By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou
Sunday, July 5th 2026
The sermons on the Sundays of this summer (2026) will refer to the Epistles that Christ sent through the Evangelist John to the seven Churches of Asia Minor, which are called the Churches of the Apocalypse. They are written in the last book of the New Testament and of the whole of Holy Scripture, which is called the “Revelation of John.” This is a revelation of Jesus Christ to His beloved Disciple, the Evangelist John, when he was on the island of Patmos on the Lord’s Day, because he was preaching the word of God and bearing witness to Jesus Christ (Rev. ch. 1).
First of all, the phrase “Revelation of Jesus Christ” signifies the manifestation of Christ to the Evangelist John after Pentecost. We know that the Evangelist John was Christ’s beloved disciple, who was together with Peter and James on Mount Tabor and saw the glory of Christ’s divinity, who followed Christ to the Cross on Golgotha, and to whom Christ entrusted His mother, the Most Holy Theotokos, so that he might protect her. Afterwards, he saw the risen Christ, and on the day of Pentecost he received the Holy Spirit and became a member of the Body of Christ. Then, in the New Testament are included his Gospel, which was characterized as the “spiritual Gospel,” his three theological Epistles, which are called Catholic Epistles because they were sent to all the Churches, and the Book of Revelation, that is, the manifestation of Christ to him, when he was in exile on the island of Patmos.
The word "Revelation" [Apocalypse] signifies the manifestation of “the hidden mysteries of God.” As an example, we can use a beautiful table prepared for a meal, with many dishes and delicacies, but covered with a cloth. We who have only bodily eyes see the table with its beautiful covering, but to those who have noetic [invisible] eyes, God removes the covering, and they see what is contained on the table.
The same happens with God and with the things that concern Him and the future of man. The majority of people see creation with its beauties, but they are unable to see more deeply and inwardly, neither the “logoi of beings,” that is, the uncreated energy of God in creation, nor the Creator of creation, God. Therefore, Revelation means that God reveals the inner depth of all things, of the present and of the future, to people who have noetic eyes and spiritual senses, and this takes place through the purification and illumination of the nous.
This Revelation of the present and future the Evangelist John saw on Patmos and recorded it in prophetic and symbolic language in the book bearing the title “Revelation of John.” Certainly, this book is prophetic and is interpreted by prophets, that is, by people who have a pure nous, noetic prayer, and a theoptic experience through the Holy Spirit. There is a basic rule: the saints understand the saints, and prophets interpret the prophets, just as happens in science. If someone is a good scientist, he will be understood by those who are good scientists. The Holy Spirit who revealed these things to John the Theologian is the One who interprets these events to those who have the same spiritual state as the Evangelist John. For this reason, the interpretation of the book of Revelation is difficult, and only a few Fathers have dealt with it.
From the first chapter of the Revelation of John, the manifestation of Christ in His glory is described. At the beginning, the Evangelist John heard behind him a loud voice like a trumpet, which urged him to write in a book what he saw and send it to the seven Churches of Asia Minor, namely Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Although there were also other Churches in Asia Minor, this voice urged him to send what he would see only to seven Churches, since the number seven is symbolic and indicates the seventh day of creation and the seven days of the week. It concerns the time of our life, during which we prepare ourselves for eternal life.
When the Evangelist John heard this voice behind him, he turned to see who was speaking to him, and then he saw seven golden lampstands, and among them he saw someone who looked like a man dressed in a long robe and girded across His chest with a belt. His head and His hair were white like wool and like snow, and His eyes were like a flame of fire; His feet resembled burnished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice sounded like the roar made by many waters or waterfalls. In His hand He held seven stars, and from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, while His face shone as the sun shines in all its brilliance (Rev. 1:10–16). This is the revelation of Christ Himself within the Light, which is identical with the manifestation of Christ at His Transfiguration on Mount Tabor.
Christ assured him that He is the First and the Last and the Living One, whom they killed, but who lives unto the ages of ages, and that He holds the keys of death and Hades. And He commanded him to write what he saw and what is to take place after these things. He also explained to him that the seven stars are the angel-bishops of the Churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven Churches of the Revelation (Rev. 1:17–20). This is a majestic manifestation of Christ after Pentecost. The Evangelist John has received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and is a member of the Body of Christ. He sees Christ within the Light of His divinity, in the midst of the seven lampstands, which are the seven particular Churches, and in His right hand He holds the seven stars, that is, the seven Bishops of these Churches.
The Bishops are characterized as angels and are stars because they receive the Light from Christ Himself, the Sun of righteousness. They are called stars “because of the luminous and pure nature” of their being. The Bishops are the angels of the Churches because they convey the Light from the Triune God, which comes, through the angels, to their Churches, according to the interpretation of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite. And the Churches are called lampstands, that is, lamp holders, like the candelabra with their vigil lamps. The lampstands — the Churches — are the supports of the holy men, the Bishops, who are filled with the Light of Christ; through their virtues they drive away the darkness of ignorance in the present life, but they also have deficiencies, which are noted in the Epistles so that they may repent. Both the lampstands and the lamps (Churches and Bishops) are golden, in order to manifest the purity and unadulterated nature of the faith they possess.
This spiritual “vision beyond vision” the Evangelist John saw on the Lord’s Day on Patmos, and it shows what Christ, the Church, and the Bishops are. Christ is living and immortal; He is “in the midst of the lampstands”; He is “light from light, true God from true God.” The Church has the Light of Christ and continually radiates it, and the Bishops are the angels of God who convey the Light of God to people and guide them toward their salvation, just as the heavenly angelic spirits do; yet the Bishops also have a body, and they must live as “angels in the body.”
Beginning next Sunday, we will begin to interpret these seven Epistles of Christ, which He sent through the Evangelist John, His beloved disciple, to the seven angel-bishops of the seven Churches of Asia Minor.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
