Слово 1

Rev.1:1. “Show the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ, which God gave him, to his servant, who must soon be.” The apocalypse is the announcement of hidden sacraments, which occurs when the sovereign in the soul (mind) is overshadowed either by Divine illumination, or through Divine visions in a dream, or in the waking state. He says that this revelation was given to Christ, using speech about Him according to human nature, while in his Gospel he most of all depicted Him in sublime and Divine features. And here the name of the serving Angel and the servants of the students shows the greatness of the Divinity of Christ. For all things are His work. To be soon means that something of what was predicted is at hand, so to speak, and that which relates to the end is not very distant, for it is said that a thousand years before God are like yesterday, like the past. Rev. 1:1–2. “And he said, sending through His angel, to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, and in great form (and who they are and who must be from now on" 2. Christ, as the Master, through an Angel revealed this to me, as His servant, so that I would testify to the confession in Him, so that through what I saw, for the conversion of those who listen, I could testify and proclaim what exists and is hidden from people, and what is to come. For prophetically I saw both, and this is clear from what was said: they are and they should be. This is the meaning of present and future tense. Rev.1:3. “Blessed are he who is honourable, and he who hears the words of prophecy, and keeps what is written in it: for the time is at hand.” It pleases those who read and listen for business. For this time is near and it is offered to everyone to do, as the Lord says: do it until it is day (John 9:4), and it is convenient to obtain bliss. Otherwise: the time of reward for exploits is near, due to the brevity of the present life in comparison with the future. Rev.1:4. “John to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace and peace to you, from this being, and from that which is, and from that which is to come: and from the seven spirits which are before his throne: and from Jesus Christ.” There were many local churches, but he sends only to seven, for the sake of the septenary number, meaning the mysterious in the churches existing everywhere and the correspondence of this number to real life, in which there is a septenary period of days. That is why seven Angels and seven churches are mentioned, to whom he says: grace to you and peace from the Trinitarian Deity. For by the word: He is the Father who said to Moses: I am He; in a word: who was - the Word, which in the beginning was to God; in a word: he who is coming is the Comforter, always descending on the children of the church in holy baptism, and finally and clearly destined to descend upon them in the next century. By seven spirits we must understand the seven Angels (having control of the churches), not counted with the Divine and Royal Trinity, but mentioned together as Her servants, as the Divine Apostle said: I testify to you before God and His chosen Angels (1 Tim. 5:21). This can be understood in another way: by the words this, and likewise, and who is to come, we mean the Father, who in Himself contains the beginning and the middle and the end of all things; under the seven spirits are the gifts of the Life-giving Spirit; under the following then: Christ - God, who became man for our sake. For the Apostle often places each Divine Hypostasis before and after indifferently. That’s why he says here: from Jesus Christ and so on. Rev.1:5. “Who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.” For He testified before Pontic Pilate; He is faithful in all His words; He is the firstborn from the dead, like life and resurrection, for those over whom He rules will not see death, as those who died and were resurrected before, but will live forever. He is the Prince of kings, as the King of kings and Lord of lords, equal in power to the Father and consubstantial with Him. Otherwise, He is called the Prince of the kings of the earth, the kings over earthly desires. If Blessed Gregory’s saying: this one, and one who is, and one who is to come, the Almighty, refers to Christ, then there is nothing incongruous in attributing the following similar sayings to Him; to them is added: Almighty, and no mention of another person is added. Here is the addition: and from Jesus Christ clearly confirms the meaning we have indicated. For if it were said about one God, the Word and the Sons of the Hypostasis, it would be unnecessary to immediately add: and from Jesus Christ, so that He is clearly different from every other one; for words relating to God equally befit each Divine Hypostasis, and all together, except for special (personal) properties and differences, as Gregory the Theologian says, and except for those related to the incarnation of the Word. And this is clear from the fact that the Trisagion Hymn of Seraphim in the Gospel refers to the Son, in Paul’s conversation in Acts - to the Holy Spirit, and in the offering of terrible sacraments - to the Father, to whom we are accustomed to address this prayer, as was said in Blessed Epiphanius in his word about the Holy Spirit. All this has been said in order to show that our explanation does not contradict the words of the Fathers, and with God’s help we will move on to what follows. Rev. 1:5–6. “I love us, and