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Revelation 1:3-5
New Catholic Bible
Revelation 1:3-5
New Catholic Bible
3 Blessed[a] is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who keep what is written in it, for the appointed time is near.
He Is, He Was, and He Will Return.[b] 4 John, to the seven Churches[c] in Asia: grace to you and peace from him who is, who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness,[d] the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. He loves us and has washed away our sins with his blood
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- Revelation 1:3 Blessed: this is the first of seven beatitudes that appear in the book (see Rev 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7; 22:14). The word “blessed” is more all-encompassing than “happy”; it indicates the favorable conditions in which God has placed a person (see Ps 1:1; Mt 5:3). Prophecy: i.e., any word from God, whether it foretells the future, commands, instructs, or sets forth history.
- Revelation 1:4 The greeting and the address introduce the work as a letter. [He] who is: this is how God revealed himself to Moses at the burning bush (Ex 3:14); this time, the divine name embraces the past, present, and future of humankind and is turned to the future, to the immediate fulfillment of all things: God, he who is to come. God is also described with the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, Alpha and . . . Omega; he is the Beginning and the End, the origin and the completion (a proper name of God according to Isa 44:6; 48:12). In addition, he is the master of all historical events, including the present ones, which, according to the author, are decisive. And Christ will appear in all the glory of his Resurrection and in the grandeur of the work accomplished to save humankind, comprising the body of the Church (see 1 Pet 2:5, 9), in the imminence of his coming to judge the world.
In order to speak of him, the author here multiplies Biblical reminiscences (Ex 19:6; Ps 89:28, 38; Isa 55:3). The seven spirits before the throne (v. 4) represent the Holy Spirit in the many ways that the Spirit manifests himself in the world (e.g., Isa 11:2, 5). - Revelation 1:4 Seven Churches: the Churches (named in v. 11) formed a circle in the province of Asia and were separated from one another by some fifty miles.
- Revelation 1:5 Faithful witness: the Messiah is the witness to the promise the Lord made to David (2 Sam 7:1; Ps 89; Isa 55:3-4; Zec 12:8) in his person as well as in his work. He also fulfills this promise and is thus the efficacious Word, God’s Yes (see Rev 3:14; 19:11, 13; 2 Cor 1:20). He is the heir of David (see Rev 5:5; 22:16) but also the firstborn from the dead because of his Resurrection (see Col 1:18) who will rule the universe after his enemies have been overcome (see Rev 19:6; Dan 7:14).
