Chapter 1
[Revelation 1:1] -- The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him, etc. The Church, founded by the apostles, by what course it was to be spread and by what end it was to be completed, had to be revealed to strengthen the preachers of the faith against the adversities of the world. John, as is his custom, referring the glory of the Son to the Father, testifies that Jesus Christ received the revelation of the mystery from God.
[Revelation 1:1] -- Which must shortly come to pass. That is, what is about to happen to the Church in the present time.
[Revelation 1:1] -- And he signified it. He intertwined the same Apocalypse with mystical words, lest it be despised by being manifest to all.
[Revelation 1:1] -- Sending by his angel. For the angel used the figure of Christ to John, as will be more clearly apparent in the following.
[Revelation 1:1] -- To his servant John. That through John, who, by the singular privilege of chastity, deserved to see these things before others, he might make the same known to all his servants.
[Revelation 1:2] -- Who bore witness to the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus, etc. Lest you doubt the person of John, it is he who bore witness to the eternal Word of God and the same incarnate, as he saw, saying: We have seen his glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father (John 1).
[Revelation 1:3] -- Blessed is he who reads, etc. Therefore, teachers and hearers are blessed, because the short time of labor is followed by eternal joys for those who keep the word of God.
[Revelation 1:4] -- John to the seven, etc. Through these seven churches, he writes to the whole Church. For the universality is often designated by the number seven, as this whole age is revolved in seven days.
[Revelation 1:4] -- Grace to you, etc. He wishes us grace and peace from the eternal God the Father, and from the sevenfold Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, who in the assumed man bore witness to the Father. He names the Son third, of whom he was going to speak more. He names him last as well, because he is the first and the last, since he had already named him in the Father by saying, who is to come.
[Revelation 1:5] -- The firstborn of the dead, etc. This is what the Apostle says: We have seen Jesus Christ crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death. And elsewhere, explaining the disgrace of the cross, he added: Therefore God also has exalted him and given him a name that is above every name.
[Revelation 1:6] -- And made us a kingdom, etc. Because the King of kings and heavenly Priest, by offering himself for us, has united us to his body, none of the saints is spiritually devoid of the office of priesthood, since he is a member of the eternal Priest.
[Revelation 1:7] -- Behold, he comes with the clouds, etc. He who first came hidden to be judged will then come manifest to judge. He mentions this to strengthen the Church to endure sufferings, now oppressed by enemies, but then to reign with Christ.
[Revelation 1:7] -- And those who pierced him, etc. Seeing him in the same form as a powerful judge in which they judged him as insignificant, they will lament themselves in late repentance.
[Revelation 1:7] -- Even so, Amen. He affirms it without doubt by interposing "Amen," knowing most certainly that it will happen as revealed by God.
[Revelation 1:8] -- I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, etc. The beginning, whom none precedes; the end, to whom none succeeds in the kingdom.
[Revelation 1:8] -- Who is, and who was, etc. He said the same of the Father. For God the Father also came and is to come in the Son.
[Revelation 1:9] -- I, John, etc. He hints at the person, place, time, and cause of the vision. He testifies that he saw it also in the Spirit, lest he be thought deluded by a fleshly apparition.
[Revelation 1:9] -- Was in the island, etc. The story is known, that John was banished to this island by Caesar Domitian because of the gospel, to whom it was fittingly given to penetrate the secrets of heaven when he was forbidden to exceed certain earthly spaces.
[Revelation 1:10] -- I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day. He also indicates a suitable time for the spiritual vision. For Scripture often expresses the fixed limits of causes, as often of place, body, or air, so also of time. For the angels visit Abraham at noon, Sodom in the evening. Adam feared at the voice of the Lord walking in the afternoon. And Solomon received wisdom at night, which he would not keep.
[Revelation 1:10] -- And I heard behind me, etc. He is first admonished by the voice to turn his sight to the vision.
