From: Revelation 3:1-6, 14-22
Letter to the Church of Sardis
[1] "And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: 'The words of him
who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. "'I know your
works; you have the name of being alive, and you are dead. [2] Awake,
and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have
not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. [3] Remember then
what you received and heard; keep that, and repent. If you will not
awake, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I
will come upon you. [4] Yet you have still a few names in Sardis,
people who have not soiled their garments; and they shall walk with me
in white, for they are worthy. [5] He who conquers shall be clad thus
in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of
life; I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.
[6] He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.'
Letter to the Church of Laodicea
[14] "And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 'The words of
the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's
creation.
[15] "'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you
were cold or hot! [16] So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold
nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth. [17] For you say, I am rich,
I have prospered, and I need nothing; not knowing that you are
wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. [18] Therefore I counsel
you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich, and
white garments to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness
from being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. [19]
Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten; so be zealous and repent.
[20] Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice
and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with
me. [21] He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne,
as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. [22]
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"
Commentary:
1. Sardis, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south-east of Thyatira, was
an important hub in the highway system; it was also famous for its
acropolis, which was located in an unassailable position. Herodotus
describes its inhabitants as immoral, licentious people (cf. "History",
1, 55). The Christians of the city were probably somewhat infected by
the general atmosphere.
Christ is now depicted as possessing the fullness of the Spirit, with
the power to effect radical change by sanctifying the churches from
within (cf. note on 1:4). He is also portrayed as the sovereign Lord of
the universal Church (cf. note on 2:1), ever ready to imbue it with new
life.
The church of Sardis is accused of seeming to be alive but in fact
being dead: in other words, although its external practice of religion
makes it look Christian, most of its members (not all: cf. v. 4) are
estranged from Christ, devoid of interior life, in a sinful condition.
Anyone who lives like that is dead. Our Lord himself described the
situation of the prodigal son as being a kind of death: "my son was
dead, and is alive again", the father exclaims in the parable (Lk 15:
24); and St Paul invites Christians to offer themselves to God "as men
who have been brought from death to life" (Rom 6:13). Now, in this
passage of Revelation, we are told that the cause of this spiritual,
but real, death is the fact that the works of this church are imperfect
in the sight of God (v. 2); they were works which led to spiritual
death, that is, what we would term mortal sins. "With the whole
tradition of the Church", John Paul II says, "we call 'mortal sin' the
act by which man freely and consciously rejects God, his law, the
covenant of love that God offers, preferring to turn in on himself or
to some created and finite reality, something contrary to the divine
will ("conversio ad creaturam") [...]. Man perceives that this
disobedience to God destroys the bond that unites him with his
life-principle: it is a mortal sin, that is, an act which gravely
offends God and ends in turning against man himself with a dark and
powerful force of destruction" ("Reconciliatio Et Paenitentia", 17).
2-3. Vigilance is always necessary, particularly in certain situations
like that of Sardis where there was a number of people who had not
fallen victim to sin. In this kind of peril, Christians need to be
alerted and confirmed in the faith. They need to remember what they
learned at the beginning, when they were instructed in the faith, and
try to bring their lives into line with that teaching. And so they are
not simply exhorted to conversion but told how to go about it--by
comparing their lives with the Word of God and making the necessary
changes: "no one is safe if he ceases to strive against himself. Nobody
can save himself by his own efforts. Everyone in the Church needs
specific means to strengthen himself--humility, which disposes us to
accept help and advice; mortifications, which temper the heart and
allow Christ to reign in it; the study of abiding, sound doctrine,
which leads us to conserve and spread our faith" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ
Is Passing By", 81).
"I will come like a thief": an image also found elsewhere in the New
Testament (cf. Mt 24:42-51, Mk 13:36; Lk 12:39ff; 1 Thess 5:2; 2 Pet
3: 10). This does not mean that our Lord is lying in wait, ready to
pounce on man when he is unawares, like a hunter waiting for his prey.
It is simply a warning to us to live in the grace of God and be ready
to render our account to him. If we do that we will not run the risk of
being found empty-handed at the moment of death. "That day will come
for us. It will be our last day, but we are not afraid of it. Trusting
firmly in God's grace, we are ready from this very moment to be
generous and courageous, and take loving care of little things: we are
ready to go and meet our Lord, with our lamps burning brightly. For the
feast of feasts awaits us in heaven" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God",
40).
4-5. Despite the corrupt environment in which they were living, there
were some Christians who had not been contaminated by the immoral cults
and lifestyles of the pagans: their loyalty is symbolized by white
garments. In the course of narrating his visions St John mentions white
garments a number of times (cf. 7:9, 13; 15:6; 19:14); this color
symbolizes purity and also the joy of victory.
The symbol of the "book of life", which occurs often in the Apocalypse
(cf. 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27; etc.), is taken from the Old
Testament, where those who belong to the people of Israel are described
as enrolled in the "book of the living", which is also referred to as
the book of the Lord (cf. Ps 69:28; Ex 32:32ff). Those whose names are
in the book will share in the promises of salvation (cf. Is 4:3),
whereas those who are unfaithful to the Law will be excluded from the
people of God and their names blotted out of the "book of the living".
