The Christ of the Apocalypse: Talk 8

 In these talks based on my book The Christ of the Apocalypse: Contemplating the Faces of Jesus in the Book of Revelation, I focus on the portrait of Jesus Christ in the Book of Revelation. St. John offers us a message of hope in difficult times, and his language is rich and symbolic: • How do we interpret the Apocalypse? • Do we interpret St. John literally? • Is the Apocalypse about the end of the world? • Or is it about the beginning of a new creation? Images that have captured the imagination include: the Four Horsemen, the Antichrist, the Number of the Beast, and the Battle of Armageddon. Yet the basic facts about the Book often go unnoticed: that the Apocalypse is – from start to finish – a Revelation of Jesus Christ, who will return in glory at the end of time to usher in a new heaven and a new earth. Finally, I offer some reflections on the relevance of John’s message of hope in our postmodern, post-truth world and post-human world. With the rise of artificial intelligence, and as the universe gives way to the metaverse, John calls us to give brave witness to the truth of the Gospel and so begin now to become a new creation in Christ. - Monsignor A. Robert Nusca OVERVIEW: Introduction to the Talks Talk 1: The Apocalypse of John: A Message of Hope in Difficult Times Talk 2: The Faces of Jesus in the Gospels: The Portraits of Jesus that Emerge in the Four Gospels Talk 3: The Faces of Christ: Jesus in the Book of Revelation Talk 4: Jesus Walks among the Seven Churches: Christ as Glorified Angel Talk 5: The Visions of the Lamb of God: We Examine the Image of the Slain Lion/Lamb of God. Talk 6: The Divine Warrior-The Rider on a White Horse: Christ Returns in Judgement & Glory at the End of Time. Talk 7: A Fourth Face: The Faithful Transformed by God’s Grace Talk 8: The Promises to the Victors: What does Jesus Promise to those who give Faithful Witness to the Gospel? Epilogue: The New Jerusalem: John's Message for us Today! Quotes referenced in these talks, can be found here https://arnusca.substack.com/p/references-for-the-faces-of-jesus To sign up for free to Msgr. Nusca's website, please see arnusca.substack.com to receive ongoing articles as they are published. 

Transcript

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Through the kindness of our donors, the National Catholic Broadcasting Council presents. Let us learn together. Please join Monsignor Robert Nuska for The Christ of the Apocalypse. Talk eight: The Promises to the Victors. To the Church in Ephesus. To everyone who conquers, I will give permission to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God. To the church in Smyrna, whoever conquers will not be harmed by the second death. To the church in Pergamum, to everyone who conquers, I will give some of the hidden mana, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it. To the church in Thyatira, to everyone who conquers and continues to do my works to the end, I will give authority over the nations, and I will also give the morning star. To the church in Sardis, if you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes, and I will not blot your name out of the book of life. I will confess your name before my father and before his angels. To the church in Philadelphia, if you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God. You will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. To the church in Laodicea, to the one who conquers, I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my father on his throne.

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When we look more closely at these promises to the victors, we see that the symbolism is rich, powerful, and at times borders on the otherworldly and mystical. Yet what is promised is not without parallels in the Bible. In the book of Genesis, Enoch is said to have walked with God, while later tradition describes his glorious transformation into the angelic being Metatron. Elijah ascends into heaven in the whirlwind, in a chariot of fire with horses of fire. The face of Moses is transformed by the grace of God and shines with an otherworldly light. The Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke tells us that many signs and wonders were done among the people by the Apostles. In the Gospel of John, Jesus makes the remarkable statement that whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than these will they do because I go to the Father. Echoing the prophet Daniel, Jesus teaches that the righteous will shine like the sun in the heavenly kingdom. Pop culture has nothing to teach us about what it means to be a superstar. And so when we contemplate these biblical passages alongside the promises to the victors, we are well on the way to discovering, or perhaps better, recovering, a renewed vision of the greatness of the human person created in the image and likeness of God, a very important message for us today. Expressed in other terms, John is showing us in very rich, visual, mystical language, what Paul expresses very clearly in his letter to the Galatians, when he says that it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Ultimately, the book of Revelation invites us to reflect upon the larger process of being transformed by God's grace into living temples of the Holy Spirit, as the faithful witnesses come to possess what Saint John of the Cross speaks of as a beauty that is not of this world. So we see that the New Jerusalem is not only a place, but is also a powerful symbol of God's people, transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, as the commentators tell us. Again, the language of these promises is rich, visual, and mystical. John's aim is to offer hope to the faithful who suffer because of their witness to the gospel, while at the same time, he wants to challenge and inspire those who are living their faith in a lukewarm manner. For ultimately, in the words of one scholar, John wants to move the everyday world of his audience in God's direction, from the everyday worldly values of the political and social world of the Roman Empire toward the spiritual values of God's everlasting kingdom. What does Jesus promise his faithful witnesses? Among other things, that they will eat of the tree of life which is in paradise. Here we're led to reflect upon the ultimate goal and destiny of our faith as we journey from paradise lost to the blessings of paradise regained. The crown of life leads us to think of the prize awarded to the victorious athlete. The hidden manna, like the manna that fell from the sky in the book of Exodus, speaks to us of the grace of God given to us for spiritual nourishment and strength. And like the tree of life, it is a symbol of the fullness of the spiritual gifts that await the faithful in the future age. Jesus goes on to promise the victors a share in his own power over the nations. When Jesus promises the victor the morning star, he's essentially saying that they will come to share in what he himself is. For as he, Christ, states so clearly in chapter 22, 16, I am the morning star. The victors will be dressed in white like angels. They will become living pillars in the temple of God. They will dine with Christ and will be seated with him upon his throne in heaven. While much more could be said, what is important to see is that taken together, these promises convey a very exalted vision of a humanity that has been transformed, transfigured, and angelified in Christ. They lead us to reflect upon what it means to share in the Lamb's own victory over the powers of sin and death on Good Friday, even as all remind us of the necessity to live to the fullest lives of brave witness to the gospel. Saint Irenaeus summarizes this great transformation that John describes so succinctly when he writes, God became what we are in order that we may become what he is. Saint Athanasius adds that Christ became human that we might become God, not by virtue of our own human nature, but by participation in the being of the one true God. It is through our faithfulness to the values of the gospel and to the life of holiness that we can be transformed into a spiritual temple. And through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, the light of Christ Himself will shine through us into the darkness of this passing world. For ultimately, as St. Bonaventure comments, into this new Jerusalem no one steps unless it first descends into the heart by grace. Let us pray then that by living deeply the life of faith, the new Jerusalem may begin even now to descend into our hearts by God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit.