Revelation 1:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He glorifies those who read and hear for the sake of deeds, because the time set before all for labor and for obtaining blessedness is short.

"Work while it is day; the night is coming, when no one can work" (Jn 9:4), says the Lord.

Or otherwise: in comparison with the life to come, this brief life is near to the time of recompense for struggles.

John wishes to make clear that reading is not the fulfillment of the commandments, and hearing does not show that the work has been completed by fulfillment.

Only that is perfect which is fulfilled through the assimilation of what has been read and heard.

It is near for all mortals, and therefore all who believe in Christ must use it for labor. For the night comes when no one can work (Jn 9:4).

Here one hears the thought of the very writer of the Apocalypse about the purpose of his book. His thought is that the book is appointed not merely for information or to direct the Christian mind’s gaze into the distant future, but for moral edification. It is not enough simply to read or hear the book of John’s prophecy. Blessed is the one who also keeps what is written in it. That is, with a trembling heart and believing mind, he reflects on the coming destinies of the Lord’s Church according to the Apocalypse. By his life and deeds of piety, he hastens to prepare himself for eternity. For the time of our passage from this life into the great and dread realm of eternity is near to each of us.

In its superscription, the Apocalypse is defined in terms of its content as a revelation that Jesus Christ communicates to Christians, His servants, after receiving it in turn from God the Father. Here are revealed the events that, according to the divine decree, must shortly come to pass. Here έν τάχεί is used in the sense of έγγΰς, “near,” in verse 3. Yet Christ did not show, or make known by signs, His revelation to John by Himself, but through His Angel. Why, then, was John deemed worthy of this revelation? In answer, John himself points to his witness to the truth of the Word of God, or the Gospel. His witness was accompanied by sufferings for the truth. Or, as the Apostle says, it was the testimony, μαρτυρία, the confession, of Jesus Christ.