2021/12/27

19. Divine Authority

"And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" (Revelation 12:1). Last time, I wrote that this portent shows the image of the Holy Spirit and the priest collaborating for the body and blood of Christ becoming present in the Mass. This image echoes the words of the angel Gabriel to Mary: "He will be great (clothed with the sun), and will be called the Son of the Most High (with the moon under his feet); and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David (on her head a crown of twelve stars)" (Luke 1:32). On the other hand, the words an angel told Joseph in his dream was different from what Mary had been told; he was told that Jesus would save his people from their sins.¹ God's way of "saving from sin" was to forgive and heal sins. The blood and water that flowed from the side of Jesus on the cross was a sure sign that the divine authority for forgiveness and healing of sins covered the whole of humanity. The Evangelist writes: "He who saw it has borne witness – his testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth – that you also may believe" (John 19:35). Jesus came into the world with the divine authority from his Father to forgive and heal all sins. While Jesus was an infant, his earthly father, Joseph, was entrusted with this authority and exercised it to protect Jesus and his mother Mary, following the angel's instructions.² After Jesus' ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles, receiving the Holy Spirit, are entrusted with this authority and practice it to protect the Body and Blood of Christ and the Church collaborating with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the risen Jesus, to make the Apostles remember he said this when the Holy Spirit descends, breathed on them beforehand and told them: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:22-23). Thomas was not there at that time, but fellow Apostles must have shared with him what had happened, saying, "We have seen the Lord." However, he could not believe what they said. When Jesus appeared again eight days later, Thomas saw him and believed. Jesus said: "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" (John 20:29). What Jesus talked about at that time was the blessedness of those who believe the Holy Spirit, who is invisible and was to come and guide them after his ascension.

References 1. Matthew 1:21, 2. Matthew 1:24-25, 2:13-23, Luke 2:1-7, 2:41-50

Maria K. M.

 2021/12/20

18. There Shall Be No More Delay

The voice of a mighty angel, who came down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, said, "There shall be no more delay. At the time when you hear the seventh angel blow his trumpet, the mysterious plan of God shall be fulfilled" (Revelation 10:6-7). When the seventh angel sounded the trumpet, a particular event took place in heaven and on earth (11:15-19). In Revelation, there were two more events before it, and each of the three events has key words: the first was the throne and the seven spirits of God (4:2-11), the second was the angel, the censer, and the altar (8:1-5), and the third was the temple of God and the ark of the covenant (11:15-19). These words and the words, "the mysterious plan of God shall be fulfilled," tell us that these events are the omens of the beginning of the Mass. So, we see the phrase, "There shall be no more delay," referred to the birth of the Body and Blood of Christ. Then, a great sign appeared in heaven (12:1). This sign is depicted as a woman, but actually, it shows the image of the Holy Spirit and the priest collaborating for the body and blood of Christ becoming present in the Mass. The Holy Spirit is the Counselor, whom Jesus will send from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father.¹ Jesus, before he entered into his Passion, made the Apostles, whom he had chosen himself as helpers of the Holy Spirit, inherit all his mother's authority. The authority of the mother of Jesus is, firstly, to have conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit and become his mother. So, Jesus instituted the Eucharist and input the Word, by which the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ, into Apostles' memories. They, at every Mass, perform their role of giving birth to the Word in a way asking the Father to fulfil the Word. Secondly, it is to know everything about Jesus, and the Apostles were given the grace to know everything about Jesus by the Holy Spirit.² Thirdly, it is that just as Jesus turned water into wine, responding to his mother's request,³ the Apostles would ask the Father for anything in Jesus' name,⁴ especially for the bread and wine to become the body and blood of Christ. Finally, Jesus, on the Cross, united his mother and the Apostle, his beloved disciple, in a parent-child bond. And from that, the Apostle also took her into his home.⁵ By this action, the Apostle became the legitimate heir of the authority of Jesus' mother.

Reference 1. John 15:26, 2. John 14:26, 16:13, 3. John 2:1-11, 4. John 16:23, 5. John 19:26-27

Maria K. M.  

 2021/12/13

17. Two Witnesses

When the voice spoke to the author John commanding to prophesy again (Revelation 10:11), he was given a staff-like measuring rod and told: "Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations" (11:1-2). The word "staff" reminds us of the Apostles because of the pastor's staff. The words "temple of God and the altar" and "those who worship there" here make us recall the scenes in Acts in which they appear. In addition, the fourteen epistles of Paul, who became the apostle of the Gentiles, seem to be also implied because the voice speaking says of the court outside the temple, "[I]t is given over to the nations." These two books are taken up in this chapter again and given the authority of prophecy and testimony because some people had not given up worshipping idols, nor had they repented of their murders or their sorceries or their immorality or their thefts even after the sounding of the sixth trumpet (9:20-21). As the text says: "These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth" (11:4), the two books are personified as "two witnesses" and compared to olive trees, from which pure oil is taken, and lampstands, both of which are used to keep the light running because the experiences and teachings of those who are involved in the evangelical mission described in these books timelessly illuminate people who preach the gospel. The two books were taken to heaven like a lamp is put on a lampstand. Their foes also saw them going up to heaven (11:12). The trainees of Revelation will soon know that "their foes" mentioned here are also foes of their own. Revelation Chapter 11-12 is a bridge between the first half that injects New Testament images into the trainee's memory and the second half that settle the problem of the accidental information¹, which is also called a serpent, devil, and Satan. Those who continue to practice the daily training of Revelation will spend the rest of their lives settling it, crossing this bridge again and again.

Reference 1. This blog number 4

Maria K. M.

 2021/12/06

16. The Seventh Seal

The seventh seal signifies the Book of Revelation. It invites people to the training of Revelation by telling at its beginning, "Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein." The form of letters to the churches is adopted here so that the trainees may practise the training with a sense of presence and that it may be effective through the ages (Revelation 1:1-20). And seven letters were written concretely (2:1-3:22). The trainees will relate to the contents of these letters, seeing in them the same problems they and their community have, and will feel remorse not a little. They unknowingly prepare themselves for hearing finding the words, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches," which are repeated at the end of each letter. The trainee, sensing the biblical imagery in the throne, the seven spirits of God and the four living creatures that are described immediately afterwards, tries to hear as "He who has an ear." As he continues to practice reading aloud the texts and hearing them in this way, the images of the New Testament are infused into the unconscious realm of his memory (4:1-11). Then, these images are suggested with tense words "opening the seal" (5:1-7:17), and a sense of presence becomes intensified even in the unconscious. When the seventh seal, the Book of Revelation, is opened, the efficacy of the seven books of the New Testament is stated with the sound of trumpets the seven angels have. The images are established in the trainee’s memory by the repeated trumpet sounds with further tension (8:1-9:21). The author likens himself to an eagle that flies in midheaven and cries with a loud voice, "Woe" (8:13). This passage indicates that the sound of the fourth trumpet signifies the Gospel of John, while the sounds of the preceding three trumpets the Synoptic Gospels. We can identify the books that correspond to each subsequent two trumpet sounds, using their descriptions as clues.¹ Also, the Catholic Epistles represented by the "seven thunders" are mentioned,² and we can say the entire New Testament has been prophesied here. The "little scroll which is open" in the hand of the angel who came down from heaven was the New Testament. As the author, when he received it and ate all of it, realized the words of the angel, "[I]t will be bitter to your stomach, but sweet as honey in your mouth" (10:5-11), the trainee will realize the meaning of them soon.

Reference 1. The sound of the fifth trumpet (9:6) is paradoxically consistent with the description of those who were slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne (6:9-10). The command heard from the four horns of the golden altar in front of God when the angel blew the sixth trumpet (9:14-15) is consistent with the description of the opening of the sixth seal (7:1-3). 2. This blog №12

Maria K. M.

