(Mt 16:13-19)

Matthew 16:13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

Matthew 16:14 They replied, 'Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

Matthew 16:15 He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?

Matthew 16:16 Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'

Matthew 16:17 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.

Matthew 16:18 And I say to you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Matthew 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

The Gospels are not works written in haste, but the meticulousness with which they were composed and structured indicates that they were studied and composed at length by people who were truly skilled and capable in the art of narrative and communication. They are works of great intellectual depth and have purely theological, doctrinal and pastoral purposes.

In this passage, Peter solemnly and elaborately confesses that Jesus is the true Messiah and the true Son of God. However, the passage is also one of the most discussed and contested in the history of Christianity since the Protestant Reformation, because of the words that Jesus spoke to Peter, which conferred incredible authority on him. On the one hand, therefore, there is the Catholic world, which sees in it the theological and divine foundation of the papacy; on the other, the Protestant world, which seeks to diminish its significance, often grasping at straws. Unfortunately, time and space do not allow us to deal with this issue.

Jesus introduces his disciples to the truth about himself through a seemingly simple question that appears to be thrown out there. He asks what people say about the Son of Man, that is, about him, Jesus. Verses 13-14 report the rumours circulating about him, a sort of homemade statistical survey, which results in a summary of titles that highlight the complex and multifaceted mystery of his person: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, a prophet. We are at the heart of the Christological question of Matthew's Gospel, which sees two groups of people in confrontation: the men, who are strangers to the group of disciples, and the disciples themselves. The former propose solutions according to the Old Testament pattern; the latter point to a new perspective. It is therefore a confrontation between a group that bases its understanding of Jesus on the Old Testament, and thus tends to explain Jesus according to the patterns of the past, and a group that, breaking away and opposing the first, points to Jesus as the new salvific event of the Father. This confrontation takes place in Caesarea Philippi.

The city stood at the foot of Mount Hermon, near the source of Nahr Banyas, one of the three sources of the Jordan River, one of which was believed to be the gateway to the kingdom of death. In Hellenistic times, the cave from which the river sprang was sacred to the Greek god Pan. Jesus takes his disciples as far away as possible from the influence of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and Peter's confession takes place in a pagan area.

The people, seeing the miracles that Jesus performed, thought he was one of those extraordinary figures who were to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah. Jesus is considered a man of the past, and if he is a man of the past, he will certainly perform the same works that all those servants of the Lord performed in the past. The people's response indicates their inability to detach themselves from the Old Testament canons; they cannot read reality except through the filter of the Mosaic Law.

Even today, people want Jesus to be like all other men. If he is like all other men, he cannot do anything special. He will do what all other men do, in the manner of all other men. Man, instinctively, is accustomed to thinking of God, the Lord Jesus, in all his religious categories, finding a place for him in his filing cabinet.

"But who do you say that I am?" Jesus is not interested in what people think. Jesus is interested in his disciples knowing who he is, because every falsehood they introduce into his Person and his mission will have consequences for all humanity. The salvation of humanity is linked to the truth about Jesus.

Peter gives an immediate answer: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. You are the Messiah of God. The Messiah of God is the Son of the living God. We are at the summit of Christological faith: Jesus is not the Baptist raised from the dead, he is not Elijah, nor Jeremiah or one of the ancient prophets, a view that tends to bring the event of Jesus back within the more understandable and comfortable Jewish faith, but he is 'the Christ, the Son of the living God'. Jesus is not a man of the past. In Christ there is a mystery that goes far beyond all of Israel's past. In Christ there is something completely new. Jesus is not only the Messiah of Israel. He is the Messiah of Israel because he is the Son of the living God.

Calling Jesus 'Son of God' redefines the very term 'Messiah', recognising him not simply as a man sent by God, but as God himself, who becomes incarnate in Jesus and whose divine nature is recognised, so that Jesus becomes the 'Davar' of the Father. The Hebrew term 'davar' means 'word', but not in the sense of a simple voice or sound, but as a word that is also action, in which speaking and acting coincide. The Davar, therefore, designates an event that is accomplished through the Word and in the Word itself; a Word that becomes an event. For this reason, Jesus can be defined and considered as the very action of the Father.

Linking together the two titles "Christ and Son of God" constitutes the summit of Christological faith, since it means bringing together the messianic expectations in the shocking novelty of the divine sonship of the man Jesus, who is thus also confessed as God. It means attributing to the Messiah, always conceived as a man, the very divinity of Yahweh.

In response to the profession of faith, which reveals the true identity of Jesus, Peter is declared blessed. Blessedness has always signified the close relationship between man and God. Man is declared blessed because he is overshadowed by the presence of God. Blessed, therefore, indicates a kind of election that God bestows on his faithful, but it also indicates the choice that man has made in favour of God, placing himself on his side. In any case, it is a relationship and a privileged condition in which the blessed person is placed. Peter's declaration of blessedness, therefore, places Peter within the very sacredness of God and defines him as a kind of person consecrated to Him.

Peter's blessedness, therefore, depends on a divine election, which has allowed him to access the mysteries of the saving plan being fulfilled in Jesus. This is why Peter is blessed, because he is made a participant in the saving plan and, therefore, placed in a condition of divine privilege. Particularly interesting is the contrast between the two expressions 'flesh and blood' and 'my Father in heaven'. It is as if to say that the mystery of the person of Jesus cannot be attained by human efforts, since this mystery far surpasses them, being hidden in the very secret of the Father who is in heaven. Understanding Jesus is therefore a gift from above, a revelation that is realised only if man places himself before God in a humble attitude of welcoming faith, without pretending to understand, since God gives but does not allow himself to be robbed. 