Other New Testament texts use the same image (cf., e.g., Lk 10:20; Phil
4:3).
The names of the victors will stay in the "book of life" which lists
those who have proved loyal to Christ, as well as those who belonged to
the people of Israel.
Finally, on Judgment Day, those Christians who have kept the faith,
will be spoken for by Christ (cf. Mt 10:32; Lk 12:8).
14. Laodicea was a city on the border of Phrygia, about 75 kilometers
(45 miles) south-west of Philadelphia. It is also mentioned by St Paul
when he suggests to the Colossians that they exchange his letter to
them for the one he sent the Laodiceans (cf. Col 4:16).
Jesus Christ is given the title of "the Amen"; a similar description is
applied to Christ in 2 Corinthians 1:20. Both texts are instances of a
divine name being applied to Christ, thereby asserting his divinity.
"Amen", so be it, is an assertion of truth and veracity and connects
with the title of "the true one" in the previous letter. It highlights
the fact that our Lord is strong, dependable and unchangeable; the
words that follow, "faithful and true witness", spell out the full
meaning of the "Amen" title (cf. 1:5).
The most satisfactory interpretation of the phrase "the beginning of
God's creation" is in terms of Jesus Christ's role in creation: for
"all things were made through him" (Jn 1:3) and therefore he, along
with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is the Creator of heaven and
earth.
15-16. The prosperity Laodicea enjoyed may have contributed to the
laxity and lukewarmness the church is accused of here (Israel tended to
take the same direction when living was easy: the people would become
forgetful of Yahweh and adopt an easy-going lifestyle: cf., e.g., Deut
31:20; 32:15; Hos 13:6; Jer 5:7).
The presence of hot springs close to the city explains the language
used in this passage, which amounts to a severe indictment of
lukewarmness. It shows God's repugnance for mediocrity and bourgeois
living. As observed by Cassian, one of the founders of Western
monasticism, lukewarmness is something that needs to be nipped in the
bud: "No one should attribute his going astray to any sudden collapse,
but rather [...] to his having moved away from virtue little by little,
through prolonged mental laziness. That is the way bad habits gain
round without one's even noticing it, and eventually lead to a sudden
collapse. 'Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a
fall' (Prov 16:18). The same thing happens with a house: it collapses
one fine day due to some ancient defect in its foundation or long
neglect by the occupiers" ("Collationes", VI, 17).
Spiritual lukewarmness and mediocrity are very closely related:
neither is the route Christian life should take. As Monsignor Escriva
puts it, "'In medio virtus'.... Virtue is to be found in the middle, so
the saying goes, warning us against extremism. But do not make the
mistake of turning that advice into a euphemism to disguise your own
comfort, calculation, lukewarmness, easygoingness, lack of idealism and
mediocrity.
"Meditate on these words of Sacred Scripture: 'Would that you were cold
or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will
spew you out of my mouth"' ("Furrow", 541).
17-19. The Christians of Laodicea did not realize how precarious their
spiritual situation was. The city's flourishing trade and industry, and
the fact that the church was not being persecuted in any way, made them
feel prosperous and content: they were proud as well as lukewarm. They
had fallen victim to that self-conceit the wealthy are always inclined
to feel and which moved our Lord to say that rich people enter heaven
only with difficulty (cf. Mt 19:23); he often pointed to the dangers of
becoming attached to material things (cf. Lk 1:53; 6:24; 12:21; 16:19-
31; 18:23-25). The Laodiceans had become proud in their prosperity and
did not see the need for divine grace (which is worth more than all the
wealth in the world). As St Paul says in one of his letters: "Whatever
gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count
everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ
Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and
count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ" (Phil 3:7-8).
There was an important textile industry in Laodicea which specialized
in the manufacture of black woolen cloth. Instead of wearing that
material, the Laodiceans must dress in garments which only our Lord can
provide and which are the mark of the elect (cf., e.g., Mt 17:2 and
par; Rev 3:4-5; 7:9). The city was also famous for its oculists, like
Zeuxis and Philetos, who had developed a very effective ointment for
the eyes. Jesus offers an even better ointment--one which will show
them the dangerous state they are in. This dire warning comes from
God's love, not his anger: it is his affection that leads him to
reprove and correct his people: 'the Lord reproves whom he loves, as a
father the son in whom he delights" (Prov 3:12). After quoting these
same words the Epistle to the Hebrews adds: "It is for discipline that
you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there
whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without
discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate
children and not sons" (12:7-8).
"Be zealous": stop being lukewarm and enter the fervor of charity, have
an ardent zeal for the glory of God.
