| One
of the reasons that interpreters often overlook evidence
of baptismal praxis in the book of Revelation is because
they do not connect two important actions in early
baptismal rites with depictions of similar actions
in Revelation. These two actions are the marking of
the Divine Name on the baptismal iniciate and the
placing of a white robe on the newly baptized. The
crucial methodological question is this: Did mention
of marking and giving of names as well as the wearing
of white robes in Revelation become the source of
this baptismal praxis in the early church or do these
depictions reflect already existing first century
baptismal praxis? There are two solid reasons to see
these depictions as reflecting already existing baptismal
rites. First, these rites are not new rituals, but
an adapted continuation of the priestly ordination
rites of ancient Israel. Second, these visions communicate
to Christians more readily if the imagery is grounded
in actual experience.
Revelation 7:1-8 depicts a scene in which the elect
of God are "sealed" before destructive activities
are carried out. It is evident from other texts in
Revelation that this seal is YHWH, the sacred four
letter Divine Name of the Hebrew Bible (3.12; 14.1;
22.4). This paper will demonstrate that Revelation
evinces early Christian baptismal praxis wherein the
iniciate received a mark that was the bestowal of
the Divine Name as a seal. Furthermore, it will be
argued from the text of Revelation that this reception
of the Divine Name, washing, and clothing in white
was understood to be the foundational priestly preparation
for early Christian mystical experience of the presence
of God, especially in the Eucharist.
I.
The Seal with the Divine Name
Revelation shows a great interest in the marking or
receiving of a name or names. There are three key
texts in Revelation that speak about this:
[Rev 3.12; Christ says] He who conquers, I will
make him a pillar in the temple of my God; never shall
he go out of it, and I will write on him the name
of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the
new Jerusalem which comes down form my God out of
heaven, and my own new name.
[Rev 14.1] Then I [John] looked, and low, on Mount
Zion stood the Lamb, and with him a hundred and forty-four
thousand who had his name and his Fatheris name written
on their foreheads.
[Rev 22.4] There shall no more be anything accursed,
but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in
it, and his servants shall worship him; they shall
see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.
Two foundational questions arise from these texts:
How many names do the followers of the Lamb receive
and what are those names? Rev 3.12 speaks of having
the name of God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and
the new name of Christ written on those who are faithful.
Rev 14.1 states that the saints had the name of the
Lamb and the Fatheris name written on their foreheads.
Rev 22.4 testifies that the saints have the name of
God on their foreheads. The fact that these texts
exist alongside each other in the same document supports
the conclusion that they each are speaking of a singular
name that is shared by God, the Lamb who is Christ,
and the Church, who is the visible manifestation of
the Holy Spirit. What, then, is this name?
The place to start in solving this puzzle is Rev 19.12-13,
which gives insight into the mysterious or hidden
name of the Son:
[Rev 19.12-13] His eyes are like blazing fire,
and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written
on him that no one knows, but he himself. He is dressed
in a robe dipped in blood and his name is the Word
of God.
There is solid evidence to support the conclusion
that the unknown or hidden name of Christ is YHWH,
the personal name of God in the Hebrew Bible. Furthermore,
this conclusion is supported by the fact that the
name by which Christ is known according to this text
is "the Word of God" (19.13). The identification
of Christ as the Word is founded upon the identification
of Christ with the Angel of YHWH who is present in
several theophanies in the Pentateuch, Joshua, and
Judges. Exodus 23.20-22 states that this angel has
the Divine Name "in him":
[Exod 23.20-21] Behold, I [YHWH] send an angel
in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring
you to the place that I have prepared. Be attentive
to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against
him, for he will not pardon your transgression; for
my Name is in him.
Since this "angel" has the name YHWH in
him, he is not from among the myraids of created angels;
he is YHWH in a visible form.
It is not surprising that Israelites and Jews, long
before and during the first century C.E., referred
to this angel who possessed the most important word
of the world as "the Word of YHWH", "the
Word of God", or simply "the Word".
Note the following texts from Genesis, Ezekiel the
Tragedian, Wisdom of Solomon, and Philo that evince
this phenomenon:
[Gen 15.1-3] After these things the Word of YHWH came
to Abram in a vision, "Fear not, Abram, I am
your shield; your reward shall be very great."
