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<\/a>Revelation 21:1-8<\/b><\/h3>\nInitial, progressive, final<\/i>.\u00a0 Remember that: it will help you understand how Revelation can actually be a revelation<\/i> of Jesus Christ in your life.\u00a0 Too often, we approach St. John\u2019s Revelation<\/i> as if it were St. John\u2019s Obfuscation<\/i>.\u00a0 I can hear it now: \u201cThe first lesson is taken from the twenty-first chapter of The Obfuscation of St. John.\u201d\u00a0 And all the people said, \u201cHuh?!\u201d<\/p>\n
I know I\u2019ve said this before, but I\u2019ll say it one last time: I don\u2019t believe that John was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write a book that no one could understand until the end of time.\u00a0 I don\u2019t believe God would inspire such a book and then carefully place it (as He moved the Church in its process of canonization) as the punctuation mark, the crescendo and finale, of Holy Scripture, unless He intended for us to read, understand, and apply it in our lives.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t get me wrong: I do believe there is a future component to St. John\u2019s Revelation, and I definitely believe it is the most difficult book of the Bible (which is why I always recommend that Christians read it only after<\/i> they have read and studied the rest of the Bible, especially the Old Testament prophets).\u00a0 I also believe that it was written for our edification.\u00a0\u00a0 But if it is only meant for Christians in the future and it hasn\u2019t applied to us yet, then I think the book may have done more bad than good.\u00a0 If it is only written with future Christians in mind, then the Church has not profited by it very much for 2000 years now, and it would be a very strange and even perverse thing for the Word of God to be such a tease.<\/p>\n
But the book is a revelation<\/i> of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 St. John\u2019s purpose (which is really the purpose of the Holy Spirit who revealed these things to him) is to make Jesus Christ known: initially to the 7 churches of Asia Minor, progressively to the Church of all ages, and finally to the glorified Church.<\/p>\n
In Revelation 21 St. John sees a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth have passed away.\u00a0 He sees the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.<\/p>\n
Already, in these details, John is telling us that he is speaking about the Church.\u00a0 First, he calls the church the New Jerusalem, just as did the writer of Hebrews.\u00a0 Second, this New Jerusalem is not in<\/i> heaven, as if it is something that only exists after the Final Judgment and at the end of time, but it comes down<\/i> and out of heaven<\/i>.\u00a0 This means that it must be an earthly phenomenon.\u00a0 The New Jerusalem is born from heaven and descends to heaven, just as Jesus Christ Himself did.\u00a0 Third, this New Jerusalem is revealed to be nothing other than the Bride of Jesus Christ, which we know is the Church.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know about you, but this excites me.\u00a0 John is not talking about things that are so remote from me that I can\u2019t really care much about them: he is talking about Jesus Christ in my life!<\/p>\n
\u201cBehold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people\u201d (verse 3).\u00a0 This sounds familiar.\u00a0 Let me see . . . tabernacle . . . God\u2019s tabernacle will be with men . . . God will dwell with us . . . I\u2019ve got it!\u00a0 \u201cAnd the word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth\u201d (John 1:14).<\/p>\n
The same St. John who was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write his Revelation of Jesus Christ was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write his Gospel of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 And yes, the Greek word in John 1:14 is \u201ctabernacled.\u201d\u00a0 Don\u2019t you see: these things have already come upon us.\u00a0 Jesus Christ has already come from heaven to earth; God has already made His tabernacle with men; God is already with us (Immanuel!)\u00a0 And when Jesus ascended back into heaven, He sent down His Holy Spirit to be His presence in His Church.\u00a0 And thus, the Church, the New Jerusalem, was born.\u00a0 We are the heirs of a New Covenant, a New Temple, a New Sacrifice, a New Priesthood, a New Heavens, a New Earth, and a New Jerusalem.\u00a0 Though they are not yet here in all their fullness, they are truly here because Jesus Christ is truly here.<\/p>\n
