2024/06/24

149. The Sacred Heart of Jesus and John the Baptist

The last part of the structure of the Book of Revelation, the Prophecy of the Spirituality of the Holy Spirit (cf. Revelation 21-22 / see diagram below), when viewed as a book of prophecy (cf. Revelation 1:3), is the sacred heart of Jesus itself because the Holy Spirit was sent to us in Jesus' name (cf. John 14:26). It begins with the expression which looks like an omen of something: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more"(Revelation 21:1). That is because the author "saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (21:2).

The term 'bride' appears in five scenes of Revelation. Elsewhere in the New Testament, it is only the following words from the mouth of John the Baptist in the Gospel of John: "He who has the bride is the bridegroom" (John 3:29). As Jesus said, "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John; and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come" (Matthew 11:13-14), John the Baptist was a prophet. Therefore, we may infer and interpret these words of John the Baptist based on Revelation.

The "Bride" appears in Revelation for the first time at the end of the Prophecy of the Fall of the Church (chapters 17-18). Although The Prophecy of the Establishment of the New Testament (chapters 4-11) ends and the New Testament is established, the Church, in the Prophecy of the Fate of the Church with the Priesthood and the Sacrament of the Eucharist Hidden in the Wilderness and Heaven (chapters 12-16), is at the mercy of information and ends up falling to the extent that it is described as being "arrayed in purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; and on her forehead was written a name of mystery: 'Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earth's abominations.'" (17:4-5).

Finally, Revelation tells us that "the light of a lamp shall shine in thee no more; and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall be heard in thee no more; for thy merchants were the great men of the earth, and all nations were deceived by thy sorcery. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth" (18:23-24). This image also overlaps with the scene of the martyrdom of John the Baptist.

In light of the situation above, interpreting the "bridegroom" here as the Word and the "bride" as the New Testament, which presents the New Covenant, we can see that the phrase is a lament that both the Word and the New Testament have been forgotten in the Church. Then, John the Baptist's expression, "He who has the bride is the bridegroom", is understood as an image of the Word completing the New Testament, giving us reason to nod to the last prophet of the Old Covenant, who said, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).

"The Bride" is next mentioned in the passage, "the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure" (Revelation 19:7-8), which is placed in the section the Prophecy of the Completion of the Liturgy of the Mass (chapters 19-20). Again, the "Bride" refers to the New Testament since the "marriage of the Lamb" is the scene of Jesus' last supper, and the New Testament received here the words of Jesus, instituting the Sacrament of Eucharist.

The latter three are in the Prophecy of the Spirituality of the Holy Spirit (chapters 21-22), to which other images are added. The one "prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (21:2) alludes to the table (the altar) which supported Jesus' body, made present by the Word at his last supper, and "the Bride, the wife of the Lamb" (21:9) alludes to the cross that supported Jesus' body itself on the following day.

At the end of these, the Revelation says: "The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' And let him who hears say, 'Come.' And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires to take the water of life without price" (22:17). That is voice of the heart of Jesus, who invites people around the world to the completed Mass liturgy and commands his followers to do so. It is we Christians who demonstrate this heart of Jesus. For the following words of Jesus are realised in us.

"On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, 'If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, "Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water."'"(John 7:37-38).

Maria K. M.