But Abram said, "O Lord God, what will you give
me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house
is Eliezer of Damascus?" And Abram said, "Behold,
you have given me no offspring; and a slave born in
my house will be my heir." And behold, the Word
of YHWH came to him, "This man shall not be your
heir; your own son shall be your heir."
[WisSol 18.14-16] For while gentle silence enveloped
all things, and night in its swift course was now
half gone, your all-powerful Word leaped from heaven,
form the royal throne, into the midst of the land
that was doomed, a stern warrior carrying the sharp
sword of your authentic command, and stood and filled
all things with death, and touched heaven while standing
on earth.
[Ezekiel the Tragedian, Exagoge, 96-99] "Stay,
Moses, best of men, do not come near until you have
loosed the bindings from your feet; the place on which
you stand is holy ground, and from this bush Godis
Word shines forth to you."
[Philo, Conf 146] But if there be any as yet unfit
to be called a son of God, let him press to take his
place under Godis Firstborn, the Word, who holds eldership
among the angels, an archangel as it were. And many
names are his for he is called: the Beginning, the
Name of God, His Word, the Man after His Image, and
"He that sees", namely Israel.
The identification of the hidden name of Christ as
YHWH may appear to go against the clear testimony
of Rev 19.12: "He has a Name written on him that
no one but he himself knows." This assertion,
however, does not means that Christ cannot or has
not revealed his hidden name. Rev 19.12 is evidence
that an important aspect of early Christian teaching,
probably pre-baptismal instruction, was the revelation
of the true name of Christ, as can be seen already
in the foundational Christian creed: Jesus is Lord
(Phil 2.11). The significance of this revelation of
Jesusi hidden name as the Divine Name is also visible
in the so-called High Priestly Prayer in John:
[John 17.11b] Holy Father, protect them in your
Name that you have given me, so that they may be one,
as we are one. While I was with them, I protected
them in your Name that you have given me [. . . ].
[26] I made your Name known to them and will continue
to make it known.
The understanding that the Son and the Holy Spirit
share the Divine Name is also evident in the baptismal
formula in Matthew 28.19: individuals are to be baptized
in the (singular Divine) Name shared by the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. The revelation of Jesusi hidden
name is also a significant topic in some Gnostic texts.
Therefore, the three references in Revelation to the
Name on the forehead speak about the Divine Name and
appear to be linked to baptism. Although 3.12 speaks
about the writing of the Name as a future reality
("He who conquers . . . I will write on him the
Name of my God"), both 14.1 and 22.4 imply that
the Name was written on the people of God before the
eschatological events and certainly before these people
entered heaven. This Name gave them identity and protection
during earthly tribulations as well as assured them
of their heavenly inheritance. Note the relationship
between the Name and being faithful to Christ in these
two texts from the seven letters to the churches:
[Rev 2.3] I know you have fortitude even to endure
on account of my Name.
[Rev 3.8] I know that you have but little power, and
yet you have kept my word and have not denied my Name.
This language and imagery is grounded in the fact
that the Divine Name is written, spoken, and imparted
in baptism.
The primary text that supports connecting this language
of the writing of the Name on the forehead with baptism
is the reference to the sealing of the saints in Rev
7.2-3:
[Rev 7.2-3] Then I saw another angel ascend from
the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living
God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels
who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying,
"Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees,
till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their
foreheads."
The historical background of this sealing imagery
in Revelation is Ezekiel 9, where the prophet sees
"the Glory", who is the visible YHWH, command
a man in white linen and his six associates to mark
the faithful of Jerusalem and then carry out a Passover-style
purge of all the unfaithful who do not bear YHWHis
mark:
[Ezek 9.4-6] And the LORD said to him, "Go
through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark
upon the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over
the abominations that are committed in it." And
to the others he said in my hearing, "Pass through
the city after him, and kill; your eye shall not spare,
and you shall show no pity; slay old men outright,
young men and maidens, little children and women,
but touch no one upon whom is the mark."
The Hebrew word translated "mark" here is
taw, which also signifies the specific mark made for
the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Therefore,
the mark to be placed upon the faithful remnant is
probably the Hebrew letter taw. It was placed upon
the forehead for visibility. As the last letter of
the Hebrew alphabet, it functioned as a mark of YHWHis
ownership because it was considered shorthand for
his Name, much like the Greek letter Omega does in
early Christian symbolism, including Revelation where
both God and Christ are known as the Alpha and Omega
(Rev 1.8; 22.13). Like the blood on the Israelite
doorposts during the night of the tenth plague, this
mark was a protecting sign or seal that shielded its
bearer from the purge of the unrighteous that YHWH
ordered in the vision of Ezekiel 9. Furthermore, it
is not insignificant that in ancient Hebrew script
and even in the first century CE a Hebrew taw looked
like two equal lines crossed, either erect like +
or at an angle like X.