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Apocalypse – exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers – Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ, true God and true Man in the mystery of the Trinity

The Prophetic Discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants in comparison – In defence of the faith

 The Church and Israel according to St. Paul – Romans 9-11

(Available on Amazon)

Body and Blood of Christ

(1 Cor 11:23-26)

1 Corinthians 11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread

1 Corinthians 11:24 and, having given thanks, broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.

1 Corinthians 11:25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.

1 Corinthians 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Paul hands down to us the ancient account of the institution of the Eucharist. "I received... I handed on" is the technical formula for speaking of things handed down: it is the tradition that is handed on. Paul did not receive it from men. He clearly states that his source is the Lord himself. Jesus himself taught him what happened at the Last Supper. An important detail is specified in this transmission. Jesus instituted the Eucharist on the night he was betrayed. There is an opposition between Christ and Judas. Judas betrays the Lord and hands him over to the high priest who wanted to kill him. Jesus, on the other hand, hands himself over to the whole world so that through him it may receive life.

In the Eucharist, read in the context of Judas' betrayal, we understand the greatness of the gesture that Jesus made. It is a handing over, both that of Judas and that of Christ. Judas hands him over to evil, to those who wanted to kill him; Jesus, on the other hand, hands himself over to humanity under the species of bread and wine. Jesus' gesture of giving himself begins with taking the bread in his hands. What happens does not happen accidentally; it happens by will. Jesus wanted to institute the Eucharist and he did so by taking the bread in his hands and raising it from the table.

Jesus gives thanks for the bread he holds in his hands. This is important because one can take it without giving thanks, saying, 'It is mine'—that is, stealing it, not recognising that it is a gift from the Father. 'Gave thanks' is the Greek word 'eucharistēsas', from which we get 'Eucharist'. Together with giving thanks, Jesus performs another rite on the bread: he breaks it. Breaking bread is the first great sign of communion. Everyone eats from a single loaf.

Not only does Jesus take the bread, give thanks, and break it, but he also says something unheard of. No one had ever said such a thing before: that bread is his body, and this body is for them. Jesus gives himself as nourishment for his disciples under the appearance of bread. The eye sees bread, the touch feels bread, the taste tastes bread, but the soul eats the body of Christ, true, real, substantial.

"Do this in memory of me." Not only are the disciples invited to take the bread that is the body of Christ and eat it. From this moment on, they themselves must do what Christ has done. They too must take the bread, give thanks, break it and say the same words as Jesus Christ, they must say them in his name, with his authority. Jesus' command to the apostles is a true act of handing over authority to do what he did. When the priest gathers the community and takes the bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and pronounces the same words spoken by Jesus, he does exactly what Jesus did in the Upper Room: he transforms that piece of bread into the body of Christ. This is the miracle that takes place in the Eucharist.

Outwardly, everything seems the same as before. But the senses deceive us. They cannot see beyond; we need a spirit formed in the true faith to grasp the truth of that gesture and lead us to a profound act of faith in the mystery that Christ accomplished in the Upper Room, and above all in the other mystery, namely, the power he gave his apostles to do the same in his memory, acting in the name and person of Christ.

What Jesus did for the bread, he also does for the chalice, symbol of the blood that inaugurates the new covenant. He performs the same gestures on the chalice as he did on the bread. Every sacrifice in the old Law involved the violent death of the animal being sacrificed. By making his body a sacrifice, Jesus anticipates his death on the cross. The next day, he is made a 'sacrifice of atonement' for humanity.

The Eucharist is the new covenant, because God gives his life for man while man kills him. Therefore, this covenant can no longer be broken. If you kill me, I give my life for you, so you can no longer break this covenant, and it is in this covenant that we know who God is: infinite love. In the old Law, blood was sprinkled. God was symbolised by the altar on which the blood was poured, while the people were sprinkled with it. Thus, God and the people were united by a blood covenant.With Christ, blood is shed for the new covenant, but unlike the blood of calves and goats, which united God and the people, this time it is the blood of God that unites the people to God, but not by sprinkling, but by ingestion—it is drunk. Jesus' disciple is invited to drink the blood of Christ, which is the blood of God. He is invited to drink it in order to make a covenant with God. According to the Law, blood was life, and it is the life of Christ that the disciple drinks in order to become what Christ is: divine and eternal life, holy and true life.

We must understand the enormous value that all this has in the Church. It is not a ritual: it is life. Then there are people who go to Mass because they like the priest, because he celebrates a beautiful Mass: they go to Mass for something else, not because they like the priest!

Twice Jesus says, 'Do this'. It is an imperative: this is to be done!

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Apocalypse – exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers – Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ, true God and true Man in the mystery of the Trinity

The Prophetic Discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants in comparison – In defence of the faith

 The Church and Israel according to St. Paul – Romans 9-11

(Available on Amazon)

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul sees the believer in a state of grace. He expresses this state of grace with: "[we are] justified"; justification has been accomplished. This is the truth that Paul proclaims. The passage from life to death, from sin to grace, takes place, has taken place, and will always take place through faith in Jesus Christ. Christ, through his death and resurrection, has given us the effects of his work; we have been "justified." By using the aorist passive participle (= having been justified), Paul emphasises that this work now belongs to us. He alludes to a specific moment in the life of Christians that belongs to the past: baptism. This is a fundamental biblical fact.

We are justified "ek pisteōs", "by faith". It is a movement from a place and indicates the source from which this justification flows. Jesus Christ, who died and rose again, is the sacramental place where this justification takes place, which is accessed through faith and not through the works of the law. We are justified the moment we believe and accept Jesus Christ as the one and only Word of eternal life.

