Revelation 4:7

It is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are. For there are four zones of the world in which we live, and four principal winds, while the church is scattered throughout the world. And the “pillar and ground” of the church is the gospel and the Spirit of life. So it is fitting that she should have four pillars, breathing out immortality on every side and making people alive once more. From which fact, it is evident that the Word, the Craftsman of all things, who sits upon the cherubim and contains all things, who was manifested to humankind, has given us the gospel under four aspects but bound together by one Spirit. As also David says, when praying to the manifestation of the Word, “You, who sit between the cherubim, shine forth.” For the cherubim, too, were four-faced, and their faces were images of the dispensation of the Son of God. For, [as the Scripture] says, “The first living creature was like a lion,” symbolizing his effectual working, his leadership and royal power. The second [living creature] was like a calf, signifying [his] sacrificial and priestly order. But “the third had, as it were, the face as of a man,” an evident description of the Word’s advent as a human being. “The fourth was like a flying eagle,” pointing out the gift of the Spirit hovering with his wings over the church. And therefore the Gospels are in accord with these things, among which Christ Jesus is seated. For the Word, according to John, relates his original, effectual and glorious generation from the Father, thus declaring, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Also, “all things were made by him, and without him was nothing made.” For this reason, too, is that Gospel full of all confidence, for such is his person. But that according to Luke, the taking up [his] priestly character, commenced with Zechariah the priest offering sacrifice to God. For now was made ready the fatted calf, about to be sacrificed by fire for the finding again of the younger son. Matthew, again, relates his generation of Jesus Christ, “the son of David, the son of Abraham.” And also, “the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way.” This, then, is the Gospel of his humanity. For which reason it is, too, that [the character of] a humble and meek man is sustained through the whole Gospel. Mark, on the other hand, commences with [a reference to] the prophetic spirit coming down from on high to men. He says, “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet,” pointing to the winged aspect of the Gospel. On this account he made a compendious and cursory narrative, for such is the prophetic character.

"The first living creature was like to a lion, and the second was like to a calf, and the third had a face like to a man, and the fourth was like to a flying eagle; and they had six wings, and round about and within they were full of eyes; and they had no rest, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord Omnipotent. And the four and twenty elders, failing down before the throne, adored God." The four and twenty elders arethe twenty-four books of the prophets and of the law, which give testimonies of the judgment. Moreover, also, they are the twenty-four fathers-twelve apostles and twelve patriarchs.And in that the living creatures are different in appearance, this is the reason: the living creature like to a lion designates Mark, in whom is heard the voice of the lion roaring in the desert. And in the figure of a man, Matthew strives to declareto us the genealogy of Mary, from whom Christ took flesh. Therefore, in enumerating from Abraham to David, and thence to Joseph, he spoke of Him as if of a man: therefore his announcement sets forth the image of a man. Luke, in narrating the priesthood of Zacharias as he offers a sacrifice for the people, and the angel that appears to him with respect of the priesthood, and the victim in the same description bore the likeness of a calf. John the evangelist, like to an eagle hastening on uplifted wings to greater heights, argues about the Word of God. Mark, therefore, as an evangelist thus beginning, "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet; " The voice of one crying in the wilderness," -has the effigy of a lion. And Matthew, "The hook of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham: " this is the form of a man. But Luke said, "There was a priest, by name Zachariah, of the course of Abia, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron: " this is the likeness of a calf. But John, when he begins, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," sets forth the likeness of a flying eagle. Moreover, not only do the evangelists express their four similitudes in their respective openings of the Gospels, but also the Word itself of God the Father Omnipotent, which is His Son our Lord Jesus Christ, bears the same likeness in the time of His advent. When He preaches to us, He is, as it were, a lion and a lion's whelp. And when for man's salvation He was made man to overcome death, and to set all men free, and that He offered Himself a victim to the Father on our behalf, He was called a calf. And that He overcame death and ascended into the heavens, extending His wings and protecting His people, He was named a flying eagle. Therefore these announcements, although they are four, yet are one, because it proceeded from one mouth. Even as the river in paradise, although it is one, was divided into four heads. Moreover, that for the announcement of the New Testament those bring creatures had eyes within and without, shows the spiritual providence which both looks into the secrets of the heart, and beholds the things which are coming after that are within and without.

Both in the prophet Ezekiel and in the Apocalypse of the same John whose Gospel this is, there is mentioned a quadruple beast, having four characteristic faces: a man's, a calf's, a lion's, an eagle's. Very many who have commented on the mysteries of the holy Scriptures before us have understood the four Evangelists in this animal, or rather in these animals. The lion, [they say], has been put for king, because the lion seems to be, in a way, the king of beasts because of his power and terrifying bravery. This character has been attributed to Matthew because he described in proper order the royal line in the generations of the Lord, how the Lord was through royal descent from the seed of King David. But Luke, because he began from the priesthood of the priest Zechariah, making mention of the father of John the Baptist, is accounted the calf because the calf was the important victim in the sacrifice of the priests. Christ as a man has rightly been assigned to Mark, because neither did he say anything about his royal power nor did he begin from the priestly, but he simply started with Christ the man. All of these have practically not departed from the earthly things, that is, from those deeds that the Lord Jesus Christ performed on earth. They said very few things about his divinity, as if they were walking with him on earth. There remains the eagle: it is John, he who preaches the sublime and who gazes with unflinching eyes upon the internal and eternal light.