This imagery from Ezekiel 9 is the pattern used in
both depicting and recording the vision of the sealing
of the righteous in Revelation 7. The "angel"
who ascends "from the rising of the sun, with
the seal of the living God" in Rev 7:2, therefore,
appears to be a depiction of the angelomorphic Glory,
since the Glory was to return from the East (Ezek
43:1-2) and he bears seal, which is the Divine Name
(Exod 23:21; cf. 28.36). The identification of the
Son of Man/Glory as the Risen Christ in Chapter 1
makes a Christolological identification of this angel
possible. This sealing in Revelation does not necessarily
imply that the name was actually written , but was
probably sealing with a mark, possibly a Hebrew taw,
that represented the Divine Name. This is also apparent
from the contrasting mark of the Beast represents
nothing other than the name of the Beast: "so
that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark,
that is, the name of the beast or the number of its
name" (Rev 13.17).
Some have argued against understanding the sealing
in Revelation 7 as baptism since it is depicting this
group as already Christians who then are sealed before
the eschatological tribulations. It must be remembered,
however, that John is given a vision that encompasses
the lengthy period of time. There had already been
a few generations of Christians who had been reborn
in baptism, had experienced the chaos of this world
as described in Johnis visions, and then had died
in the faith. John is not given multiple individual
visions of these Christians, but one encompassing
vision that depicts the sealing of the church of various
generations with the Divine Name in baptism. In other
words, it is precisely in the individual baptismal
sealings throughout history that this eschatological
sealing dramatized in Revelation 7 is taking place.
Another Christian apocalypse, the second century Shepherd
of Hermas, provides abundant support this understanding
of sealing with the Divine Name in Holy Baptism. Notice
what the following texts says about the building of
the church:
[Hermas Vis. III.3.5] Hear, then why the tower
has been built upon the water: because your life was
saved and shall be saved through water, and the tower
has been founded by the utterance of the almighty
and glorious Name, and is maintained by the unseen
power of the Master.
This text is vivid testimony that the church, which
is the tower, is built by baptism, which is depicted
as water and the utterance of the Divine Name. Hermas
also specifically speaks of baptism with water and
the Name as the seal:
[Hermas Sim. IX.16.3-4] "So these also who
had fallen asleep received the seal of the Son of
God and entered into the kingdom of God. For before,"
said he, "a man bears the Name of the Son of
God, he is dead. But when he receives the seal he
puts away mortality and receives life. The seal, then,
is the water."
There are also several hymns in the Jewish Christian
Odes of Solomon, dated between the late first to the
third century, that understand the sealing as the
marking of the Divine Name with oil in Baptism. Although
it cannot be determined that the author of Odes actually
knew the Book of Revelation, the eighth ode is an
especially fine commentary on the scene in Revelation
7:
[OdesSol 8.13] And before they existed, I [Christ]
recognized them and imprinted a seal on their faces
[. . .]. [19] And my righteousness goes before them;
and they will not be deprived of my Name; for its
is with them. [20] Seek and increase, and abide in
the love of the Lord. [21] You who are loved in the
Beloved, you who are kept in him who lives, you who
are saved in him who was saved, [22] you shall be
found uncorrupted in all ages, on account of the Name
of your Father. Hallelujah.
Although Ezekiel 9 with its roots in the Passover
is the primary text shedding light on the vision depicted
in Revelation 7, some of the background for the significance
of the Divine Name as a protecting agent has its origin
in the High Priest traditions of ancient Israel. The
High Priest, who entered the Holy of Holies on Yom
Kippur, bore the Divine Name on his turban (Exod 28:36-38).