What happens when our justification is accomplished? We are at peace with God. The author of salvation is also the author of peace: there is no true peace except in Christ. This peace was established when we, enemies of God, were reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Peace is not a state of inner balance, nor is it our peaceful behaviour. Peace is the restoration of our relationship with God, because we are reconciled as a result of justification.

When we are at peace with God, we also find peace with other people; we also find peace with creation, which we are called to protect and cultivate, as it has been entrusted to our care by God so that we may make it a home where people can live with dignity, wisdom and joy. The mistake of man today is to think that there can be peace among men and with creation while man remains in his falsehood and sin. Peace comes only from justification and as long as man lives justified. 

We are at peace if we are in Christ, we are at peace if we live in the Word of Christ, we are at peace only through Christ. This is the cry that Paul makes resound in his churches, so that they may be convinced that outside of Christ no peace will ever be possible. It is an illusion to think of peace without justification, to think of peace outside of Christ. Peace is Christ, it is in Christ, it is through Christ. He is the way through which a person can go in peace towards another person. Those who exclude Christ close the door to true peace. Without Christ there can never be peace, because people are not in the truth.

Faith, therefore, is faith in God who has made Christ the only way to salvation. So our faith is in God, but it only becomes effective if it is faith in the work of Christ. God the Father and Jesus Christ are one principle of faith, one faith that saves. There is no faith in the Father that is not faith in the Son, and there is no faith in the Son that is not faith in the Father. This unity must always be safeguarded, proclaimed and defended.

It is through this faith that we obtain the gift of peace, because it is through this faith that we are justified, that is, God cancels our debt, makes us his children in Christ, and restores us to his friendship. This is peace.

It should be noted that Jesus Christ is called Kyrios - Lord - to indicate the sovereignty, the divine nature of the Messiah. Kyrios is a term repeatedly used in the Septuagint for Yahweh, and accredits Jesus as the Emmanuel, God with us.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books:

- Apocalypse – exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ True God and True Man in the Trinitarian Mystery

The Prophetic Discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants in comparison – In defence of the faith

 The Church and Israel according to St. Paul – Romans 9-11

(Available on Amazon)

(Rom 8:8-17)

Romans 8:8 Those who live according to the flesh cannot please God.

Romans 8:9 But you are not under the control of the flesh, but under the control of the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to him.

Paul does not want anyone to be under any illusions: those who live according to the flesh cannot please God. This is the truth. From the acceptance of this truth arises in us the possibility of a new path. If, on the other hand, we allow ourselves to be conquered by illusion, everything ends; every path upwards becomes impossible, and will always be impossible as long as man has the illusion of pleasing God, while God does not like him because he is guided and led by his flesh.

The flesh wants self-affirmation and the annulment of God; it wants the deification of man and, consequently, the removal of man from God. Those who live according to the flesh are in revolt against God; indeed, God is considered an enemy, the one who takes away space from man because he wants to rule his life. In order to affirm himself in his flesh, he wants the death of God.

This drama became reality with Jesus Christ. He was crucified, condemned to death, because his presence required the death of the flesh in which man had fallen. The flesh killed God, hung him on the wood of the cross, and took him away. This opposition between the flesh and God will accompany man throughout his life, then it will be transformed either into eternal death or eternal life, either forever far from God or forever close to God.

We can and must please God, because we are not under the dominion of the flesh, but under the dominion of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us: 'But you are not under the dominion of the flesh'. Through baptism, man has died to the dominion of the flesh and has risen with Christ to new life. This is the truth that every Christian must make his own. Through baptism, a change of kingdom has taken place, from the kingdom of the flesh to the kingdom of the Spirit. This passage is real and true, even if it remains to be fulfilled until the end, until the resurrection of the body. This faith must be the light that moves every action of the Christian, the force that drives him towards the conquest of full freedom in Christ. He is now free; slavery is over, and the long, arduous journey full of dangers that will lead him to his heavenly homeland, in complete freedom from all slavery, has begun.

"...but of the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you." The truth that Paul never ceases to remind us is that Christians are under the dominion of the Spirit, and this is attested to by the fact that the Spirit of God dwells in them. However, Paul does not say "since," but "eiper," "if indeed," or "if this is so." Paul likes to insinuate doubt, to make us more attentive and more solicitous of the things of God.

There is now only one principle of life that must reign in Christians, and this principle is the very life of God that must become the life of believers. The flesh is falsehood, selfishness, disobedience, and separation from God. The Spirit, on the other hand, creates freedom, love, communion, obedience, submission to God; it creates in man the death of his flesh that makes him a slave to sin. This is the mission of the Spirit in the Christian. For this reason, every baptised person in whom the Spirit of the Lord dwells cannot be under the dominion of the flesh, because the Spirit is the destruction of the flesh. When we speak of being in the flesh or in the Spirit, we touch on the ontology of the believer and, therefore, his very essence, and we highlight how being a believer and being baptised deeply involve the person at every level, making him a new creature.

"If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him." This is an obvious and trivial statement, were it not for the fact that we too easily presume to belong to Christ. If the Spirit brings about the destruction of the flesh, if the Spirit creates the new man, if the Spirit leads the believer to the fullness of life and truth, it is also true that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ cannot belong to Christ. He does not belong to Christ because he belongs to the flesh, and even if Christ bought him at a high price by shedding his blood on the cross, if man has fallen back and returned of his own free will under the dominion of the flesh, this man cannot belong to Christ. Belonging to Christ is not simply a matter of belonging due to the fact that through the sacrament of baptism man has left the dominion of the flesh to enter that of the Spirit. This is an initial, incipient belonging. It is necessary that this belonging be transformed into the habitual dwelling place of the Spirit within us. We are Christ's, we belong to Him because He bought us with His most precious blood, but we can freely leave this belonging through our surrender to sin and death.In this case, the Spirit no longer dwells in us and we are no longer Christ's, we no longer belong to him. Therefore, true belonging to Christ is only that which is transformed into the habitual dwelling place of the Spirit. Any other belonging is not true, it is false, because the Spirit does not guide our steps, does not enlighten our minds.