Let better theologians than I am dispute about the future fulfillment of John\u2019s Revelation: I know what I know, and I know that Jesus Christ is with us, even now.\u00a0 I have access to the Father through the Son, right here in my little study in Fort Worth, right here on May 28, 2009 (when I first wrote this.)\u00a0 I am permitted to boldly approach the Throne of Grace, the Holy of Holies, for I have a Mediator and High Priest in heaven, whose perfect sacrifice has made me acceptable to the Father.\u00a0 I have the Holy Spirit living inside me, and I am a part of the Body of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is finished!\u201d proclaims the One who sits on the Throne (verse 6).\u00a0 Initially on the Cross, progressively in the lives of the saints, and finally in the life to come, \u201cIt is finished,\u201d the work of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts\u201d (verse 6).\u00a0 I believe that this, too, is about me and Christians today.\u00a0 Now that I mention it, I am a little parched this morning.\u00a0 Living here in this wilderness has made me a little thirsty and weary, now that I think about it.\u00a0 It\u2019s been too long since I\u2019ve gone to the fountain of the water of life.<\/p>\n
When I was at St. Chrysostom\u2019s in Hot Springs, AR, I had a little ritual on Tuesday mornings.\u00a0 After I finished up my church work in the morning at St. Chrys, I would go downtown to the Visitor\u2019s Center, where there was a circle of 6 faucets that dispensed 143 degree water fresh from the hot springs of Hot Springs, Arkansas.\u00a0 Whenever I ran out of my Hot Springs water, I went and take my three 1-gallon jugs and filled them.\u00a0 It was wonderful to have the gift of free spring water whenever I wanted, there in Hot Springs, something some people will pay $2 a quart for (suckers!)<\/p>\n
But I have a little confession to make about my water ritual (priests need to confess, too, sometimes).\u00a0 Even though St. Chrys was only 2.35 miles away, I only remembered to fill my water jugs several times.\u00a0 There was a period of about a year or so when I had every intention of getting my water, but I kept forgetting to take my water jugs with me to church.\u00a0 After a while, I simply forgot altogether.\u00a0 I could afford to forget because I had free (almost) water at home.\u00a0 But if the springs of free water were my only source and I continued to forget them, you can imagine how thirsty I\u2019d be: dead thirsty.<\/p>\n
And yet this is the way some of us access the living water of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 We remember to drink from Him only occasionally, and then we wonder why our throats are so dry and we are so weary and our lives have been turned into fruitless deserts.<\/p>\n
Yes, I believe that John\u2019s Revelation was for me, there in little Hot Springs, Arkansas, and was there for me in larger Fort Worth, TX, even before the final glory of the Lord and His Church.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t you?<\/p>\n
Prayer:\u00a0 Father, I thank You for planting me back in Your Garden and by the Fountain of the Water of Life, Your Son, Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Make me to be like a tree of righteousness planted by the rivers of water, who brings forth his fruit in his season, whose leaf shall not wither, and who is blessed in whatever he does, through Jesus Christ, who is the Living Water.\u00a0 Amen.\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n
Point for Meditation: \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
1.\u00a0 In what ways are you thirsty and hungry and weak today?\u00a0 After meditating on each of these ways, turn to Jesus Christ so that He may give You Himself as your heavenly food and drink.<\/b><\/p>\n
2.\u00a0 Whenever you take a drink of a liquid today, remind yourself that Jesus is Your Water of Life, your aqua vitae<\/i>.\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n
Resolution:\u00a0 I resolve to meditate on Jesus Christ with me and vow to come to Him more faithfully and deeply today.<\/b><\/p>\n
\u00a9 2013 Fr. Charles Erlandson<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Revelation 21:1-8 Initial, progressive, final.\u00a0 Remember that: it will help you understand how Revelation can actually be a revelation of Jesus Christ in your life.\u00a0 Too often, we approach St. John\u2019s Revelation as if it were St. John\u2019s Obfuscation.\u00a0 I can hear it now: \u201cThe first lesson is taken from the twenty-first chapter of The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2856,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[154,265,266,268,301,4,1605,1612,1613,1615,1806,2137,2368],"class_list":["post-3023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-give-us-this-day","tag-anglican","tag-bible-commentary","tag-bible-devotional","tag-bible-study","tag-book-of-common-prayer","tag-daily-devotional","tag-new-covenant","tag-new-priesthood","tag-new-sacrifice","tag-new-temple","tag-preterism","tag-st-johns-revelation","tag-the-new-jerusalem"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>Revelation 21:1-8<\/b><\/h3>\n