Wednesday in the 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, November 20, 2024

Revelation 4, 1-11

I, John, had a vision of an open door to heaven, and I heard the trumpet-like voice that had spoken to me before, saying, “Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards.” At once I was caught up in spirit. A throne was there in heaven, and on the throne sat one whose appearance sparkled like jasper and carnelian. Around the throne was a halo as brilliant as an emerald. Surrounding the throne I saw twenty-four other thrones on which twenty-four elders sat, dressed in white garments and with gold crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. Seven flaming torches burned in front of the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. In front of the throne was something that resembled a sea of glass like crystal. In the center and around the throne, there were four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back. The first creature resembled a lion, the second was like a calf, the third had a face like that of a man, and the fourth looked like an eagle in flight. The four living creatures, each of them with six wings, were covered with eyes inside and out. Day and night they do not stop exclaiming: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.” Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before the one who sits on the throne and worship him, who lives forever and ever. They throw down their crowns before the throne, exclaiming: “Worthy are you, Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things; because of your will they came to be and were created.”

The second of the seven visions of which the Book of Revelation is composed begins with chapter four and concludes with the first verse of chapter eight, according to the Venerable Bede, who wrote his commentary on the book in the early 700’s.  This vision presents the history of the Church from the Birth of Jesus Christ until the final judgment.  Consolations are given to the faithful through the revelation of various mysteries.  In the first part of the vision St. John sees the heavenly court through “an open door to heaven”.  The “trumpet-like voice” of Christ tells John that he will show him the Church’s future.  “On the throne sat one whose appearance sparkled like jasper and carnelian.”  This is the Father.  While the Son was described in some detail in chapter one of the book, and the Holy Spirit will be described a few verses after this one, the Father is never described in Revelation accept as “the one who sat upon the throne” and as one “whose appearance sparkled like jasper and carnelian.”  No mortal human may look upon the face of God while still bound to earth, and so John does not see it.  But even were he to see it, he would not be able to describe it, for human language fails before the appearance of the infinite God.

“Around the throne was a halo as brilliant as an emerald.”  The halo signifies the Father’s holiness and his power.  “Surrounding the throne I saw twenty-four other thrones on which twenty-four elders sat.”  These are the Church as signified by the twelve Apostles and the twelve Prophets of the Old Testament.  The Church is said to surround God in a semi-circle in order to praise and serve him.  Their white garments signify freedom from the stain of sin; the golden crowns show the Church as accorded honor and a sharing in his authority by Almighty God.  “From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder.”  Thus does God speak and make known his will, which the elect can discern but which unbelievers do not recognize: “A voice therefore came from heaven: ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.’  The multitude therefore that stood and heard said that it thundered. Others said: An angel spoke to him.”  “Seven flaming torches burned in front of the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.”  This is the Holy Spirit, blazing within the semi-circle formed by the Church and before the face of the Father.  “In front of the throne was something that resembled a sea of glass like crystal.”  The ancients believed that a crystal sphere surrounded the world, enclosing the atmosphere.  The sun, stars, and planets were thought to be attached to the underside of the sphere.  Above the sphere was heaven.  The floor of heaven, then, is the boundary of earth’s sky.

“In the center and around the throne, there were four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back.”  These were positioned within the semi-circle but apart from the Father and the Holy Spirit.  These four living creatures also signify the Church.  They are said to be full of eyes because, in ancient times, it was thought that light was emitted by the eye, enabling sight.  The Church is shown to light up the whole of the world with the preaching of the Gospel.  Matthew 5, 14: “You are the light of the world.”  “The first creature resembled a lion, the second was like a calf, the third had a face like that of a man, and the fourth looked like an eagle in flight.”  The Church Fathers understood these as the four Evangelists of the Gospels: Mark, the lion, whose Gospel begins with John the Baptist roaring in the wilderness; Luke, the calf, whose Gospel shows Jesus born in a stable; Matthew, the man, whose Gospel begins with the Lord’s genealogy according to his human nature; and John, the eagle, whose Gospel soars into the heavens.

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.”  The Evangelists tell of the glory of God in their Gospels and the whole Church resounds with his praise.  “They throw down their crowns before the throne.”  The Church confesses that all her beauty and authority come from Almighty God and she adores him on his throne.  At least one of the Fathers comments that the throne itself signifies the Church, on which God is enthroned.  “Worthy are you, Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things; because of your will they came to be and were created.”  Almighty God is worshipped as the Creator As though at the very moment of creation.  During the course of this vision we see the progress of the Church through time until the great persecution in the last days and God’s preservation of his Church.

St. John gives a peek at the glory that shall be ours if we persevere in the Faith, for which we must pray.