I have washed us from our sins with My Blood. And He made us kings and priests to His God and Father: To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever, Amen.” Glory befits Him, who, out of love, freed us from the bonds of death by the outpouring of His life-giving blood and water, who washed us from the filth of sin and made us a royal priesthood, offering the Father, instead of wordless sacrifices, a living sacrifice - reasonable service. Rev.1:7. “Behold, he is coming from the clouds, and every eye will see Him, and those who are like Him will cry, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn for Him. Hey, amen." He, here slain like a sheep, in the glory of the Father, as a Judge, will come on clouds, or on incorporeal mental forces, or on ones similar to the one that overshadowed Him on Tabor with His holy disciples. Every eye will see Him coming with glory; those who pierced Him and all the tribes of the earth who remain in unbelief will mourn. She, amen - instead, absolutely so, since the same meaning is expressed in both Greek and Hebrew, and amen means: let it be. Rev.1:8. “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord, who is and who is and who is to come, the Almighty.” In the words: I am Alpha and Omega, Christ is signified here, since He is God, and contains everything, is beginningless and infinite, this and before this, and having no limit, as coeternal with the Father, and therefore giving reward to everyone for their deeds. Rev.1:9. “I John, who is also your brother and companion in sorrow and in the kingdom and in patience of Jesus Christ, was in the island called Patmos, for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” I, as your brother and accomplice in suffering for Christ, rightly use your trust, for for the testimony of Jesus, I, condemned to live on the island of Patmos, proclaim to you the mysteries that I saw on it. Chapter 2. Vision in which I saw the Lord among the seven golden lampstands, dressed in a robe Rev. 1:10–11. “I was in the spirit on the weekday, and I heard behind me a great voice like a trumpet, saying: I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. And what you see, write in a book, and send it (to the seven - επτα - Compl. Bibl.) to the churches that are in Asia: to Ephesus and to Smyrna, to Pergamum and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” Embraced by the Holy Spirit, and having acquired spiritual hearing, on the day of the Lord, honored for the sake of the resurrection, he heard a voice, similar in its vastness to a trumpet, (for their message went out into all the earth) pointing to the beginninglessness and infinity of God, designating Him as Alpha and Omega - the same voice commanded to send out what he saw to the seven churches, the sevenfold number indicating the sabbatization (rest) of the future century. Why were seven heavens created by God, and seven angels in charge of others, as the great Irenaeus wrote. Rev. 1:12–13. “And I turned and saw a voice that spoke to me: and I turned and saw seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the seven lamps she was like the Son of man, clothed in a robe, and girded about her breast with a golden girdle.” That the voice he heard was not a sensual voice, he explains this, saying: I turned, not to hear, but to see the voice. For spiritual hearing and seeing are one and the same. Turning, he says, he saw seven lamps, which he called churches, and in the midst of them Christ, like a man, because together He is God, and not an ordinary man, clothed in a garment, like the Supreme Hierarch according to the order of Melchizedek, and girded with a golden belt, not around the loins, like other people, to curb pleasures (for the Divine flesh is inaccessible to them), but across the chest, at the nipple, to show that the last righteous and Divine wrath is restrained by love for mankind, and that Divine truth girds the two covenants, these Sovereign breasts, from which the faithful are nourished. The belt is called golden because of its honesty and purity and discreetness. Rev.1:14. “His head and His hair are as white as snow, and His eyes are like a flame of fire.” Although He was recently for us, He is ancient, or better yet, eternal; for this means white hair, and His eyes are like a flame of fire, enlightening the saints and scorching the wicked. Rev.1:15. “And His nose was like firewood in a furnace.” Under the feet, the Divine Gregory also meant the economy according to the flesh, for His feet are the flesh with which the Divinity descended to us and brought about our salvation. The legs are also the Apostles, like the supports of the Church. Doctors say about Chalkolivan that it is a fragrant incense, which they call strong and masculine. And otherwise, halq (copper) means human, and lebanon means divine nature, and together these words signify the fragrance of faith and the unfused unity of natures. Or: halq means the euphony of the sermon, and Lebanon means the conversion of the pagans, which is why the bride is also commanded to come. The feet of Christ are also the Apostles, kindled in the furnace of temptation in imitation of the Teacher. Rev. 1:15–16. “And His voice was like the voice of many waters: and He held in His hand the seven stars: and from His mouth a two-edged sharp sword proceeded: and His face shone like the sun in its strength.” (It is correct to say that His voice is like the voice of many waters). For He and