From: Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab
The Sounding of the Seventh Trumpet
The Woman Fleeing from the Dragon
[10] And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and
the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ
have come.
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Commentary:
19. The seer introduces the heavenly temple (the location par
excellence of God’s presence), paralleling the earlier mention of the
temple of Jerusalem (cf. 11:1-2). The opening of the temple and the
sight of the Ark of the Covenant show that the messianic era has come
to an end and God’s work of salvation has been completed. The ark was
the symbol of Israel’s election and salvation and of God’s presence in
the midst of his people. According to a Jewish tradition, reported in 2
Maccabees 2:4-8, Jeremiah placed the ark in a secret hiding place prior
to the destruction of Jerusalem, and it would be seen again when the
Messiah carne. The author of the Apocalypse uses this to assure us
that God has not forgotten his covenant: he has sealed it definitively in
heaven, where the ark is located.
Many early commentators interpreted the ark as a reference to Christ’s
sacred humanity, and St Bede explains that just as the manna was kept
in the original ark, so Christ’s divinity lies hidden in his sacred body
(cf. “Explanatio Apocalypsis”, 11, 19).
The heavenly covenant is the new and eternal one made by Jesus Christ
(cf. Mt 26:26-29 and par.) which will be revealed to all at his second
coming when the Church will triumph, as the Apocalypse goes on to
describe. The presence of the ark in the heavenly temple symbolizes the
sublimity of the messianic kingdom, which exceeds anything man could
create. “The vigilant and active expectation of the coming of the Kingdom
is also the expectation of a finally perfect justice for the living and the
dead, for people of all times and places, a justice which Jesus Christ,
installed as supreme Judge, will establish (cf. Mt 24:29-44, 46; Acts
10:42; 2 Cor 5: 10). This promise, which surpasses all human
possibilities, directly concerns our life in this world. For true justice
must include everyone; it must explain the immense load of suffering
borne by all generations. In fact, without the resurrection of the dead
and the Lord’s judgment, there is no justice in the full sense of the term.
The promise of the resurrection is freely made to meet the desire for true
justice dwelling in the human heart” (SCDF, “Libertatis Conscientia”, 60).
The thunder and lightning which accompany the appearance of the ark are
reminiscent of the way God made his presence felt on Sinai; they reveal
God’s mighty intervention (cf. Rev 4:5; 8:5) which is now accompanied
by the chastisement of the wicked, symbolized by the earthquake and
hailstones (cf. Ex 9: 13-35).
1-17. We are now introduced to the contenders in the eschatological
battles which mark the final confrontation between God and his adversary,
the devil. The author uses three portents to describe the leading figures
involved, and the war itself. The first is the woman and her offspring,
including the Messiah (12:1-2); the second is the dragon, who will later
transfer his power to the beasts (12:3); the third, the seven angels with
the seven bowls (15:1).
Three successive confrontations with the dragon are described—1) that
of the Messiah to whom the woman gives birth (12:1-6); 2) that of St
Michael and his angels (12:7-12); and 3) that of the woman and the rest
of her offspring (12:13-17) These confrontations should not be seen as
being in chronological order. They are more like three distinct pictures
placed side by side because they are closely connected: in each the
same enemy, the devil, does battle with God’s plans and with those
whom God uses to carry them out.
1-2. The mysterious figure of the woman has been interpreted ever since
the time of the Fathers of the Church as referring to the ancient people
of Israel, or the Church of Jesus Christ, or the Blessed Virgin. The text
supports all of these interpretations but in none do all the details fit. The
woman can stand for the people of Israel, for it is from that people that
the Messiah comes, and Isaiah compares Israel to “a woman with child,
who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near her time” (Is
26:17).
She can also stand for the Church, whose children strive to overcome
evil and to bear witness to Jesus Christ (cf. v. 17). Following this
interpretation St Gregory wrote: “The sun stands for the light of truth,
and the moon for the transitoriness of temporal things; the holy Church
is clothed like the sun because she is protected by the splendor of
supernatural truth, and she has the moon under her feet because she
is above all earthly things” (”Moralia”, 34, 12).
