Revelation 12:11Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The saints, like Job, were accused by the devil and slandered by him before men who believe and obey him. By their sufferings for Christ they conquered him.

The holy angels, showing the joy brought them by Satan's destruction, sing a song of victory to God: "Now salvation and the kingdom have come, and the power of God has shone forth, and the authority of His Christ, that He may be almighty. For by it we have conquered the enemy. And the accuser of our brethren has departed from us, who accused them before our God day and night." What humility belongs to the holy angels! How they imitate their Master! They call men their brethren. And what is marvelous in this, if the common Master Himself did not disdain to call men by this name, saying: "I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the church I will sing praise to You" (Heb 2:12; cf. Ps 21:23). And what does John say of Satan? That he departed. That he was torn away from glory.

The author shows quite clearly in what heavens the event should be imagined. For we know that in the Church salvation was made manifest by the victory of Christ. Through this victory the Church acquired a certain authority to bind what is free and to loose what is bound. Thus in the person of Peter alone, as a universal sign, the whole Church heard: "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Mt 16:19). The Lord also says of this: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Mt 28:18). This is not the authority He always had, but the authority He acquired in the Church as Head over the members from the time He Himself willed it.

Before the coming of the Savior into the world, mankind was under the grievous yoke of the devil. By the sufferings and Resurrection of Christ this yoke was cast off. Men began to struggle with their enemy and to conquer him by the power of God. From that time the blessed Kingdom of Christ came upon the earth. How could the blessed heavenly ones not rejoice over such an earthly triumph? "Woe, however, to those whose dwelling is not in heaven but on earth. For among those living on earth, many conquer and will conquer the enemy, though he now rages greatly against those who struggle, because his torment is near. Therefore it is necessary to lament those who mind earthly things and are tossed on the sea of life," says Saint Andrew of Caesarea.

Is victory over Satan, then, and the destruction of his slanders, the work only of the higher powers? It turns out that this is not so. Christians themselves must be living helpers in the devil's defeat. They must actively strive to make the merits of redemption their own. They must conduct their life according to the word of the Gospel. If need be, they must even sacrifice their life for the triumph of the faith. This is how the mother of the Churches, or the first Church of Christ, acted in the person of her children. By her courage she conquered all the devices of the devil.

Then this victory of the heavenly spirits is loudly glorified in heaven, because it establishes the saving Kingdom of God and of Christ. The enemy of men is conquered by them through the wondrous blood of the Lamb and by their own courage, which gave them the possi-[...]