Here, then, is the whole purpose of preaching, evangelisation, and the celebration of the sacraments: to belong to God not through sacramentalisation, not through aggregation, not because we are the visible Church, but through listening, through fulfilling His will, through realising His word. This work can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.  

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Apocalypse – exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers – Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ, true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The Prophetic Discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants in comparison – In defence of the faith

 The Church and Israel according to St. Paul – Romans 9-11

(Available on Amazon)   

(Luke 24:46-53; Acts 1:1-11)

Luke 24:46 "Thus it is written, Christ shall suffer and rise from the dead on the third day

Luke 24:47 and in his name shall be preached to all nations repentance and forgiveness of sins, beginning at Jerusalem.

Luke 24:48 Of this you are witnesses.

Luke 24:49 And I will send upon you that which my Father has promised; but you remain in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high."

Luke 24:50 Then he led them out to Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them.

Luke 24:51 While he was blessing them, he parted from them and was taken up to heaven.

Acts 1:4 While he was at table with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait until the promise of the Father was fulfilled, "the one," he said, "which you have heard from me:

Acts 1:5 John baptized with water; ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence."

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power from the Holy Spirit who will come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth".

From Jerusalem, in an expansive manner, the proclamation of salvation spreads, embracing the whole of humanity. The centrality of Jerusalem is evident in Luke from the very beginning of his Gospel, which opens in the very heart of Jerusalem, the Temple, and at the most sacred moment, that of worship, and around which the entire childhood of Jesus revolves. Now, with v. 48 there is the investiture of the entire apostolic group as official witnesses of the events of salvation, of which they are constituted depositaries. In other words, the apostolic group receives the mandate for its mission, being constituted in authority by the Risen One Himself. An investiture from which not only the mission is generated, but also serves as the constitutive foundation of the Church itself, which originates precisely from the mandate of the Risen One.

In the face of the entrustment of the mission, placed at the foundation of the Church, constituting it in authority with God and with men, v. 49 foreshadows how this mission will take full effect with the anointing of the Holy Spirit: "And I will send upon you that which my Father has promised". Jesus does not mention the Holy Spirit, but only the "promise of my Father".

Luke defines the Holy Spirit as the "promise of the Father", although nowhere in Luke's Gospel does such a promise appear in explicit terms. In order to understand which promise Luke is referring to and where it is mentioned in his Gospel, it is necessary to continue the search in Acts 1:4-5 where he says that "While he was at table with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait until the promise of the Father was fulfilled that, he said, which you have heard from me: John baptised with water, but you will be baptised in the Holy Spirit not many days from now". The reference here is to Lk 3:16: "John answered and said to them all, 'I baptise you with water; but there cometh one mightier than I, unto whom I am not worthy to untie even the strap of his sandals: he shall baptise you in the Holy Ghost and fire'. A promise, which will see its fulfilment in Acts 1:8 where it speaks of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit on the disciples. 

The end of Luke's Gospel is here touching the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles and joining with these. The extremes, therefore, touch each other and join them, creating a sort of communicating vessels in which the event Jesus, now Risen, pours himself into the Church, continuing in it his saving action. 

The promise of the Father - the gift of the Holy Spirit - is followed by the recommendation: "remain in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high". The city spoken of is clearly Jerusalem, the place of the fulfilment of the mystery of salvation, brought about in the death-resurrection of Jesus, but whose efficacy finds its full fulfilment only in the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is the power of God working in those who believe. 

Luke closes his Gospel in an unusual way with respect to evangelical tradition, recounting Jesus' ascension into heaven. He is the only one among the evangelists to make a separate specific treatment of it. 

The ascension puts an end to Jesus' activity in Jerusalem, to leave it as an inheritance to his own. This is why Jesus performs a blessing action (v. 50), the meaning of which is to transmit his spiritual inheritance on the apostolic community, which will have to continue its mission, precisely starting from Jerusalem. The blessing placed on the apostolic group closely recalls the Genesis image of the creation of man, on whom God placed his blessing, accompanied by the command to be fruitful and multiply, filling the whole earth. This is the mission with which the entire apostolic group was invested, and the blessing is therefore not to be understood as a simple and touching gesture of greeting, but imprints on that germinal group of the nascent church the sign of divine fruitfulness. The term blessing in Hebrew is, in fact, 'berakah', which derives from 'berek', meaning 'knee', a euphemism for the genital organs, which are the organs in charge of generation and therefore, by their nature and function, synonymous with fertility. 

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

 The Church and Israel according to St Paul - Romans 9-11

(Buyable on Amazon)                                                                           

6th Easter Sunday (year C)

(Rev 21,10-14.22-23)

Revelation 21:10 And the angel carried me away in spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, from God, shining with the glory of God.

Revelation 21:11 Its radiance is like that of a most precious gem, like a crystalline jasper stone.

Revelation 21:12 The city is enclosed by a great and high wall with twelve gates: over these gates stand twelve angels and names written, the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.

