Apocalypse. Interpretation of the XXI century. Valeriy Sterkh
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sorrowful and sore amazed, and to be very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and kneeled down, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, o my Father, all things are possible unto thee; if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose up from prayer, he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them sleeping for sorrow, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? what, could ye not watch with me one hour? And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise, watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what to answer him. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. And he cometh the third time to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me (UG 160; Mt 26:36—46; Mk 14:32—42; Lk 22:39—46).
Soon after, Jesus was arrested and brought before Caiaphas, the High Priest. And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple [John Zebedee]: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter (Jn 18:15—16; compare UG 163; Mt 26:58; Mk 14:54; Lk 22:54—55).
After Caiaphas, Jesus was taken to Pilate, the prefect (procurator), who sentenced him to death through crucifixion. John came to the place of the execution to say his last good-bye to Christ. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple [John] took her unto his own home (Jn 19:25—27; compare UG 171—172; Mt 27:55—56; Mk 15:40—41; Lk 23:49).
On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple [John], and came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home (Jn 20:1—10; compare Lk 24:12).
After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples on several occasions. After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes (Jn 21:1—8).
Following their meal, Jesus said to Peter, Follow me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple [John] whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true (Jn 21:19—24).
Jesus ascended into Heaven forty days after his resurrection.
b. The history behind the writing of the Apocalypse
On the tenth day after the ascension of Jesus, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and their disciples at Pentecost. They began to prophesy in different tongues. Of those who saw and heard them, about three thousand men and women were added to the Church that day and got baptized. As the apostles preached in Jerusalem, new people were joining the Church daily (see Act 1—2).
John was taking care of the Blessed Virgin Mary without ever leaving Jerusalem until the day of her Assumption. Following her Assumption, John, chosen by lot, went to preach the Good News in Proconsular Asia, the Roman province at the west coast of Asia Minor with its capital in Ephesus (see Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History, 3,1).
The Apostle was later exiled for preaching the Gospel there, as he himself mentions in the Apocalypse. He wrote his book while in exile:
I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ (Rev 1:9).
Because John was told: “What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea” (Rev 1:11) and “Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand” (Rev 22:10), he obeyed the command immediately.
This is what the Church historian Eusebius of Caesarea tells us about the time of the writing of the Apocalypse and the life of the apostle:
“[The Roman emperor] Domitian was a brutal enemy of many: a great number of prominent and noble people in Rome were executed by him without trial; thousands of famous and innocent men and women were exiled, their property was plundered. Towards the end of [his rule], he proved himself to be Nero’s true successor in hatred and enmity towards God. He was the second one to start persecuting us, although his father, Vespasian, did not plan anything of the sort.
It was told at that time that the apostle and evangelist John, who was still alive, was convicted to be exiled to the island of Patmos for his testimony of the Word of God. Irenaeus mentions the number of the name of the Antichrist from the so-called Apocalypse of John. In the 5th book “Against Heresies”, he says with regard to John: “If the name of the Antichrist was to be revealed at this time, it would be revealed unto the one who was a witness of God’s mysteries. The revelation was given to him quite recently, almost in our century, before the end of the Domitian’s reign” [compare Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, 5,30].
At the time described, our faith shone in the world so brightly that even the writers, so totally unfamiliar with our teachings, did not delay to tell