This Name was understood as an important element of
what protected the High Priest as he came into the
presence of YHWH. The protection of the priestly garb,
including the Divine Name, from the punishing presence
of YHWH is especially vivid in Wisdom of Solomonis
description of Aaronis intervention on behalf of Israel
(cf. Numbers 16.41-50):
[WisSol 18.22-25] He conquered the wrath not by
strength of body, and not by force of arms, but by
his word he subdued the Punisher, appealing to the
oaths and covenants given to our fathers. For when
the dead had already fallen on one another in heaps,
he intervened and held back the wrath, and cut off
its way to the living. For upon his long robe the
whole world was depicted, and the glories of the fathers
were engraved on the four rows of stones, and thy
majesty [i.e., the Divine Name] on the diadem upon
his head. To these the Destroyer yielded, these he
feared; for merely to test the wrath was enough.
The priests of Israel were also anointed with oil
as part of their ordination rite (Exod 29.7). A relationship
between priestly rites and early baptismal practices
involving the baptismal formula is explicitly expressed
in some second and third century texts concerning
baptismal praxis:
[Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition XXII.2-3] After
this pouring the consecrated oil and laying of his
hand on the head, he shall say: "I anoint thee
will holy oil in God the Father Almighty and Christ
Jesus and the Holy Ghost." And sealing him on
the forehead, he shall give him the kiss of peace
[. . .].
[Tertullian, De Baptismo c.7] Then having come up
form the font we are thoroughly anointed with a blessed
unction, in accordance with the ancient discipline
whereby, since the time when Aaron was anointed by
Moses, men were anointed unto the priesthood with
oil from a horn.
[Didascalia Apostolorum 16] But where there is a woman,
and especially a deaconess, it is not fitting that
women should be seen by men, but with the imposition
or of the hand do thou anoint the head only. As of
old the priests and kings were anointed in Israel,
do thou in like manner, with the imposition of the
hand, anoint the head of those who receive baptism,
whether of men or women.
In summary, these texts support the understanding
that the texts from Revelation which speak of sealing
or writing the Name on the forehead are depicting
the baptismal rite and resulting baptismal reality.
Jean Danielou has even argued that early Jewish Christians
placed the taw upon the forehead of the baptismal
iniciate with oil as the seal of the Divine Name spoken
when the water was poured. It was the sign of ownership,
protection, and enlistment into the church. Christians
then bore the Name, had the power of the Name, called
upon the Name, and willingly suffered on account of
the Name. The Divine Name was also a significance
element in later Jewish mystical experience of the
Divine Presence. Neither was this seal a mere symbolic
abstraction for early Christians; the outer mark was
a tangible reminder that Christ, the incarnation of
YHWH, tabernacles in the Christian even as the Name
dwelt in the tabernacle and temple of ancient Israel.
This understanding of the Name as the personal reality
of Christ dwelling in the believer is evident in the
post-communion prayer found in the Didache: "We
give you thanks, Holy Father, for your holy Name,
whom you have caused to dwell in our hearts"
(10.1). Therefore, the focus on the marking with the
Divine Name in Revelation probably is reflecting extant
first century baptismal praxis.
II. The Wearing of White Garments
In addition to this focus on the Divine Name, a second
aspect of Revelationis testimony to early baptismal
praxis is evident in the repeated imagery of white
"garments" (3.4-5, 18; 4.4; 16.15; 19.13,
16) or "robes" (6.11; 7.9,13-14; 22.14).
Because of the frequency of depictions of saints and
angels in heaven clothed in white, it could be argued
that the white clothing is simply a symbol of glorification.
Revelation, however, appears to make a distinction
between the white "garment" (himation) worn
by the followers of the Lamb and the Warrior Lamb
on earth and the white "robe" (stol) worn
by saints and angels in heaven. Several texts testify
that the white garment is already a possession of
Christians on earth, long before their glorification
in heaven:
[Rev 3.4-5] Yet you still have a few names in
Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments;
and they shall walk with me in white, for they are
worthy. He who conquers shall be clad thus in white
garments, and I will not blot his name out of the
book of life [. . .].
[Rev 3.18] Therefore, I counsel you to buy from me
[. . .] white garments to clothe you and to keep the
shame of your nakedness from being seen.
[Rev 16.15] "Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed
is he who is awake, keeping his garments that he may
not go naked and be seen exposed!"
There is clear testimony from the third century forward
that the baptismal iniciate was stripped naked, washed,
and then clothed in a white garment. Anointing with
oil was also part of the baptismal rite in some locales.
These two texts from very significant church fathers
are representative evidence of this baptismal praxis:
[Ambrose, De mysteriis 34 ] After Baptism, you
have received white garments, that they may be a sign
that you have taken off the clothing of sin and that
you have been clad in the pure garments of innocence.