An angel leads John to contemplate in vision the bride, the wife of the Lamb, on a high mountain, in order to be able to admire the city from above, emphasising the importance and transcendent character of the bride. In order to be able to contemplate this revelation, a special influence of the Spirit is needed, which drives one upwards, in the direction of the divine. The great and high mountain is indeed the place of God's revelation, see for instance Moses ascending Mount Nebo from where God shows him the land of Canaan. 

The holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem, descends from heaven, 'resplendent with the glory of God'. The first indication the angel gives us could not be higher. Coming from God, the bridal city possesses his 'glory'. The risen Christ, the only proper bearer of the Father's glory, has communicated this glory to his city-bride. Particularly enlightening is a reference to the fourth Gospel, where, referring to all those who believe in him, Jesus expresses himself as follows: "And the glory that you have given to me, I have given to them, that they may be as we are one" (Jn 17:22). 

God has clothed Jerusalem with his glory, and God's glory is his divinity. Jerusalem has been as if deified by God, clothed with his light, cloaked with the redemption of Christ the light of the world.  

It is important to know the concept of the city. To speak of the city is to speak of the dynamic that has sustained human history, beginning with the building of the first city at the time of Cain, who "became the builder of a city" (Gen 4:17). Human history can be depicted as the history of the building of a city, which, from Cain onwards, takes on troubling characteristics. Cain, after killing his brother, sets up a reality that has its charm, as a place where a civilisation develops, but carries within it a seed of violence, which, however hidden, invariably explodes when the time comes. Revelation also speaks of the fall of Babylon, in which "the blood was found ... of all those who were slain on earth" (Rev 18:24); the blood of all the slain from Abel onwards, the blood of all the rejected brothers: the city, from Cain onwards, is built on a foundation soaked in that blood. Now, the new Jerusalem is shown, which in its name recalls the ancient Jerusalem, a city that in the history of salvation saw the blood of Christ shed, but which carried within itself a sacramental value, a promise: God wants to manifest himself and bring to fulfilment his nuptial intentions with humanity.    

The illumination of the new city is placed in correspondence with the reflection of a precious gem, whose extraordinary quality - 'most precious' - and splendour is emphasised. What depicts what is most beautiful is used to describe the magnificence of Jerusalem. What is more beautiful than a most precious gemstone and a crystalline jasper stone? Nothing. What is more beautiful than God? Nothing. God is beauty itself, he is the author of all beauty. Jerusalem is clothed in the same beauty as God.  

"As a crystalline jasper stone": Jasper is a beautiful, precious stone, of different colours, mostly reddish, sometimes green, brown, blue, yellow and white, which communicates a sense of beauty and joy. The city is built in such a way as to attract, and this is precisely because the glory of God dwells in it.    

The inevitable comparison is with the 'old' Jerusalem which, with its monarchy, temple and priesthood had become the symbol of the people, of the covenant with God and of the divine dwelling among men. The renewal of the city means the renewal of the covenant. John, using biblical symbols and apocalyptic language, announces the newness of the covenant, the new relationship with God.    

The great and high wall indicates delimitation and at the same time stability, security and protection, but not closure; for twelve, three for each cardinal point, are the openings that connect the city with the rest of the world.

The twelve angels indicate angelic protection, they stand guard over the twelve gates like sentinels. Since the city is of heavenly origin, it must have heavenly guardians. According to Gen 3:24, the cherubim were the guardians of Eden, the garden of God, and since the new Jerusalem is the eschatological counterpart of Eden, the angelic guards at its gates are definitely appropriate. The wall, the gates, the guards, were for the protection and defence of the city; here, where there is no longer any fear of enemies, it all stands for the idea of the perfect peace and security enjoyed by the saved, because nothing dangerous will ever enter the holy city. 

The twelve gates have the written names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, although the names are not specified, because John is interested in the symbolic meaning of the number twelve and not in the individual tribes. The many gates emphasise the importance of access to the city. The association of the names of the twelve tribes of Israel with the gates of the new Jerusalem, signifies that the Old Testament is the gate necessary to enter into faith in Christ, but it also signifies that God has not denied his people, they are an integral part of the new Jerusalem. John alludes to the perfect continuity between the Old Testament people of God and the New Testament Church.

One enters the city of God through the gate of revelation that God gave to the patriarchs of Israel. The culmination of this revelation is Jesus Christ. Old and New Testament are the one and only revelation of God, the one and only Word of the Lord, the one and only way of salvation and redemption for all mankind. 

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

 The Church and Israel according to St Paul - Romans 9-11

(Buyable on Amazon)

5th Easter Sunday (year C)

(Rev 21:1-5a)

Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

Revelation 21:2 I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, from God, ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

John contemplates the fulfilment of Isaiah's prophecy: "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth" (Is 65:17; 66:22). God had already manifested his will to make a new heaven and a new earth in the context of the return of the Israelites from the Babylonian exile, celebrating a new splendour for Jerusalem like the joy of a bride preparing for her wedding. Revelation takes up the imagery to announce the fulfilment: the dwelling place of sinful humanity must undergo a transformation that will make it fit to be the dwelling place of a renewed and holy humanity. The apocalyptic concept of the re-creation of heaven and earth finds an anthropological application with the Apostle Paul, who speaks of Christians as a "new creation" (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15).  

John also says that "the sea was no more", that is, the presence of the negative and evil, synonymous with the demonic, is no more. The sea represents dangers, chaos. Recall the primeval abyss of Gn 1:2 ("darkness covered the abyss") and the waters of the flood of Gn 7:11 ("all the springs of the great deep erupted"). The chaotic and disturbing power from which the satanic beast had emerged (Rev 13:1) disappears. The sea will also separate and keep peoples apart from one another, while future humanity will form one family.