The passage can also refer to the Virgin Mary because it was she who
truly and historically gave birth to the Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord
(cf. v. 5). St Bernard comments: “The sun contains permanent color
and splendor; whereas the moon’s brightness is unpredictable and
changeable, for it never stays the same. It is quite right, then, for Mary
to be depicted as clothed with the sun, for she entered the profundity
of divine wisdom much further than one can possibly conceive” (”De
B. Virgine”, 2).
In his account of the Annunciation, St Luke sees Mary as representing
the faithful remnant of Israel; the angel greets her with the greeting
given in Zephaniah 3:15 to the daughter of Zion (cf. notes on Lk 1:26-
31). St Paul in Galatians 4:4 sees a woman as the symbol of the
Church, our mother; and non-canonical Jewish literature contemporary
with the Book of Revelation quite often personifies the community as a
woman. So, the inspired text of the Apocalypse is open to interpreting
this woman as a direct reference to the Blessed Virgin who, as mother,
shares in the pain of Calvary (cf. Lk 2:35) and who was earlier
prophesied in Isaiah 7:14 as a “sign” (cf. Mt 1:22-23). At the same
time the woman can be interpreted as standing for the people of God,
the Church, whom the figure of Mary represents.
The Second Vatican Council has solemnly taught that Mary is a “type”
orsymbol of the Church, for “in the mystery of the Church, which is
itself rightly called mother and virgin, the Blessed Virgin stands out
in eminent and singular fashion as exemplar both of virgin and mother.
Through her faith and obedience she gave birth on earth to the very
Son of the Father, not through the knowledge of man but by the
overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, in the manner of a new Eve who
placed her faith, not in the serpent of old but in God’s messenger,
without wavering in doubt. The Son whom she brought forth is he whom
God placed as the first-born among many brethren (cf. Rom 8:29), that
is, the faithful, in whose generation and formation she cooperates with
a mother’s love” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 63).
The description of the woman indicates her heavenly glory, and the
twelve stars of her victorious crown symbolize the people of God—the
twelve patriarchs (cf. Gen 37:9) and the twelve apostles. And so,
independently of the chronological aspects of the text, the Church sees
in this heavenly woman the Blessed Virgin, “taken up body and soul into
heavenly glory, when her earthly life was over, and exalted by the Lord
as Queen over all things, that she might be the more fully conformed to
her Son, the Lord of lords (cf. Rev 19:16) and conqueror of sin and
death” (”Lumen Gentium”, 59). The Blessed Virgin is indeed the great
sign, for, as St Bonaventure says, “God could have made none greater.
He could have made a greater world and a greater heaven; but not a
woman greater than his own mother” (”Speculum”, 8).
3-4. In his description of the devil (cf. v. 9), St John uses symbols taken
from the Old Testament. The dragon or serpent comes from Genesis
3:1-24, a passage which underlies all the latter half of this book. Its
red color and seven heads with seven diadems show that it is bringing
its full force to bear to wage this war. The ten horns in Daniel 7:7 stand
for the kings who are Israel’s enemies; in Daniel a horn is also
mentioned to refer to Antiochus IV Epiphanes, of whom Daniel also says
(to emphasize the greatness of Antiochus’ victories) that it cast stars
down from heaven onto the earth (cf. Dan 8:10). Satan drags other
angels along with him, as the text later recounts (Rev 12:9). All these
symbols, then, are designed to convey the enormous power of Satan.
“The devil is described as a serpent”, St Cyprian writes, “because he
moves silently and seems peaceable and comes by easy ways and is
so astute and so deceptive [...] that he tries to have night taken for day,
poison taken for medicine. So, by deceptions of this kind, he tries to
destroy truth by cunning. That is why he passes himself off as an angel
of light” (”De Unitate Ecclesiae”, I-III).
After the fall of our first parents war broke out between the serpent and
his seed and the woman and hers: “I will put enmity between you and
the woman, between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen 3:15). Jesus Christ is the woman’s
descendant who will obtain victory over the devil (cf. Mk 1:23-26; Lk
4:31-37; etc.). That is why the power of evil concentrates all his energy
on destroying Christ (cf. Mt 2:13-18) or to deflecting him from his
mission (cf. Mt 4:1-11 and par.). By relating this enmity to the
beginnings of the human race St. John paints a very vivid picture.
