 The vestments of Christ, which were made white as the light, designate the Scriptures in respect of their announcements concerning him; and which are thus made bright. As also the discourses and writings of the Gospels, which manifest his glory, or his life shining in the Gospel. And the garments with which Christ is clothed are the prophecies, the theme and announcements of which relate to one thing throughout: these garments heretics divide, who first strip him and then clothe him with false dogmas. For the garments of Christ are the words of holy Scripture. . . . The holy Scripture is a garment in which is written King of Kings and Lord of Lords."—Origen, Basil, Ambrose, Rupertus. (Hieronymus Lauretus)
1:14 White hair is a most excellent symbol of wisdom. 'The beauty of old men is the grey head,' Prov. 20:19: namely, because of the wisdom which white hairs intimate. . . .' With the ancient is wisdom, and in length of days understanding,' Job 12:12. 'Wisdom is the grey hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age,' Wisdom of Solomon 4:9. And in my opinion that passage in Daniel 7:9, 13, 22, 'The Ancient of days did sit,' has reference to the wisdom of God. For there the passage is treating of God as the chief governor of all things by his infinite wisdom. (Luis Alcazar of Seville) As the head of Christ signifies that which is highest in Christ i.e., the divinity; so the feet indicate that which is the lowest, i.e., the human nature. His feet, therefore, as Abbe Rupert beautifully inculcates, are said to be like brass (aurichalchum); because, as by the intense action of fire this metal is brought to the color of gold, so also the humanity, by the many tribulations of the passion and death, is brought to the glory of divinity. (Francisco Ribera)
1:15 'His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace' —an excellent symbol to represent that they would kindle the fire of true religion throughout the world; which likewise they did. This is also the fire with which Babylon is burned. (Luis Alcazar of Seville)
1:17-18 As I have returned from death to life, and am risen in glory, so will I cause my Church and her sons, from the tribulations by which they seem to be overwhelmed and extinguished, to rise in glory, to increase in growth, and to accomplish the more splendid triumph. (Jacobus Tirinus) For this I merited by my death, and therefore have I exhibited a type and specimen of it to the world in my death and resurrection. (Cornelius a Lapide) Whatever remarkable thing is denoted in the person of the priest (here presented to view) is all to be referred to those events befalling the Christian church, which are contained in the Apocalypse; for this person who first appeared to John acts the prologue to the whole spectacle, and thus places before the eyes the argument of the whole Apocalypse. (Luis Alcazar of Seville)
|