Revelation 19:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The garment of the Word of God was His incorrupt and most pure flesh, stained during His sufferings with His precious blood. What was said earlier also confirms this. Why is He who has no name and is known by no one here called the Word? Either to indicate His filial Hypostasis and His passionless birth from the Father, just as our word proceeds from our mind, or to show that He contains in Himself the rational justification of all that exists. Or else He is so called because He is the Proclaimer of the power and wisdom of the Father.

If no one is permitted to know His name, why is He here openly called the Word of God? When we read, "No one has ascended into heaven except the Son of Man, who descended from heaven, who is in heaven" (Jn 3:13), we must understand this rightly. If any of the members ascends, he is permitted to ascend in the Head and through the Head. The Head gave a promise to His members and allowed them to hope. By fulfilling it, He made ascent possible. So here also it is said that only Christ knew what is accessible to the knowledge of His bride. Through Him and in Him the Church receives instruction. Then, in speaking of the garment dipped in blood, John describes the marks of Christ's sufferings. These are either on the Head Himself or on His body, which is the Church.

It appears that the sufferings of the Word are indicated here, just as the white horse indicates His blameless birth, and the garment dipped in blood His undeserved death. "His name is called the Word of God," because He who appeared at a certain time as Man, who was to suffer and die, was in the beginning God with God. He is called the Word either because there is nothing visible or bodily in the essence of His nature, or because the Father created all things through Him. As was said above, full knowledge of His nature is accessible only to Himself and to the Father. "The peace of God surpasses every mind" (Phil 4:7). This means that the peace by which God Himself lives at peace with Himself surpasses the understanding of every creature, both human understanding and even that of angels.

John sees the Lord in a martial form, as the conqueror of the devil and the King of kings. For the horse is a symbol of war, while the white horse signifies victorious war. He judges the world righteously concerning sin, wars against it, and conquers it as God. The Word of God became the flesh of the Son of Man, and by His blood all who believed in Him and repented were washed from sin. His garments are stained with the blood of those who did not believe.

"His name is called the Word of God." Only in John do we find this name of the Son of God as the Word. His Godhead and attributes are depicted in the Gospel. Here He appears with the same eternal divine attributes, as the righteous Judge, as the almighty Lord and King, and as the High Priest who offered Himself in sacrifice and stained His garments with blood.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God; He was in the beginning with God" (Jn 1:1-2). What is the dignity of the Word? It is divine dignity: "The Word was God." To express His divine properties, the Son of God found no better name in human language than the name of the Word: "His name is called the Word of God" (Rev 19:13). What power does the Word possess? An all-creating power: "All things were made through Him" (Jn 1:3). By the Word the visible world was created. "By the word of the Lord the heavens were established" (Ps 32:6).