Readings

Revelation 12.7–12 – War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming, ‘Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death. Rejoice then, you heavens and those who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you with great wrath,  because he knows that his time is short!’

John 15.18–21 – ‘If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world—therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, “Servants are not greater than their master.” If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

Reflection

Today, as we mark St. George’s Day, we hold together two striking images from our readings: the cosmic battle of heaven in the book of Revelation, and Jesus’ sober words to his disciples in the Gospel of John.

In the book of Revelation, we hear of war in heaven. St Michael and his angels fight against the dragon, that ancient symbol of evil, accusation, and destruction. It is vivid, dramatic language, full of conflict and, ultimately, victory. And yet, at its heart, the passage tells us something deeply simple: that evil does not have the final word. The accuser is cast down. Salvation and power belong to God. The victory is already won.

Tradition tells us that the familiar story of St. George slaying the dragon may well have its roots in a blending of George’s story with that of St. Michael. Whether or not that is historically precise, the image endures because it speaks to something we recognise: the longing for good to overcome evil, for courage to face what threatens life, for faith to stand firm.

But then we turn to the Gospel, and the tone shifts. Jesus does not speak of dramatic battles in the heavens, but of something quieter and perhaps more challenging. In the Gospel of John, he tells his disciples that they will be hated because they belong to him. There is no dragon to be slain with a sword, no visible enemy to defeat. Instead, there is the reality of rejection, misunderstanding, and the cost of faithfulness.

And so we begin to see that the victory described in Revelation does not always look like victory in the way we might expect. The triumph of God is not worked out through force or domination, but through steadfast witness; through those who remain faithful, even when it is difficult.

“By the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,” the voice in Revelation declares, “they have conquered.” Not by strength of arms, but by faith, by truth, by lives shaped by Christ.

That reframes how we might understand St. George’s witness. Whatever the historical details, George is remembered not primarily as a warrior, but as a martyr; one who remained faithful to Christ in the face of opposition, even unto death. The dragon he faced was not a creature of scales and fire, but the very real pressures of a world that resisted the claims of Christ.

And that brings this close to home for us.

Because most of us will not face dramatic, mythical battles. But we do know what it is to live faithfully in a world that does not always understand or welcome that faith. We know what it is to hold to truth when it would be easier to remain silent, to choose compassion when indifference would be simpler, to follow Christ when it sets us at odds with the prevailing culture.

The call of today is not to go out and slay dragons, but to recognise where the quiet, daily struggles of faith are being lived out; in our choices, our words, our relationships. In doing so we trust that, in those places, the victory of Christ is already at work.

As it turns out, the dragon is not defeated by spectacle, but by faithfulness. Not by power as the world understands it, but by lives shaped by the Lamb.

So on this St. George’s Day, we give thanks not just for stories of courage, but for the deeper truth they point towards: that in Christ, evil is overcome; that in Christ, we are given strength to endure; and that in Christ, even the smallest act of faithful witness shares in the victory of heaven.

Amen.