[Revelation 1:11] -- And send to the seven churches, etc. The Church of Christ was not then only in these places, but the fullness consists in the number seven. Asia, which is interpreted as elevation, designates the proud height of the world in which the Church sojourns; and, as is the custom of divine mystery, the genus fits the species. For the Apostle Paul also writes to seven churches; not, however, the same as John. And although these seven places are a figure of the whole sevenfold Church, yet specific things happened in these which he reproaches or praises.
[Revelation 1:12] -- And having turned, etc. Here the form of the Church is beautifully described, bearing the light of divine love in the brightness of a pure heart. According to what the Lord says: "Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning" (Luke XII). He designates the perfection of its interior and exterior by the two parts of the number seven, while each one, consisting of the four qualities of the body, loves the Lord God with all their heart, all their soul, and all their strength.
[Revelation 1:13] -- And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man. He says "like unto the Son of Man" after He had ascended into heaven with death conquered. For even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we no longer know Him. But well, "in the midst." For He says, "All those around Him shall offer gifts."
[Revelation 1:13] -- Clothed with a garment down to the foot. The "garment down to the foot," which in Latin is called a tunic reaching to the ankles, and is a priestly garment, shows the priesthood of Christ, by which He offered Himself as a sacrifice to the Father on the altar of the cross for us.
[Revelation 1:13] -- And girt about the paps with a golden girdle. He calls the two testaments the paps, with which He nourishes the holy body connected to Him. For the golden girdle is the chorus of saints, adhering to the Lord with concordant charity, embracing and keeping the testaments (as the Apostle says) in the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephes. IV).
[Revelation 1:14] -- His head and his hairs were white like wool, etc. The antiquity and immortality of majesty are shown in the whiteness of His head, to which all the chief ones cling like hair, resembling wool because of the sheep that will be on the right hand, and like snow because of the countless multitude of the purified and the chosen given by heaven.
[Revelation 1:14] -- And his eyes were as a flame of fire. The eyes of the Lord are the preachers, providing spiritual fire and light to the faithful, and burning to the unbelievers.
[Revelation 1:15] -- And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace. The fiery feet represent the Church of the last time, which is to be examined and tested by severe tribulations. Fine brass is brass brought to a golden color by much fire and medicine. Another translation, which says like the brass of Lebanon, signifies the Church in Judea, whose mountain is Lebanon, to be persecuted especially at the end. For the temple often received the name of Lebanon, to which it is said: "Open, O Lebanon, your gates, and let fire devour your cedars" (Zach. XI).
[Revelation 1:15] -- And his voice as the sound of many waters. The voice of confession and preaching and praise resounds not only in Judea but among many peoples.
[Revelation 1:16] -- And he had in his right hand seven stars. In the right hand of Christ is the spiritual Church. "The queen stood at your right hand in gilded clothing" (Psalm XLIV). To whom standing on His right, He says: "Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom" (Matt. XXV).
[Revelation 1:16] -- And out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. Who judging visible and invisible things, after He has slain, has the power to cast into the hell of fire.
[Revelation 1:16] -- And his face was as the sun shining in its strength. As he appeared to the disciples on the mountain, so will the Lord appear to all the saints after the judgment. For the impious will see in the judgment him whom they pierced (John XIX). However, this entire appearance of the Son of Man also applies to the Church, with whom Christ has become one in nature, granting it the honor of priestly and judicial power, and that it may shine like the sun in the kingdom of his Father (Matt. XIII).
[Revelation 1:17] -- And when I saw him, I fell at his feet. As a man, he trembles at the spiritual vision, but the Lord's mercy dispels human fear.
[Revelation 1:17] -- Fear not; I am the first and the last. The first, because all things were made through him. The last, because all things are restored in him.
[Revelation 1:18] -- And I have the keys of death and Hades. He says, not only have I conquered death by resurrection; but I also have dominion over death itself. He also granted this to the Church by breathing the Holy Spirit upon it, saying, "Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven," and so forth.
[Revelation 1:19] -- Write therefore the things which you have seen, etc. Make known to all the things you alone have seen, namely, the various labors of the Church, and the wicked mixed with the good in it, until the end of the world.
[Revelation 1:20] -- The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. That is, the rulers of the churches. For the priest, as Malachi says, is the angel of the Lord of hosts (Mal. II).