2022/09/05

55. The Sixth Angel and the Third Blessedness (Revelation 15-16)

The sixth key passage in John 10 is the following verse: "He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John at first baptized, and there he remained" (John 10:40). This passage reminds us that John the Baptist made his mission clear by saying, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said" (John 1:23). The mission of the Christians, as the name implies, is to walk on the way of Jesus to continue God's work of salvation. This way is the path that leads to the Mass, as Revelation shows (cf. this blog № 8), and is the path that the faithful, having received the blessing of the dispensation at the Mass, will take to go to the Mass next time again. At the Mass, the faithful hear the Word, the truth, and receive the Eucharist, the life. There emerges the path that Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). In order to live this mission, they shape their daily routine on the concrete path of Jesus to the Mass. Then, everything they encounter in their daily routine will be able to be seen as an event that happens on the way to the Mass. It is the way of Christ through Jesus to the Father, embodied in the life of the faithful. This situation coincides with the verse in the Book of Revelation: "The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great river Euphra'tes, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east" (Revelation 16:12). Just as the wise men of the East reached Jesus following the star when he was born, "the way for the kings from the east" is the path of Christ that the faithful take to reach the Word and the Eucharist. Revelation continues: "And I saw, issuing from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet, three foul spirits like frogs; for they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty" (Revelation 16:13-14). Thus, for the tormented wills (cf. this blog № 50) that remained on earth anew after the redemption of Christ through his death and for the evil spirits, "the way for the kings" is the way of salvation (cf. this blog № 49). That is because they knew Jesus (cf. Luke 4:41), and when this way appears, they will notice that it is Jesus. Then, the evil spirits will go out to the whole world seeking "the way for the kings" to fight on the great day of God the Almighty. In this situation, the faithful must not be like the sons of Sceva, who were found out by the evil spirits (cf. Acts 19:15-16). For this reason, the third blessedness inspires them to receive the training of Revelation and that of the spirituality of the Holy Spirit so that they may be awake and walk clothed with the garments of divine illumination (cf. this blog №54). "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!" (Revelation 16:15).

Maria K. M.