the Spirit have one and the same voice, with which rivers of living water flow from the belly of believers, and make a clear sound throughout the whole earth. The seven stars below he calls the Angels of the churches; he calls the excommunication of the ungodly a two-edged sword, which cuts deeper than any two-edged sword, or the sword of the Spirit, which cuts our inner man. His face shines like the sun, revealing not a sensual, but a spiritual light. For He is the Sun of righteousness, shining with His own power and authority, not like the sensual sun, which, being a creature, shines with God-given power and by Divine command. Rev. 1:17–18. “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if dead: and put your right hand on me, saying to me: Fear not: I am the first and the last. And I am alive, and I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever, Amen: and the Imam is the key of hell and death.” When the Apostle, due to the weakness of human nature, suffered the same thing as Joshua and Daniel, Christ strengthened him, saying: Do not be afraid, for I did not come to kill you. Being without beginning and immortal, for your sake I was dead (and I have the keys of death and hell, that is, physical and mental death). Rev.1:19–20. “Write what you have seen, and what you are, and what it is fitting for them to be according to this. The mystery of the seven stars, which you saw on My right hand, and the seven golden lamps: seven stars, the angels of the seven churches; and the seven lamps, which you saw, are seven churches.” Since the true light is Christ, therefore those enriched by His enlightenment are lamps, as illuminating the darkness of real life. Churches are actually called lamps, as having lights that hold the word of life, according to the Apostle. The lamps and candlesticks are golden, because of the honesty and integrity of their faith. Each (church) of them has a Guardian Angel, and the Theologian Gregory, referring to this chapter, called them stars because of their luminosity and purity. Chapter 3. Written to the Angel of the Church of Ephesus Rev.2:1. “Write to the angel of the Ephesian church: this is the saying: hold the seven stars in your right hand, walk in the midst of the seven golden lamps.” He speaks to the Church through an Angel, as if someone spoke to those being taught through a mentor. For the teacher usually attributes to himself what belongs to the student, be it mistakes or successes, since he tries to make the student equal to himself. By the seven stars or Angels, which are in the seven heavens mentioned by Blessed Irenaeus and Epiphanius, one can understand the administration of the heavenly ranks, content by the right hand of Christ, which holds the ends of the earth. He walks among the Churches according to His promise. Rev. 2:2–5. “We know your deeds, and your labor, and your patience, and how you cannot bear the evil ones, and you tempted those who say they were apostles, and they were not: and you found them false: and you bore, and endured patience, and you labored for my name, and you did not faint. But the imam is sorry for you, because he left your first love for you. Remember where you slept from, and repent, and do the first thing.” While praising the Church in two respects, he condemns it in one respect, which he placed in the middle, and placed merits on both sides. He praised the work and patience for the faith and its alienation from the evil ones, because, not believing in every spirit, she tested the false apostles and, recognizing them as false, sent them away from herself, moreover, she also hated the shameful deeds of the Nicolaitans. She reproaches for having cooled in love for one’s neighbor and in charity; He again calls her to this with the following words, saying: Do the work first. Rev. 2:5–6. “If not, I will come to you quickly and remove your lamp from its place, unless you repent. But behold, because you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, I also hate them.” Movement of the lamp, i.e. The Church is deprived of Divine grace, through which it will be subject to wavering and overwhelm from the spirits of evil and from evil people acting together with them. Some understand by the movement of the priest that the high priestly throne of Ephesus has been moved to the capital. And why the deeds of the Nicolaitans are hateful to God, everyone who is familiar with their vile heresy knows. Rev.2:7. “Have an ear to hear what the Spirit says to the churches: To him who overcomes I will give food from the tree of the living, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” Everyone has a physical ear, but only a spiritual person has acquired a spiritual ear; Isaiah had such a rumor. Such a one, who wins the battle with demons, is promised to be given to eat from the tree of life, i.e. to be a partaker of the blessings of the future century. The tree of life signifies eternal life. And both are Christ, as Solomon and this apostle said in another place. The first said about wisdom: there is a tree of life, the other says this about Christ: this is the true God and the eternal life (1 John 5:20). If we want to receive this, we will gain victory over passions. For labors are followed in every possible way by rewards, according to the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom be glory to the Father together with the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen. read in the Complutian Bible.