In this new heaven and new earth, even Jerusalem, the city of God, his dwelling place on earth, will be new. The Greek adjective "kainēn" is not meant to indicate a chronological newness, but a qualitative newness: something that never existed before. Jerusalem, descending from the new heaven onto the new earth, adorned like a bride awaiting her bridegroom to celebrate the wedding. John recapitulates the whole unfolding of human history in the manner of a bride leaving her father's house to meet her bridegroom. The image of the bride indicates that the relationship with God is based on love and service, and no longer on laws and rituals.  

The bride is not Israel, a people who regarded the Kingdom as a human achievement based on religious merit, but is the new humanity that possesses the Spirit, recreated by Jesus. The new Jerusalem is all the righteous, the saints, the martyrs; it is the glorious society of the resurrected in glory, triumphantly ascending to heaven, descending to celebrate the eternal wedding with the Lamb and take possession of the new creation. The new Jerusalem is the glorious Church in each of her children. Glorious in soul, but also in body, which has been resurrected and created new in everything like the glorious body of Christ. The Bride (nymphēn) is ready for the Bridegroom because the consummation of the wedding takes place in the glory of the resurrection.

For the saints of the Lord, there will no longer be any possibility of falling into disobedience, since they are made one in Christ, and this unity between God and his creatures takes place through the celebration of an eternal marriage, of which the earthly one is only an image. It no longer matters to be a man or a woman, the marriage takes place not on the level of the individual but on the level of the human race. We might ask ourselves what sense it can have in eternity to still be man or woman made not for each other but both for the Lord. The answer is given to us by Jesus himself when he says that in the kingdom of heaven there will be neither those who marry nor those who are married but we will all be like angels. With regard to the angels, however, it must be understood that there is a spiritual diversity whereby they are divided into groups and even hierarchies, of which Scripture gives us some names: principalities, powers, dominions, thrones, etc. Therefore, while there is only one way of relating to Christ, the relationship that follows cannot be uniform and undifferentiated.

The new Jerusalem indicates both the people of God in their fullness of glory and the new environment in which they find themselves. Thus what on earth was the 'holy city', made so by belonging to God and the presence of the temple, now becomes the new Jerusalem. The earthly Jerusalem is surpassed, the 'new' Jerusalem, in fact, does not have, like the first, an earthly origin: it comes directly from 'heaven'. Whereas Jerusalem was the centre of God's kingdom on earth, the new Jerusalem is the centre of God's new kingdom in the new heavens and new earth. New are the heavens, new is the earth, new is the kingdom, new is the capital city of the kingdom. New is everything that belongs to this kingdom and this creation. 

The new Jerusalem, because it descends from heaven, is of divine origin: God is the architect and builder of the city. It is 'holy' because it is consecrated to God. St. Paul also speaks of the Jerusalem up there and calls it our mother, indicating how for the Christian community the new creation has already begun. 

The new Jerusalem does not remain in heaven, in transcendence, it is seen as 'descending', and descent indicates a movement towards immanence. But immanence is no longer what it was before; now it is adapted to accommodate the divine. John sees this Jerusalem descending from heaven with an ongoing action ('katabainousan' is a present participle), in other words, the new Jerusalem is not created out of nothing and instantly. Moreover, God's own action is paralleled by an action proper to God's people - the 'bride' of the Lamb - who throughout the course of history make their wedding garments to prepare for the wedding.  

The symbolism of the new Jerusalem is complex. It symbolises the saints, but at the same time it is distinct from the saints: the city is "like" a bride; if it is like a bride, it is not the bride, or at least it is not only the bride. It is both city and bride; city insofar as it represents the dwelling place or glorious state of the saved after the final judgement; bride insofar as it personifies the inhabitants of the heavenly city, objects of an ineffable love and united forever to their Saviour in a spousal relationship.    

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

 The Church and Israel according to St Paul - Romans 9-11

(Buyable on Amazon) 

4th Easter Sunday (year C)

(Rev 7,9.14b-17)

Revelation 7:9 After this, there appeared an immense multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and language. They all stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wrapped in white robes, and they carried palms in their hands.

Revelation 7:14 ...And he said, "They are those who have passed through the great tribulation and have washed their robes, making them white with the blood of the Lamb.

Revelation 7:15 Therefore they stand before the throne of God, and minister to him day and night in his sanctuary; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.

An immense multitude from all peoples and nations stands before the throne of God and of the Lamb. Who is it made up of? The group consists of Christians because, according to v. 14, they "have washed their robes, making them white with the blood of the Lamb". The immense multitude of the saved is of universal origin. 

The white garments (en leukois, "in white") symbolise the dignity of belonging to heaven. White was worn on festive occasions because it was believed to be the colour in which heavenly beings, including God himself, were clothed. 

The palm is the sign of victory. Even in the Greek world, the winners of ancient games were often given a palm tree. Throughout the Mediterranean world, the palm tree meant 'victory'. When the crowd welcomed Jesus in Jerusalem waving palm branches, it was on the occasion of the feast of Easter.  

The people of believers are now introduced into the glory of the living God and participate in the heavenly liturgy; a grandiose, stupendous liturgy that is celebrated before the throne and the Lamb. They stand before the throne (a circumlocution for the name of God), but also before the Lamb, whose imitators they have been, bearing the palm of victory. 

Standing, according to the symbolism of this position, means being in a state of resurrection. They participate in the same life as God and the Lamb. This is the people of believers in its glorious aspect, that is, the triumphant Church that in heaven shares in the victory of Christ. They are those who have completed the journey, those who already share in the full and final victory of the Lamb.  