Each of the animals is associated with one of these elements:

the lion with fire, due to the animal's warmth and spirited nature;

the calf with the earth, because the calf's work is connected to the soil;

the man with the air, as humans are celestial and transcendent beings due to the artfulness [λεπτότητα] of the mind;

and the eagle with water, since birds originate from water.

Around the throne of God are seen those deemed worthy of care and providence, signified through living beings, that is, those on earth.

The church, therefore, lives and works on the strength and beauty of the royal majesty, because the Lion of the tribe of Judah conquers. “For Judah is a lion’s cub,” from whose tribe kings are accustomed to be set over the people. “And the second animal was like a calf.” For the same reason, the virtue of the church is indicated in the calf, namely, the first victim, for whenever anyone of the faithful is slain for Christ, he conquers at that moment. “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, which is your reasonable worship,” so that what the Head has accomplished on behalf of the body, the body may be worthy to fulfill for the Head. For this reason, [the Gospel of Luke] began with Zechariah the priest. “The third animal had a face like a man.” In my opinion, the humility of the church is here commended. For although she has received “the Spirit of the adoption of sons” and possesses “this treasure in clay vessels,” she nevertheless freely prefers to glory humbly in her weaknesses than to be praised in the strengths that she has acquired. In this way she devoutly follows in the footsteps of the Master who was “made obedient even unto death” and who said, “Learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart.” “The fourth animal was like a flying eagle.” The celestial church is being described as flying on the spiritual thoughts of her members. For she is free from the heaviness of earthly desires and is drawn into the heights at the direction of the two Testaments.

“The first animal was like a lion.” Most of our interpreters say that this signifies the person of Mark, the Evangelist. And indeed this seems most apt and true, for his Gospel begins in this way: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, ‘Behold, I send my messenger who shall prepare the way before your face.’ ” Nor is it strange that here Isaiah is mentioned instead of Malachi, for most certainly this testimony occurs in Malachi. However, “Isaiah” means “the salvation of the Lord,” and “Malachi” means “angel.” And so at the beginning of the Gospel he prefers to speak of the salvation of the Lord, which is “Isaiah,” rather than of the angel, which is “Malachi,” in order that through the faith of the gospel he might suggest the immovable perpetuity of the present and future life. And then, to be sure, he mentions the “messenger,” which is “angel,” and he adds the words of Isaiah: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight the highways of our God,” so that, salvation having been both promised and foretold, he might show the messenger of the truth and might prepare the hearts of humankind for the reception of grace. And the form of the lion is in this, that he reports that John was in the desert preaching and enjoying the desert, as he says: “John was in the desert baptizing and proclaiming the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” The words “the second creature was like an ox” introduce Luke. For a bull is representative of the priesthood, as it is said in Isaiah: “Blessed are you who sow upon all the waters, letting the feet of the ox and the ass go free.” And so at the beginning of his Gospel, he speaks of Zechariah the priest: “In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah.” “The third living creature with the face of a man” indicates Matthew, for at the beginning of his Gospel, Matthew wished to report the genealogy of the Lord according to the flesh. The words “the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle” indicate John. For, at the beginning of his Gospel, John did not speak of the humanity of the Lord or of the priesthood or of John preaching in the desert. Rather, desiring like an eagle to reach toward the height of heaven itself, he left behind all things lowly and spoke properly of him as God: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; he was in the beginning with God.”

And the first living creature was like a lion, etc. These living creatures are interpreted in various ways. But blessed Augustine, according to the order of this book, says that Matthew is understood in the lion, who narrates the royal lineage of Christ, who also conquered as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. For the cub of the lion is Judah (Gen. 49). And in whom, as a king, he is feared by a king, worshipped by the magi. Where also the king reckons with his servants, the king makes a marriage for his son, and finally, the king separates the sheep from the goats. Luke is in the calf, which was a great sacrifice in the law. For not only are his beginnings around the temple and sacrifices, but it also concludes: And they were continually in the temple praising and blessing God (Luke 24). The face of a man signifies Mark, who, saying nothing of the royal or priestly power of the Lord, simply narrates the deeds of the man Christ. But John is the eagle, who sharply looks at the birth of the Word like the rising sun. The living creatures sometimes signify the evangelists, sometimes the whole Church. Whose strength is shown in the lion, sacrifice in the calf, humility in the man, sublimity in the flying eagle.

And the first living creature was like a lion: and the second living creature like a calf: and the third living creature, having the face, as it were, of a man: and the fourth living creature was like an eagle flying. We should ask the question of why John said that the first living creature was like a lion while Ezekiel says that the appearance of man was in the first animal. So, either the historical order (which the mystical words of the Scriptures do not always keep) has been changed, or he put the symbol of the lion first because it is not on account of the Nativity or of the Passion that people have believed in Christ, but on account of the Resurrection, which is symbolized by the lion. Finally, since he began with the human generation, [Sc. of Jesus. Matt. 1:1 et seq.] Matthew is appropriately represented by the man; since he began with the cry in the desert, [Mark 1:3] Mark is appropriately represented by the lion; since he started with a sacrifice, [Luke 1:8] Luke is well represented by the calf; and John, who began with the divinity, [John 1:1 et seq.] is fittingly represented by the eagle. All this can also refer to Christ and all his limbs. However, for brevity's sake, let us content ourselves with what we have said here.