5. The birth of Jesus Christ brings into operation the divine plan
announced by the prophets (cf. Is 66:7) and by the Psalms (cf. Ps 2:9),
and marks the first step in ultimate victory over the devil. Jesus’ life on
earth, culminating in his passion, resurrection and ascension into
heaven, was the key factor in achieving this victory. St John emphasizes
the triumph of Christ as victor, who, as the Church confesses, “sits at
the right hand of the Father” (”Nicene- Constantinopolitan Creed”).
6. The figure of the woman reminds us of the Church, the people of God.
Israel took refuge in the wilderness to escape from Pharaoh, and the
Church does the same after the victory of Christ. The wilderness stands
for solitude and intimate union with God. In the wilderness God took
personal care of his people, setting them free from their enemies (cf. Ex
17:8-16) and nourishing them with quail and manna (cf. Ex 16:1-36). The
Church is given similar protection against the powers of hell (cf. Mt 16:18)
and Christ nourishes it with his body and his word all the while it makes
its pilgrimage through the ages; it has a hard time (like Israel in the
wilderness) but there will be an end to it: it will take one thousand two
hundred and sixty days (cf. notes on 11:3).
Although the woman, in this verse, seems to refer directly to the
Church, she also in some way stands for the particular woman who
gave birth to the Messiah, the Blessed Virgin. As no other creature has
done, Mary has enjoyed a very unique type of union with God and very
special protection from the powers of evil, death included. Thus, as the
Second Vatican Council teaches, “in the meantime [while the Church
makes its pilgrim way on earth], the Mother of Jesus in the glory which
she possesses in body and soul in heaven is the image and beginning
of the Church as it is to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise she
shines forth on earth, until the day of the Lord shall come (cf. 2 Pet
3:10), a sign of certain hope and comfort to the pilgrim people of God”
(”Lumen Gentium”, 68).
10-12. With the ascension of Christ into heaven the Kingdom of God is
established and so all those who dwell in heaven break out into a song
of joy. The devil has been deprived of his power over man in the sense
that the redemptive action of Christ and man’s faith enable man to
escape from the world of sin. The text expresses this joyful truth by
saying that there is now no place for the accuser, Satan whose name
means and whom the Old Testament teaches to be the accuser of men
before God: cf. Job 1:6-12; 2:1-10). Given what God meant creation to
be, Satan could claim as his victory anyone who, through sinning, dis-
figured the image and likeness of God that was in him. However, once
the Redemption has taken place, Satan no longer has power to do this,
for, as St John writes, “if any one does sin, we have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the expiation for our
sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (Jn
2:1-2). Also, on ascending into heaven, Christ sent us the Holy Spirit
as “Intercessor and Advocate, especially when man, that is, mankind,
find themselves before the judgment of condemnation by that ‘accuser’
about whom the Book of Revelation says that ‘he accuses them day
and night before our God”’ (John Paul II, “Dominum Et Vivificantem”,
67).
Although Satan has lost this power to act in the world, he still has time
left, between the resurrection of our Lord and the end of history, to put
obstacles in man’s way and frustrate Christ’s action. And so he works
ever more frenetically, as he sees time run out, in his effort to distance
everyone and society itself from the plans and commandments of God.
The author of the Book of Revelation uses this celestial chant to warn
the Church of the onset of danger as the End approaches.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: 1 Corinthians 15:20-27
The Basis of Our Faith (Continuation)
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Commentary:
20-28. The Apostle insists on the solidarity that exists between Christ
and Christians: as members of one single body, of which Christ is the
head, they form as it were one organism (cf. Rom 6:3-11; Gal 3:28).
Therefore, once the resurrection of Christ is affirmed, the resurrection
of the just necessarily follows. Adam’s disobedience brought death for
all; Jesus, the new Adam, has merited that all should rise (cf. Rom
5:12-21). “Again, the resurrection of Christ effects for us the resurrection
of our bodies not only because it was the efficient cause of this mystery,
but also because we all ought to arise after the example of the Lord. For
with regard to the resurrection of the body we have this testimony of the
Apostle: ‘As by a man came death, by a man has come also the
resurrection of the dead’ (1 Cor 15:21). In all that God did to accomplish
the mystery of our redemption he made use of the humanity of Christ as
an effective instrument, and hence his resurrection was, as it were, an
instrument for the accomplishment of our resurrection” (”St Pius V
Catechism”, I, 6, 13).
