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Mark 14 · The faithful

The Response Asked of the Faithful

In the middle of the chapter about the beasts, John stops and speaks to us. Thirteen marks describe the enemy; this one describes the holy ones, and it is the measure of all the rest.

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Texts
Revelation 13:9–10; 14:12–13; 2:7, 10; Jeremiah 15:2; Matthew 10:22; 26:52
Figure
The holy ones: "those who keep God's commandments and bear witness to Jesus" (Revelation 12:17)
Authority
Scripture

What the text shows

Between the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth, John turns to his readers: "Whoever has ears ought to hear these words. Anyone destined for captivity goes into captivity. Anyone destined to be slain by the sword shall be slain by the sword. Such is the faithful endurance of the holy ones" (Revelation 13:9–10).

It is the only mark in the chapter that describes not the beasts but the faithful, and it asks three things of them: to hear, to endure, and to keep faith.

Whoever has ears

The words echo the refrain that closes each of the letters to the seven churches: "Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Revelation 2:7, and six times more). Revelation 13 is not written for the curious but for the Church. The beasts are described so that the holy ones will recognize the trial and not be surprised by it.

Captivity and the sword

John takes his words from Jeremiah, who was told that each of the unfaithful would go to the fate set for them: "Whoever is marked for death, to death; whoever is marked for the sword, to the sword… whoever is marked for captivity, to captivity" (Jeremiah 15:2). In Revelation the words are turned to the faithful. What the beast is permitted to do will come, and the holy ones will not escape it by force.

Some ancient manuscripts read the second line as a warning instead: whoever kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Either way it agrees with Christ's word in the garden, "all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matthew 26:52). The holy ones do not answer the beast with its own weapons.

Endurance and faith

"Such is the faithful endurance of the holy ones": in Greek, their hypomonē (endurance, steadfastness under pressure) and their pistis (faith, faithfulness). The same pair returns after the warning against taking the beast's mark: "Here is what sustains the holy ones who keep God's commandments and their faith in Jesus" (Revelation 14:12). And then a blessing: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on… for their works accompany them" (14:13). Christ promised the same: "whoever endures to the end will be saved" (Matthew 10:22).

The Fathers

St. Cyprian of Carthage, writing in a time of persecution, made patience the virtue of the hour: "We must endure and persevere, beloved brethren" (On the Good of Patience 13). He urged Christians under persecution not to avenge themselves but to "patiently wait" for God's justice, and pointed to the martyrs beneath the altar, told to rest "yet for a little season" until their number was complete (21; Revelation 6:9–11) A Father or Doctor. The Fathers agree that the answer to the last persecution is endurance in faith, not resistance by force Fathers in agreement.

The Church Church teaching

Fortitude "enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions" (CCC 1808). Martyrdom is "the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith" (CCC 2473). The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only by following her Lord in his death and Resurrection (CCC 677). The Church also teaches that legitimate defense can be a grave duty for those responsible for others (CCC 2265); what Revelation 13:10 refuses is answering persecution for the faith with the sword.

Why this mark measures every reading

The marks of the beast are given so that the faithful will endure, not so that anyone will grow fearful, curious or hostile. Any reading of Revelation 13, however learned, can be judged by its fruit: does it make its readers more faithful, more patient, more loving toward their enemies, and more hopeful (Matthew 7:16; Galatians 5:22–23)? A reading that leaves people afraid, angry or obsessed with dates has missed the one mark addressed to them.

The response asked of us

Hear. Endure. Keep faith. Do not take up the beast's weapons, and do not fear it: its time is measured and its end is told. "Remain faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Revelation 2:10). "They will fight with the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and king of kings, and those with him are called, chosen, and faithful" (Revelation 17:14).

Sources

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