[Cyril of Jerusalem, Mystagogic Cathecheses] Now that
you have taken off your old garments and been clad
in white garments, you must also in spirit remain
clothed in white. I do not mean to say that you must
always wear white garments, but that you must always
be covered with those that are truly white and shining,
so that you may say with the prophet Isaiah: "He
has clothed me with the garment of salvation, and
he has covered me with the vestment of joy."
It has been already demonstrated that early baptismal
practice of anointing is rooted in the priestly ordination
rites of ancient Israel. It is very probable that
the clothing with white also has its roots in priestly
clothing. According to Exodus 29, YHWH commanded Moses
that Aaron and his sons be washed with water, anointed,
and clothed at the door to the tent of meeting:
[Exod 29.4-9] You shall bring Aaron and his sons
to the door of the tent of meeting, and wash them
with water. And you shall take the paraments, and
put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and
the ephod, and the breatplate, and gird him with the
skilfully woven band of the ephod; and the breastpiece,
and gird him with the skilfully woven band of the
ephod; and you shall set the turban on his head, and
put the holy crown upon the turban. And you shall
take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head and
anoint him. Then you shall bring his sons, and put
coats on them, and you shall gird them with girdles
and bind caps on them; and the priesthood shall be
theirs by a perpetual statute. Thus you shall ordain
Aaron and his sons.
These ordination rites clearly informed early Christian
baptismal practice and theology. The many divine theophanies
of the Hebrew Bible as well as the careful priestly
rituals all testify concerning the difficulties involved
with sinners coming into the presence of a holy God.
Like the faithful of ancient Israel, Jewish Christians
had a healthy understanding and respect for the holiness
of God. Baptism in Revelation, therefore, can be understood
as the salvific event that purifies sinners to be
"a kingdom and priests to our God who reign on
earth" (Rev 5.10). This evidence supports the
conclusion that later baptismal praxis in the church
is not rooted primarily in the visions of Revelation,
but is a continuation of extant baptismal praxis that
is reflected in Revelation and was influenced by the
ancient ordination practices of the Israelite priesthood.
The priestly nature of baptism in cleansing and clothing
us to enter and serve in Godis Presence is also visible
in this text from the Epistle to the Hebrews:
[Heb 10.19-22] Therefore, brethren, since we have
confidence to enter the [heavenly] sanctuary by the
blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he
opened for us through the curtain, that is, through
his flesh, and since we have a great high priest over
the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart
in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled
clear from an evil conscience and our bodies washed
with pure water.
This priesthood of the baptized, according to Revelation,
is lived out in mystically gathering around the heavenly
throne to sing the unceasing liturgy with the angels
and saints, and then going into the chaotic world
to be a faithful and uncompromising witnesses like
Jesus, the faithful and true martyr.
In addition to this priestly background, the white
garment imagery in Revelation also reflects how Holy
Baptism was understood as a wedding ceremony in which
a person is cleansed, clothed as a bride, and joined
with the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. The Church as Christis
bride is the prominent image of the closing chapters
of Revelation (19.7-9; 21.2, 9). Although Rev 19.8
states that the fine linen of the Bride is "the
righteous deeds of the saints", this should not
be viewed as distinct and disparate from the understanding
of the white garments elsewhere as baptismal. This,
rather, reinforces one of the themes of Revelation
that the baptized saints indeed bear the fruit of
their life in Christ. The white garment of baptism,
therefore, shows forth the individual foretaste of
the corporate experience of the eschatological wedding
between Christ and the Church. A similar understanding
of baptism is the foundation for Paulis discussion
of marriage in Ephesians:
[Eph 5.25-27] Husbands love your wives as Christ
loved the church and gave himself for her, in order
that he sanctify here, having cleansed her by the
washing of water with the Word [i.e., the Divine Name],
that he present the church to himself in splendor,
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she
be holy and without blemish.
Therefore, the white garment imagery of Revelation
probably reflects both baptismal praxis and theology.
The white garment depicts the purity from sin and
the priestly vocation that Christians receive in Holy
Baptism. It is a reminder that this baptismal purity
allows Christians to serve in the presence of God
now and is the basis for their future service before
the throne in eternity.