 2021/11/29

15. The Fifth and Sixth Seals

"When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne" (Rev. 6:9). The "witness they had borne" in this verse has its ground in the following description after the last supper of Jesus: "Peter said to him, 'Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you.' And so said all the disciple" (Mat. 26:35). The Apostles accomplished the witnesses they could never have borne themselves by the descent of the Holy Spirit. The author saw them "under the altar" because they were ready to serve as soon as the following words of Jesus are fulfilled: "that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Luke 22:30). The fifth seal signifies the Acts of the Apostles that describes the ministry, imprisonment and martyrdom of the Apostles. The description of when the Lamb broke the sixth seal implies Paul's conversion and the great shock it caused the people (Rev. 6:12-17). The expression, "the day of wrath," in the phrase: "for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand before it?" (Rev. 6:17), can be found, in the New Testament, only in this phrase and in the following verse of the Apostle Paul's letter to the Romans: "But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed" (Rom. 2:5). And when we read Paul's teaching in this verse, we can see that it is the ground for the above content of Revelation. The sixth seal signifies Paul's letters. The following chapter, Rev. 7, refers to the results of the great work of Paul's letters. The description in this chapter: "a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands" (Rev. 7:9), corresponds to the command of the Lord to Ananias in Acts: "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel" (Acts 9:15).

Maria K.M.

 2021/11/22

14. The Four Riders (2)

The description when the third seal was opened: "And I saw, and behold, a black horse, and its rider had a balance in his hand; and I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, 'A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; but do not harm oil and wine!'" (Revelation 6:5-6) corresponds to the last words of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke: "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:46-49). God delivered up his only begotten Son to suffering and death on the cross so that the atonement for sin might be made public and that "repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem." This sacrifice is like buying a quart of wheat for a day's wages, which is hardly balanced. As a symbol of this, the rider on the black horse has a balance in his hand. And Jesus said, "Stay in the city," so that anyone might "do not harm" his disciples who were "witnesses of these things." In the description when the fourth seal was opened: "And I saw, and behold, a pale horse, and its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him; and they were given power over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth" (Revelation 6:8), "Death" that Hades followed was the "death" linked to the Resurrection through Jesus’ Passion and death on the cross. "Death" was given the authority over a fourth of the earth to kill people so that the number of those who shared in this "death" might be complete.¹ This description corresponds to Jesus’ last command in the Gospel of John. That is his answer to Peter, who, seeing the disciple whom Jesus loved, asked him, "Lord, what about this man?" after Jesus had shown him by what death he was to glorify God² and had commanded him to follow his "death." The evangelist repeated Jesus’ answer twice: "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me" (John 21:22), with a comment between them: "yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die." For "he" signifies the faith of the disciple whom Jesus loved, the faith which Jesus hoped to find on earth at the Second Coming.³ God gave the Book of Revelation to the disciples as a training book as it reads at the beginning: "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John."⁴

Reference 1. Revelation 6:11, 2. John 21:19, 3. Luke 18:8, 4. Revelation 1:1.

Maria K. M.

 2021/11/15

13. The Four Riders (1)

When the Lamb opened the seven seals, the author heard four living creatures, one after another, say in a voice like thunder, "Come!"¹ From the descriptions of the horses and riders that follow, we can see that each of these four commands corresponds to the last commands of the risen Jesus in the four Gospels. The first description, "And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and its rider had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer" (Revelation 6:2), corresponds to the passage of Matthew, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Matthew 28:18-20). The "bow" represents the guarantee that "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" and that "I am with you always, to the close of the age." The "crown" is the sign of victory. The reason why "he went out conquering and to conquer" was to follow the command, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." The second description, "And out came another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that men should slay one another; and he was given a great sword" (Revelation 6:4), corresponds to the passage of Mark, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover" (Mark 16:15-18). The power to "take peace from the earth" will be exerted when "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." And the "great sword" signifies the power to "cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover." (continued)

Reference 1. Revelation 6:1-7

Maria K. M.