My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

REVELATION 1:11-19. THE VISION OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN LAMPSTANDS - SEVEN STARS AND THE ONE WALKING AMONG THE LAMPSTANDS
By Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilinaios (Homily was given December 7, 1980)

The One - the Lord Jesus Christ - Who appeared to Saint John told him to "write what you see to the seven churches." These are seven historical, actual churches of Asia Minor. Obviously, they were not the only churches in Asia Minor, nor were they the greatest or largest of the churches compared to those established by the Holy Apostles. There were churches like the church of Jerusalem, Antioch, or Rome, or Corinth, but initially, these seven churches were in the visual spectrum of Saint John the Evangelist whose home base was Ephesus.

Saint John was exiled from Ephesus to the island of Patmos in Greece. Patmos almost directly across the sea is a relatively short boat ride from the city of Ephesus. These seven churches were under the supervision of Saint John. However, as we will see, they simply represent folds of the historical reality of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. They do not exhaust the geographical and historical local churches of the first century. However, they also describe the historical journey through the centuries of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

"Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me" (1:2). The voice was behind him, as he had to turn around. This is significant because the One speaking was not in front of him; only by turning around could he see the entire awesome and frightful image that would leave him terrified. The Evangelist says: "I turned to see the voice," an interesting expression because we usually turn to hear a voice, not see it. Here the Evangelist turned around to see the Person that the voice was coming from. However, we can also find this expression used by the Israelites in the desert.

Moses records, "Nto all the people saw the voice, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the smoking mountain and stood afar off" Exodus 20:18 - Septuagint (Old Testament). So, all the people saw the voice of God. Can a voice be seen? No, but this expresses the vivacity of the vision where between the voice and the person, between hearing and vision, a confusion takes place and it is only because the vision under these circumstances is dominant over hearing. A voice cannot be seen. It is simply a method of expression used to vivify the image...

"...The golden lampstands symbolize those seven churches of Asia Minor or the entire Church. Again, we must mention that Asia Minor did not only have seven churches. It had many more. When we say church, we do not mean the building (the temple) but the area overseen by a bishop. So, we are talking about episcopates or bishoprics. These were regional churches, with their bishops. Thus, although there numerous churches, the number seven represents the fullness of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. At the same time, the seven churches correspond to actual historical churches. They are not allegorical or mythical but real churches.

"...So the seven golden lampstands, are those seven churches of Asia Minor or the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. And in the midst of the seven lampstands, he says "like a Son of Man," he means not exactly a man, but something like a man; there was something supernatural about this man. So, this man was seen in the midst of the seven lampstands. The lampstands were arranged in such a way that "the One like a Son of Man" could walk among them, walk about and not simply stand. Here we have the image taken from Daniel, of the Messiah as a Son of Man. This image serves to fulfill the prophecy of Daniel and to identify Him, as the gospels already portray the Messiah as one hundred percent human. Saint John the Evangelist is very clear on this matter; "the Logos/Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). He does not use the word, man; he insists on the word, flesh. Saint John wants to make especially clear the human nature of Christ, while at the same time accentuating the divine nature of Christ; for he writes that He is the "Logos/Word who was with the Father". In other words, He always existed; the beginning of all things exists in the Son. The Son was when the beginning of all creation took place both visible and invisible.

Since Saint John shows, within infinity and eternity, God the Logos/Word, Who is the very God and consubstantial with the Father, he will at the same time show the human nature. The Evangelist wants to take every precaution so that the reader will reject any possible [docentist] notion that the human nature was imaginary or anything else, so Saint John writes in this verse, "like a human being." Again, he wants to avoid any notions about an imaginary or surreal human nature, so he purposely states, "the Logos/Word became flesh" to show the reality of the Incarnation of God the Logos/Word. Therefore, in the Gospels, we have the actual Jesus - the One Who drank, walked, talked, slept, became tired, hungry, thirsty, felt pain, was crucified. His blood ran out of His Body. All prove that the One on the Cross was a real human being, one hundred percent human.

Now in the book of the Revelation (Apocalypse), the Incarnate Logos/Word is elevated above time and history; He appears triumphant over history. This is why He is human, but more precisely He is God-man, Theanthropos. The God-human nature is revealed from both views. While in His earthly life, only His human nature was more obvious, much more so than the Divine. His Divine nature was camouflaged or somehow hidden, having emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave. Slave generally means man. He emptied Himself. This does not mean that He was emptied of or separated from Divine Glory. This is never possible. However, He simply hid His Divine glory. Every year we celebrate the birth of Christ. This feast is nothing less than the emptying of the Logos/Word. (Source: Homilies on the Book of The Revelation, Vol. One)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George