III
The Mystical Experience of the Divine Presence in
the Eucharist
What, finally, is the relationship between this baptismal
praxis in Revelation and mystical experience of the
Divine Presence? If one accepts the relationship between
baptism and priestly ordination rites proposed above,
then the marking with the Divine Name, washing, and
clothing of baptism prepares for the experience of
the Divine Presence. Revelation gives significant
focus to the experience of the Divine Presence in
Johnis mystical ascent through the "open door"
of heaven (4.1), especially his experience of the
heavenly throne room in Revelation 4-5. Was John,
however, the only Christian on earth whom Revelation
expects to mystically experience the Divine Presence?
Some scholars have drawn attention to how the reading
of Revelation allows the hearers to have an experience
that parallels Johnis. There is validity for this
assertion in terms of experiencing all the scenes
of Revelation. The experience of the Divine Presence,
however, does not appear to solely result from the
reading of Revelation. It is not insignificant that
John had this experience on the Lordis Day, the typical
day for Christians to gather for worship that included
the Eucharist. The understanding that other faithful
Christians could pass through the "open door"
of heaven in the context of Lordis Day worship appears
to be the basis for two invitations of Christ in the
seven letters:
[Rev 3.8] "Behold, I set before you an open
door which no one is able to shut."
[Rev 3.20] "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.
A typical interpretation of the second text emphasizes
that Jesus is standing at the door of hearts and calling
people to repentance; people must only open their
hearts to him so that he can enter. Such an interpretation
ignores the context and also the meal imagery. If
this text is interpreted in its immediate context,
however, there is a door and a voice described only
two verses later: the door to heaven and the voice
of the Spirit who calls John to come into the Divine
Presence. This text, moreover, echoes Song of Songs
5.2 ("the voice of my beloved, he knocks at the
door: Open to me, my beloved"), a document that
had significant use in Jewish mystical tradition.
Given the context and meal imagery, there are grounds
for understanding both of these texts to be allusions
to the experience of the Divine Presence in the context
of the Eucharist. In the Eucharist Christians are
invited to have their own mystical experience of the
Divine Presence: the door to heaven is open as Christ,
the paschal lamb, comes to eat with them by giving
them his own flesh and blood for a blessed feast.
The liturgy of Divine Presence found in Revelation
4-5, especially the use of the song of the seraphim
from Isaiah 6, may have already been used by Christians
for the eucharistic liturgy and would have helped
hearers see the relationship between Johnis Lordis
Day experience of heaven and their experience of heaven
in the Eucharist each Lordis Day.
Therefore, Revelation 4-5 and the other scenes of
worship that follow are visual depictions of the hidden-to-the-naked-eye
heavenly worship that the church participates in each
Lord's Day as the church on earth. These chapters
are not only depicting a past or future reality, they
are showing forth a present reality for John and the
church of his day. As such, they serve as a vivid
commentary on what is happening in worship, especially
in the Eucharist, where the Paschal Lamb who shed
his blood and gave his body is present sharing his
victory through this meal. It is no coincidence that
Christ as the having-been-slaughtered-and-now-standing
lamb is the focus of worship in heaven according to
Revelation, not Christ as the glorified "one
like a son of man" who is seen other settings.
A congregation who listened to this apocalypse from
start to finish is reminded that heaven is neither
a distant "up there" reality nor a future
reality "far down the road" of time: it
is an accessible and present reality that the baptized
on earth enter and mystically experience now in worship,
especially in the celebration of the Eucharist.
This access of the baptized who dwell on earth to
the heavenly sanctuary is also discussed in Hebrews
10:19-22 as quoted above. The author later goes on
to discuss the experience within this heavenly sanctuary:
[Heb 12.22-24] But you have come to Mount Zion
and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and
to the assembly of the Firstborn who are enrolled
in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to
the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus,
the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled
blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of
Abel.
Although the "sprinkled blood" here certainly
alludes to the Day of Atonement sacrifice offered
by Christ himself (Heb 10.12-14), yet it probably
is primarily pointing to the presence of this atoning
sacrifice in Christis eucharistic blood offered in
worship. A priest in the temple of ancient Israel
would, no doubt, get blood from the sacrifices on
his linen garments. It is possible that Revelation
understands the Eucharistic blood as the source for
the regular cleansing of the Christianis white baptismal
garment: "they have washed their robes and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Rev 7.14).
Therefore, Revelation depicts baptism and the Eucharist
as sacred rites that facilitate the temporal experience
of the Divine Presence for Christians on earth and
are the foundation for the Christianis eternal experience
of God at the end of time. |