"They are those who have passed through the great tribulation and have washed their robes, making them white with the blood of the Lamb". The presentation of the saved emphasises their origin and defines them with a present participle: "those who come" (hoi erchomenoi), closely akin to the divine formula "ho erchomenos" ("He who comes"). They are now one with the Lamb because they have realised, through their tribulation, the call to immerse themselves in the death and resurrection of the Son of God.  

The great tribulation is persecution, martyrdom. The great tribulation alludes historically to the persecutions suffered by Christians, of which Nero's was the prototype, but refers in a special way to the great tribulation that will precede the final judgement. 

This tribulation is called "great" because it will surpass in intensity all the previous ones, it will be the most terrible of all, it is the one that will extend to believers throughout the world and in which Satan will use his most powerful instruments and deploy the most effective means to bring down the Christian faith. The Church is always persecuted, but in the last times it will be even more so, and every true Christian must expect a greater or lesser share of tribulation. 

Since the immense multitude comes from the great tribulation, it is reasonable to infer that they, or at least the majority of them, are martyrs.  

"They have washed their robes, making them white with the blood of the Lamb". Let us note an interesting thing: the text does not say that they washed their robes making them white with the shedding of their own blood, but with the blood of the Lamb. They have washed their robes (gr.: stolàs) in the blood of the Lamb, i.e. they have sanctified themselves and purified their souls (stola) through the merits of Jesus to whom they have drawn near in faith. It is implied in their 'they washed' that the stoles/clothes were soiled, i.e. that they were sinners. If they can now appear in white robes in the presence of God, this is not due to their merits, but to the atoning and cleansing virtue of the blood of Christ.  

With this paradoxical image of the blood of the Lamb making white the garments of believers, it is meant that they participate in the salvific value of the atoning death of Jesus, by virtue of which they have been preserved from succumbing in trial. It is therefore not only the martyrs, but all the members of the Church who have remained faithful in persecution. In fact, we repeat once again: it is not written that they washed their robes in their own blood, but in that of the Lamb. The 'blood' is a symbol of Christ's death and the efficacy of his saving work. The Greek has 'en tō' ('in the blood'), a formula probably derived from the Eucharistic liturgy (1 Cor 11:25 'in my blood').

Christians are not justified by any observance of the Law or by the performance of all those rituals that are corollary to faith, but by their assimilation to the cross of Christ.

"For this they stand before the throne of God". "For this", not for anything else: it should give us serious pause for thought. At a time when there is much talk of ecumenism, the centrality of the crucified Christ as a conditio sine qua non for salvation must be reaffirmed. 

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

 The Church and Israel according to St Paul - Romans 9-11

(Buyable on Amazon)

3rd Easter Sunday (year C)

(Rev 5:11-14)

Revelation 5:11 During the vision then I heard voices of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the watchmen. Their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands

Revelation 5:12 and they said with a loud voice, "The Lamb who was slain is worthy to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honour, glory and blessing. 

Revelation 5:13 And all the creatures of heaven and of earth, under the earth, and in the sea, and all things that are therein, I heard saying, "To him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb be praise, and honour, and glory, and power, for ever and ever.

Revelation 5:14 And the four living creatures said, "Amen." And the watchmen bowed down in adoration.

This passage reveals the greatness of our God. Our God is the Creator of an immense multitude of angels (v. 11). These angels proclaim the greatness, the glory of their God and Lord, witnesses of a work of redemption that does not concern them but humanity. The angels of heaven are appointed for our salvation. They are at the service of the priesthood of every faithful disciple of Jesus. This is their ministry. The angels proclaim Christ's priesthood in heaven, they help to live out our priesthood on earth. These angels, who are God's heavenly army, his hosts, could annihilate the whole universe in a single moment, if only God willed it.

"The Lamb that was slain" (= Jesus Christ crucified and risen) is placed on the same plane as God: "Power and riches, wisdom and strength, honour, glory and blessing" are seven qualities that belong to God. By the angels, Jesus Christ is proclaimed worthy to receive the same titles as God, worthy to be clothed with his same glory, without any difference. The angelic creatures, in their incalculable multitude, proclaim the divinity of the Lamb. The inhabitants of heaven proclaim who Jesus is in heaven: it is the immolated Lamb who is placed next to God, it is the immolated Lamb who is proclaimed God. Christ is our God, that is the truth to be affirmed.

The worship in v. 13 extends to all creatures in heaven and earth. All creation is called to worship, it is cosmic praise. Not only do countless angels proclaim the truth of Christ, but all creatures, from the smallest to the greatest, make the same confession of faith: the Lamb is equal to God. The hymn of glory already sung in honour of God is sung in honour of the Lamb. God and the Lamb are united. If anyone denies this truth, he commits a grave sin.

This truth is confirmed by the four living creatures (v. 14). Their "Amen", their "yes", attests that the whole universe speaks the truth about God and Christ. They are the representatives of the creatures endowed with life. There are four of them; it is universality that says "Amen". The 'watchmen', symbolising the old and the new people of God, prostrating themselves in adoration before the Lamb recognise his divinity. In the watchmen, God's people are silent and contemplate in adoration the living God.

Heaven and earth, old and new covenant, time and eternity, are united in the profession of one faith: Jesus, the immolated Lamb, is God. John in this vision contemplates the immense position and dignity of Christ, obtained through his death and resurrection. Revelation contemplates the profound meaning of all history, tracing it back to two mysteries: that of creation and that of redemption. What is foretold in chapter 4 and appears as realised in chapter 5 is the recapitulation of the whole of creation in Christ, the end and meaning of all history, through the work of redemption accomplished by Himself through His sacrifice.

