On one of the Sundays, when the Apostle was in the cave, he had a vision, he heard a loud voice, as if from a trumpet, saying: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last; what you see, write in a book." The revelation was written down by the disciple of the Apostle John, Prochorus. According to the legend, preserved by the Christians of the island of Patmos, the Apostle lived in a cave, where he slept on a bare stone.

This stone, by the way, can still be seen there today. Above the cave is now the Monastery of the Apocalypse. "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. And He shewed it, sending it through His angel to His servant John, who testified to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, and what he saw" (Rev. 2:10). 1, 1-2).

This is the revelation not of the Apostle John, but of Jesus Christ, the Great Lord of history. It is known from the Creed that Christ has equality of authority – as God and as man. He participates in the divine power over the world, and Revelation shows how Jesus governs the history of the world, and how the will of the Heavenly Father, His Son and the Holy Spirit is done.

Why is it said that God gave Revelation to Christ? Because the source of the Godhead is God the Father: in eternity He gives birth to the Son, and in eternity He sends forth the Holy Spirit from Himself. For this reason glory is given to Christ by the Father — Christ in His birth receives from the Father honor and glory, power and splendor. But here it is given to Him as 7   and this glory is not merely to keep it within Himself, but to show the Father to men and to proclaim what is to come to pass.

Revelation reveals the mystery of the future life, a mystery that is already being accomplished in our world. It is said, "It must be soon," because for Christ all things are soon. And we need to remember that the Judgment is at the door, that it will be soon. The Lord says in the Gospel: "But the judgment consists in this, that light has come into the world; but men loved darkness more than light, because their deeds were evil; for everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed, because they are evil, but he who does righteousness comes to the light, that his works may be made manifest, because they are done in God" (John 3:19-21).

Judgment begins with the manifestation of Light – Jesus Christ, the Son of God, that is, with Theophany, with the greatest revelation of God in the person of Christ the Savior. Judgment is the revelation of people and their inner qualities.1 Therefore, it is incorrect and incorrect to say that there are people who reject Christ, but at the same time do good works. If they truly did good works, they would love Christ, accept Him with all their hearts, pursue Him, and believe that He is God!

For the light of good works proceeds from Christ, Who Himself is the true Light, enlightening every man who comes into the world (cf. John 1:9). "Who bore witness to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, and what he saw" (Rev. 1:2). Christ did not just give a revelation, He gave a testimony, He gave knowledge about the future. The Book of Revelation itself is the last in the New Testament and reveals the picture of God's Judgment on the world at the end of time.

The Word of God given to the Church is a sign that is sent to convict the world of sins and unrighteousness. Therefore, it does not give people the opportunity to 8   It seems to disturb or, on the contrary, delight them. It is said that Christ sent a revelation "through His angel to His servant" (Rev. 2:10). 1:1), that is, God the Father sends revelation to the Son Christ.

Notice that it is emphasized that John is a servant of Christ and at the same time His friend. We see that a person should never be ashamed of the fact that he is a servant of God. A servant of God is a person who is subject only to God and, therefore, is free from everything else. There is no one who is not subject to God: for example, the devil is also a servant of God, but a disobedient, rebellious, and foolish slave.

John testified to the word he had received from Christ; he testified that this word was genuine, that it was from God. The apostle saw the source of the word, saw the source of revelation, and testified of Jesus Christ. And Christ Himself is a witness to the secret intra-divine order of life. In ancient times, a person could be saved by believing in the One God, but now this is not enough for salvation.

Now we need to accept the testimony of Christ, brought by Him from the Father Himself. So John the Theologian, like many other martyrs and confessors, is a witness of the Witness, a witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed One, the Son of God; that Christ has given us the life of God the Father, which is in Him. All the saints are witnesses to this; They continue the line of testimony from the beginning and will continue to the very end.

Therefore, the apostolic succession is very important, this line of witnesses who receive and transmit power from the day of Pentecost, when the fiery river of the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles. This line of witnesses confessing that Jesus is the Christ continues to this day through the ordination of bishops. 9   "Blessed is he who reads and hears the words of this prophecy, and keeps what is written in it; for the time is at hand" (Rev. 1:3).

Beatitude is to those who read this prophecy in the Churches. And not only read, but also fulfills the commands of God given in this book, observes the requirements that God gave through the prophets, because the Judgment time is near! This is the time of the cessation of all time, when the history of the world will finally end and the Day of Judgment will come.2 The Apostle John testifies that this time is near, so we must live in a state of reverent delight and sobriety before the coming of the Day of Judgment.

It will be possible to determine the approach of the end of the world by the pangs of the birth of a new universe: the beginning of great wars, devastation, pestilence, famine, etc. As the Lord said, "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not terrified, for all these things must be, but this is not the end: for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in every place; all this is the beginning of sorrows" (Matt. 24:6-8).