Revelation 22:1Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Observe that the fountain of grace springs from the central part of the throne. This fountain springs from the throne only when the Lamb stands before it. If we do not believe in the Incarnation of Christ, we cannot receive from this grace.

The river proceeding from the Church is an allegorical name for the baptism of regeneration. Those washed in it, through the action of the Holy Spirit, become purer than snow and crystal. The river of God, full of water, flowing through the Jerusalem above, is the Life-giving Spirit proceeding from God the Father. Through the angel and the higher powers, called the thrones of God, He waters the streets of the holy city, that is, its inhabitants, who, according to the Psalmist, have increased more than the sand (Ps 138:18).

The water of life is the Lord Jesus Christ. Of this water He said to the Samaritan woman: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (Jn 4:10). This water is the knowledge of His Godhead and the fullness of holy faith. For of Him it is said: “With You is the fountain of life” (Ps 35:10). For they were buried with Him through baptism, as the apostle said: “Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death” (Rom 6:4). Consequently, the water of life, like crystal and wholly pure, is the washing of the holy font and the cleansing light of most blessed baptism. That it proceeds from the throne of God and of the Lamb is said because cleansing is from Him. Life is from Him. From Him every justification and sanctification of baptism flows and proceeds.

The river of life may be the abundant and rich gifts of Christ, which are poured out inexhaustibly upon the saints. Like a river, they rush and flow toward them.

The river of life flowing in the midst of the city no longer symbolizes the ministry of baptism. Rather, the fruit of the mystery itself is now revealed. For what was once sown in tears will afterward be reaped in joy. Therefore the Church now sows to the Spirit, and from the Spirit will reap eternal life (Gal 6:8).

According to the Gospel, the river of the water of life signifies the gifts of the Holy Spirit; see Jn 7:37-39. Here too, by the river of the water of life pouring forth from the throne of the Lord Almighty and of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is meant the inexhaustible source of the gracious gifts of the Holy Spirit. If the gracious gifts of the Holy Spirit are such that the apostles who received them, while still in the flesh and in the world, became higher than flesh and the world, then much more will the souls of the righteous be illumined with incomparably higher perfections. For by the action of the Holy Spirit, those washed by the river of Baptism in the present life become whiter than snow. How much more those deemed worthy in the Kingdom of Heaven of the direct outpouring of the grace of the Holy Spirit upon them.

"The river of the water of life." In his vision, Saint John gathers together everything that is mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament, in parts and in passing, concerning the life to come. Thus here he has the living water, like that of which the Savior spoke to the Samaritan woman and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem (Jn 4:14; Jn 7:38).

By what symbols is the uninterrupted blessedness of the members of the heavenly Church depicted? The first symbol is the river of the water of life. "And the angel showed me a pure river of the water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb." This river of living water, ceaselessly flowing from the throne of God, symbolically depicts that grace and mercy of God which will be poured out inexhaustibly for all the inhabitants of the heavenly city. It will bring unfailing blessedness into their hearts (cf. Is 35:9, 20).