May 26, 2019 Sixth Sunday of Easter

“1 ¶ And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. 6 ¶ Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. 7 “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” 8 Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.” (Revelation 22:1-8 NKJV)

There are times when the Bible leaves us in awe! John’s view of Heaven first is a reminder of who Jesus proclaims to be in the I am statements and in the second part we can see who Jesus proclaims to be in the promises to those who are faithful. Let us look at and hear this heavenly proclamation.

They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.

This leads us back to Moses whose face shined when coming into the presence of God. Others did not want to see but wouldn’t it be amazing to see.

Sheep are marked so shepherds can tell their sheep from others. Jesus knows us so this could be to keep the evil one from trying to “rustle” God’s sheep.

There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light.

In Creation Light comes before the sun, moon and the stars. Here G0d reveals to us the fulfillment of the Light conquering darkness. In Heaven there will only be one day with no shadow or darkness.

“These words are faithful and true.”

The Living Word is the source of all words to enable us to see the truth and faithfulness of Jesus! Notice it says “these words” as the Living Word Jesus is the source of all words.

“Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

For two millennium those who follow Jesus have looked to see the coming of Jesus. In the New Testament there was even a group who waited on the roof for the coming of Jesus. Paul told them to come down and get to work. While being heavenly minded is important we must not allow it to keep us from making disciples!

Now I, John, saw and heard these things.

We have the declaration of God and now John declares he saw and heard these things. Jesus is the Word and Light and enabled John to see and hear what was needed to write this final book of the Bible. Bible means book of books and a book is a series of connected words.

Allow God to reveal Himself to you as the Living Word through the Bible, the written word of God. Listen and see the fullness of Creation, salvation and love found in Jesus!