20-21. Christ knocking on the door is one of the most touching images
in the Bible. It is reminiscent of the Song of Songs, where the
bridegroom says, "Open to me, my sister, my dove, my perfect one; for
my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the might" (Song
5: 2). It is a way of describing God's love for us, inviting us to
greater intimacy with him, as happens in a thousand ways in the course
of our life. We should be listening for his knock, ready to open the
door to Christ. A writer from the Golden Age of Spanish literature
evokes this scene in poetry: "How many times the angel spoke to
me:/'Look out of your window now,/you'll see how lovingly he calls and
calls.'/ Yet, sovereign beauty, how often/I replied, 'We'll open for
you tomorrow',/ to reply the same when the morrow came" (Lope de Vega,
"Rimas Sacras", Sonnet 18).
Our Lord awaits our response to his call, and when we make the effort
to revive our interior life we experience the indescribable joy of
intimacy with him. "At first it will be a bit difficult. You must make
an effort to seek out the Lord, to thank him for his fatherly and
practical concern for us. Although it is not really a matter of
feeling, little by little the love of God makes itself felt like a
rustle in the soul. It is Christ who pursues us lovingly: 'Behold, I
stand at the door and knock' (Rev 3:20). How is your life of prayer
going? At times during the day don't you feel the impulse to have a
longer talk with him? Don't you then whisper to him that you will tell
him about it later, in a heart-to-heart conversation [...]. Prayer then
becomes continuous, like the beating of our heart, like our pulse.
Without this presence of God, there is no contemplative life; and
without contemplative life, our working for Christ is worth very
little, for vain is the builder's toil if the house is not of the
Lord's building (cf. Ps 126:1)" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By",
8).
Jesus promises that those who conquer will sit beside him on his
throne. He gave a similar promise to St Peter about how the Apostles
would sit on twelve thrones to Judge the twelve tribes of Israel (cf.
Mt 19:28; 20:20ff). The "throne" is a reference to the sovereign
authority Christ has received from the Father. Therefore, the promise
of a seat beside him is a way of saying that those who stay faithful
will share in Christ's victory and kingship (cf. 1 Cor 6:2-3).
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.
From: Luke 19:1-10
The Conversion of Zacchaeus
[1] He (Jesus) entered Jericho and was passing through. [2] And there
was a rich man named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector, and
rich. [3] And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on
account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. [4] So he ran
on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was to
pass that way. [5] And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and
said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay at
your house today." [6] So he made haste and came down, and received
Him joyfully. [7] And when they saw it they all murmured, "He has gone
in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." [8] And Zacchaeus stood
and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the
poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it
fourfold." [9] And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to
this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. [10] For the Son of Man
came to seek and save the lost."
Commentary:
1-10. Jesus Christ is the Savior of mankind; He has healed many sick
people, has raised the dead to life and, particularly, has brought
forgiveness of sin and the gift of grace to those who approach Him in
faith. As in the case of the sinful woman (cf. Luke 7:36-50), here He
brings salvation to Zacchaeus, for the mission of the Son of Man is to
save that which was lost.
Zacchaeus was a tax collector and, as such, was hated by the people,
because the tax collectors were collaborators of the Roman authorities
and were often guilty of abuses. The Gospel implies that this man also
had things to seek forgiveness for (cf. verses 7-10). Certainly he was
very keen to see Jesus (no doubt moved by grace) and he did everything
he could to do so. Jesus rewards his efforts by staying as a guest in
his house. Moved by our Lord's presence Zacchaeus begins to lead a new
life.
The crowd begin to grumble against Jesus for showing affection to a man
they consider to be an evildoer. Our Lord makes no excuses for his
behavior: He explains that this is exactly why He has come--to seek out
sinners. He is putting into practice the parable of the lost sheep
(cf. Luke 15:4-7), which was already prophesied in Ezekiel: "I will seek
the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the
crippled, and I will strengthen the weak" (34:16).
4. Zacchaeus wants to see Jesus, and to do so he has to go out and mix
with the crowd. Like the blind man of Jericho he has to shed any kind
of human respect. In our own search for God we should not let false
shame or fear of ridicule prevent us from using the resources available
to us to meet our Lord. "Convince yourself that there is no such thing
as ridicule for whoever is doing what is best" ([Blessed] J. Escriva,
"The Way", 392).
5-6. This is a very good example of the way God acts to save men.
Jesus calls Zacchaeus personally, using his name, suggesting he invite
Him home. The Gospel states that Zacchaeus does so promptly and
joyfully. This is how we should respond when God calls us by means of
grace.
8. Responding immediately to grace, Zacchaeus makes it known that he
will restore fourfold anything he obtained unjustly--thereby going
beyond what is laid down in the Law of Moses (cf. Exodus 21:37f). And
in generous compensation he gives half his wealth to the poor. "Let
the rich learn", St. Ambrose comments, "that evil does not consist in
having wealth, but in not putting it to good use; for just as riches
are an obstacle to evil people, they are also a means of virtue for
good people" ("Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam, in loc."). Cf. note on
Luke 16:9-11).
10. Jesus' ardent desire to seek out a sinner to save him fills us with
hope of attaining eternal salvation. "He chooses a chief tax
collector: who can despair when such a man obtains grace?" (St.
Ambrose, "Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam, in loc.").
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.