Although St Paul here is referring only to the resurrection of the just
(v. 23), he does speak elsewhere of the resurrection of all mankind
(cf. Acts 24:15). The doctrine of the resurrection of the bodies of all
at the end of time, when Jesus will come in glory to judge everyone,
has always been part of the faith of the Church; “he [Christ] will come
at the end of the world, he will judge the living and the dead; and he
will reward all, both the lost and the elect, according to their works.
And all those will rise with their own bodies which they now have so
that they may receive according to their works, whether good or bad;
the wicked, a perpetual punishment with the devil; the good, eternal
glory with ‘Christ” (Fourth Lateran Council, “De Fide Catholica”, chap.
1).
23-28. St Paul outlines very succinctly the entire messianic and
redemptive work of Christ: by decree of the Father, Christ has been
made Lord of the universe (cf. Mt 28:18), in fulfillment of Ps 110:1 and
Ps 8:7. When it says here that “the Son himself will also be subjected
to him who put all things under him”, this must be understood as
referring to Christ in his capacity of Messiah and head of the Church;
not Christ as God, because the Son is “begotten, not created,
consubstantial with the Father” (”Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed”).
Christ’s sovereignty over all creation comes about in history, but it
will achieve its final, complete, form after the Last Judgment. The
Apostle presents that last event—a mystery to us—as a solemn act
of homage to the Father. Christ will offer all creation to his Father as
a kind of trophy, offering him the Kingdom which up to then had been
confided to his care. From that moment on, the sovereignty of God
and Christ will be absolute, they will have no enemies, no rivals; the
stage of combat will have given way to that of contemplation, as St
Augustine puts it (cf. “De Trinitate”, 1, 8).
The Parousia or second coming of Christ in glory at the end of time,
when he establishes the new heaven and the new earth (cf. Rev 21:1-2),
will mean definitive victory over the devil, over sin, suffering and death.
A Christian’s hope in this victory is not something passive: rather, it is
something that spurs him on to ensure that even in this present life
Christ’s teaching and spirit imbue all human activities. “Far from dimi-
nishing our concern to develop this earth,” Vatican II teaches, “the
expectancy of a new earth should spur us on, for it is here that the
body of a new human family grows, foreshadowing in some way the
age which is to come. That is why, although we must be careful to
distinguish earthly progress clearly from the increase of the Kingdom
of Christ, such progress is of vital concern to the Kingdom of God,
insofar as it can contribute to the better ordering of human society.
“When we have spread on earth the fruits of our nature and our enter-
prise -human dignity, brotherly communion, and freedom—according
to the command of the Lord and in his Spirit, we will find them once
again, cleansed this time from the stain of sin, illuminated and trans-
figured, when Christ presents to his Father an eternal and universal
kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom
of justice, love and peace (”Roman Missal”, preface for the solemnity
of Christ the King). Here on earth the Kingdom is mysteriously present;
when the Lord comes it will enter into its perfection” (”Gaudium Et Spes”,
39).
24. “When he delivers the kingdom to God the Father”: this does not
quite catch the beauty of the Greek which literally means “when he
delivers the kingdom to the God and Father”. In New Testament Greek,
when the word “Theos” (God) is preceded by the definite article (”ho
Theos”) the first person of the Blessed Trinity is being referred to.
25. “He must reign”: every year, on the last Sunday of ordinary time,
the Church celebrates the solemnity of Christ the King, to acknowledge
his absolute sovereignty over all created things. On instituting this feast,
Pius XI pointed out that “He must reign in our minds, which should
assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and
to the teachings of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey
the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should
spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him
alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should
serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or, to
use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of righteousness unto
God (Rom 6:13)” (”Quas Primas”).
27. By “all things” the Apostle clearly means all created beings. In
pagan mythology, rivalry and strife occurred among the gods and some-
times led to the son of a god supplanting his father. St Paul wants to
make it quite clear that Sacred Scripture suggests nothing of that kind.
No subjection is possible among the three persons of the Blessed Trinity,
because they are one God.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.