The Liturgy of Heaven
After the letters to the Churches, a door opens in heaven, and John is invited to come up. What he then discovers is not a warlike spectacle, but an immense celebration: heaven is an unending liturgy. Around the throne of God, creatures and innumerable crowds adore, sing, and bow down. At the center of everything stands the Lamb. These chapters are among the most beautiful of the Bible, and they reveal a truth the Christian lives without always knowing it: when the Church prays on earth, it is united to the eternal worship already celebrated in heaven.
The throne and the Sanctus
John sees first a throne, and on the throne the One who is seated, surrounded by a rainbow. Around stand twenty-four elders, image of the people of God, and four living creatures that never cease to sing. Their song is the very one the Church takes up at every Mass: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, the Almighty God, who was, who is, and who is to come.” Revelation 4:8 This acclamation, already heard by the prophet Isaiah in the Temple, tells the infinite holiness of God, his transcendence that surpasses all. The triple Holy expresses fullness: God is the Wholly Other, the source of all purity and all light. In singing it at Mass, the Christian does not recite a formula, he joins his voice to that of the angels who, day and night, adore before the throne. This song is not new: John receives it from the prophet Isaiah, who had seen, seven centuries earlier, the seraphim surround the throne of God in the Temple and cry to one another the triple Holy. What the prophet glimpsed for an instant, Revelation shows as the eternal liturgy of heaven, without end or interruption. Likewise, the throne surrounded by the four living creatures fulfills the vision of Ezekiel by the river of exile. The prophets had the grace of a flash of lightning; John contemplates the full day of this worship that will never cease.
The Lamb slain and standing
A book sealed with seven seals lies in the hand of God: it is the book of history and of its meaning, which no one can open. John weeps, for no one is worthy. Then appears an overwhelming figure: “a Lamb standing, as though slain.” Revelation 5:6 These few words contain the whole Gospel. The Lamb is Christ, the paschal victim; he is slain, bearing the marks of his death; and yet he is standing, living, risen. The crucified and the victor are one. This is why he alone can open the book: because he gave his life, he has the right to unveil the meaning of history and to guide its course. The cross is not a defeat, it is the title of his kingship. That Christ appears in heaven under the figure of a Lamb is no accident: it is the fulfillment of all Israel’s expectation. The paschal lamb, whose blood on the doorposts saved the people in Egypt, announced this blood that saves the world; the servant of Isaiah, led like a lamb to the slaughter without opening his mouth, sketched its suffering face; and John the Baptist, pointing to him, had said behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. All these figures converge toward this Lamb slain and standing, in whom the ancient Passover finds at last its full meaning.
Worthy is the Lamb
At once, all heaven bursts into praise. The elders bow down, and a new song rises toward the Lamb: you are worthy, for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed for God people of every nation. Then myriads of angels take up in an immense voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power, riches, wisdom.” Revelation 5:12 It is the adoration of Christ in his glory, recognized by all creation as Lord. What the world rejected and crucified, heaven crowns. Praise, here, is not optional: it is the very truth of things at last unveiled, the just response of the creature before the one who saved it. All Christian prayer aspires to join this song.
Heaven and the Mass
These visions are not a distant backdrop: they are the model of the Mass. Everything John describes is found again in the liturgy of the Church, the altar, the incense that rises like the prayers of the saints, the white garments, the throne, and above all the Lamb slain at the center. When the priest, at Mass, shows the host saying behold the Lamb of God, it is this vision that is fulfilled before our eyes. The earthly liturgy is the reflection and the participation of the heavenly liturgy: in celebrating the Eucharist, the Church does nothing other than unite itself to the eternal worship of heaven, where the angels and the saints adore without end. Revelation thus teaches the Christian what he truly lives when he enters a church: heaven opens, and he stands already, mysteriously, before the throne of God.