A Glimpse into Heaven: Worship, Mystery, and God’s Sovereign Plan
November 20, 2024 - Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Revelation 4:1-11
So far, John the visionary has had a powerful encounter with the risen Christ and received the task of writing to the seven local churches in Asia. Today, he is invited to enter heaven and witness the awesome vision of the Almighty, the Lamb, and the unfolding events that will lead to the final judgment over evil, the passing of the old world, and the appearance of the new one.
This second part of the Book of Revelation (Rev. 4:1-22:11) shows how liturgy affects history. God's plan for the world will unfold within the context of worship. The twenty-four elders remind us of the twenty-four divisions of priests organized by David to serve before the Lord (see 1 Chronicles 24:1-19). The song of the four living creatures is familiar to us from the Book of Isaiah (see Isaiah 6:3). The elders worship the Almighty who sits on the throne for His act of creation: "Worthy are you, Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things; because of your will they came to be and were created" (Rev. 4:11).
Any Catholic who regularly attends the Eucharist will easily realize how the Catholic liturgy resembles the heavenly one. The moment a priest or a bishop begins the Mass, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit," the doors to heaven open, and the words of the Lord's Prayer, "on earth as it is in heaven," are being fulfilled. Saint John Paul II drew our attention to the fact that "what we celebrate on Earth is a mysterious participation in the heavenly liturgy." Thus, those who, like our visionary, have the eyes of faith can see the throne, the Almighty sitting on it, the Lamb around the throne, and the angels and saints participating in our Eucharistic liturgy. How does this awareness should affect our participation in the Mass?
John lacks the words to describe the One sitting on the throne. Centuries later, Saint Thomas Aquinas concluded that "concerning God, we cannot grasp what he is, but only what he is not, and how other beings stand in relation to him" (see CCC, 43). John wrote that the appearance of the Almighty "sparkled like jasper and carnelian" (Rev. 4:3). Jasper is a precious stone associated in ancient times with healing and protection. So is carnelian, which is associated with healing and creativity. But what does it mean to have an appearance that "sparkled like jasper and carnelian"? Nobody knows. As the Catechism states, "Our human words always fall short of the mystery of God" (CCC, 42).
In our liturgical translation, there is the word "halo" trying to describe something around the throne. But other translations render it as "rainbow." For anyone familiar with the Bible, a rainbow brings to mind God's covenant of mercy from the Book of Genesis: "When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth," promising never to destroy life on earth (see Gen. 9:15-16). In the Book of Ezekiel, a similar "rainbow" was part of the appearance of God's glory (see Ezek. 1:28). A rainbow is composed of seven colors, but emerald, another gemstone used to describe the thing around the throne, is green. This gem was associated with royalty.
The entire action that will take place in the following chapters of the Book of Revelation will evolve from this "Throne Room of Heaven." For us, it is a source of encouragement. The Almighty sitting on the throne, whom we worship but are unable to describe with words, is the Lord of the Universe who guides the history of humanity to His goal, and nothing and no one is capable of thwarting His plan.