Through a change of perspective, Revelation operates a transposition: what on earth is realised in signs, in heaven - with God - is realised in reality; in other words, what on earth is contemplated through faith and sacramental signs, in heaven is contemplated through vision, participation, in reality. In particular:

- If on earth the place of celebration is a building, with an altar at its centre, in heaven the place of liturgy is the same heaven, with the throne of God at its centre. 

- If on earth the liturgical assembly consists of the (only) faithful, in heaven it consists of every (living) being that exists, whose praise progressively involves the whole universe. 

- If on earth the mystery of the Lamb is perceived, celebrated, and communicated through sacramental signs, in heaven it is perceived and celebrated in itself, that is, in the reality of vision and communion. Revelation therefore 'transfers' the earthly liturgy to heaven; this, consequently, does nothing but make present and authenticate the same heavenly liturgy on earth, giving meaning and content to what is celebrated there. On earth, that is, what is celebrated in heaven is fulfilled through liturgical and sacramental signs. At the same time, through the sacramental and liturgical signs, the heavenly liturgy is transmitted and involves the earth.

By celebrating the earthly liturgy, the reader, as well as every believer, contemplates the heavenly liturgy and through this contemplation is able to grasp the meaning and content of the former. According to the perspective of the Apocalypse, therefore, the salvation event, which historically took place on earth and therefore passed, perpetually remains in heaven, reaching and working on earth through sacramental signs and liturgical gestures.

It goes without saying that the earthly liturgy that best identifies with the heavenly liturgy is that of the solemn "Vetus Ordo" Mass: the decorum of the priests' robes and deportment, the invasive presence of the scents of incense, the composed silence of the faithful, the plaintive music of the organ, the voices of the cantors intoning the Gregorian chant, men and women kneeling and silent; austerity, queues at the confessionals, etc. etc. 

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

 The Church and Israel according to St Paul - Romans 9-11

(Buyable on Amazon)

(Rev 1:9-11a.12-13.17-19)

Revelation 1:9 I, John, your brother and companion in tribulation, kingdom, and constancy in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony given to Jesus.

The writer is John. Just as many Old Testament prophetic writings begin with the account of the call of their authors, so too John places at the beginning of his book the task that has been entrusted to him and that empowers him to write. It is he who receives God's revelation, and he takes the floor directly in the first person.  John is "brother and companion in tribulation, kingdom and constancy in Jesus". He is "brother" because in Christ he is one with the other disciples. In Christ we are all children of the one God and therefore all brothers to one another. It is the body of Christ that makes us one in Him. This presents the context in which the message was born: Revelation is in essence a message about the tribulation, and it is a message of hope addressed to a persecuted community.

John is a "companion", i.e. he is in fellowship with them, "in the tribulation", because he too is persecuted like them, together with them. He does not write from outside the persecution, as a free man, he writes from inside the persecution. According to one tradition, John emerged safe and sound from a barrel full of boiling oil without the slightest burn, and so was banished into exile by the Emperor Domitian, Titus's successor and his germane brother.

He is a companion 'in the kingdom', the 'basileia', kingship. There is a pride, a dignity, a kingship that is structural in the Christian life. John too, like them, belongs to that kingdom of priests constituted by God. Tribulation and kingship seem to contradict each other. We are not triumphant and yet we recognise ourselves in being dignified, proud, free even in the most dramatic events. John points to the kingship of the Christian life as a way of standing in all the most desperate situations with kingship of life.

He is a companion 'in constancy in Jesus', because he wants to persevere to the end like Jesus. He is Jesus' beloved disciple. He accompanied Jesus to the cross. Now John is loving Jesus in persecution, in pain and suffering. He is loving him in constancy, that is, in perseverance to the end. Constancy is the ability to hold on, to bear the burdens, the ability to persevere even where the load becomes heavy. Awaiting the glorious event of the manifestation of the kingdom, patient endurance is the specific virtue of the persecuted. Incorporated into Christ through baptism, Christians become sharers in his passion while waiting to participate in his own glory.

John is in exile. The place of his exile is the island called Patmos. It is a rocky island of about 26 square kilometres, about 100 km south of Ephesus, part of the Sporades. On the island there is still a cave where the apostle is said to have received these revelations. Eusebius, the church historian, writes that after the death of Domitian, the Roman senate recalled all those who had been exiled, and John from Patmos went to Ephesus. He also says that John survived until the reign of Trajan. In fact, the use of the past tense, 'I was on the island' suggests that he was no longer on Patmos when he wrote down his visions. The island is a beautiful figure of the Church of Christ. Just as an island is continually buffeted by the waves of the sea, so the Church is plagued by persecution. The apostle is exiled to this place of punishment 'because of the word of God and the testimony given to Jesus'. John presents himself as a witness to Jesus. He is the witness of Jesus who imparts courage to all the other witnesses of Jesus, so that they may persevere in their testimony to the end.

The word 'witness' evokes the atmosphere of a trial or a public debate: one bears witness to something that has happened and something that one has personally experienced. Testimony by hearsay is not valid. Christian witnessing is also linked to suffering, to paying in person: witnessing means martyrdom. By deciding to take Christ's side, the witness must know that he will be involved in his rejection by the unbelieving world. This is the aspect that Revelation emphasises most. John knows that only those who have had the strength to go all the way, like Jesus Christ, will enter his kingdom. That is why he does not shy away from helping his brothers. The disciple of Jesus can only be persecuted for one reason: "because of the word of God and the testimony given to Jesus", that is, he can only be persecuted because he is a true, authentic, faithful disciple of Jesus. Whoever makes this choice will always be opposed by the world. This, however, is the choice of eternal life.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

 The Church and Israel according to St Paul - Romans 9-11

(Buyable on Amazon)