Thursday, October 16, 2025

"Have an Apocalyptic Day." Chapter 22: "Come, Lord Jesus."

 

Photo by Jack Antsley

Well, today is the day. This is the end of a 22-part devotional blog series, which took me six months to complete. The idea of adapting Revelation to poetic verse came almost a year ago, and with an early surge of inspiration, that part has been done for many months now. Some other potential aspects of this project are in the works, but I'm excited to at least see this part finished. Thanks for reading.

Revelation 22 brings healing closure to John's sometimes terrifying vision. A river of life flows from God's throne in the New Jerusalem. A tree of life--much like the tree in the Garden of Eden--yields twelve kinds of fruits, a number of completeness. The tree's leaves are "for the healing of the nations," which means the city is fully open to Gentiles and Jews alike: all who are descended from Adam and Eve are welcome inside, and they don't have to be perfectly "fixed" in every way to enter the gate. If they did, why would there be healing leaves inside? 

The text does say outside the city are all those who "love and practice falsehood." It doesn't say they can never come in. It's just that our lies won't survive in there. Stand at the gate as long as you want, but when you walk in, you step into truth.

The final word from Revelation, and the canonical scriptures, is Jesus' promise, "I am coming soon," and the author's response, "Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!" The early generations of Christianity had every hope that they would see Jesus return in their own lifetime, in the same manner he ascended in Luke ch. 24. He didn't, and hasn't yet, but that hasn't dimmed the hope. 

Still, I wonder sometimes what our faith would look like if the New Testament's first book--the Gospel of Matthew--was placed last in our scriptures. Matthew doesn't feature Jesus' ascension. It ends with Jesus on a mountain, commissioning his disciples to go and make more disciples, and promising, "I am with you, to the end of the age." 

What if the Gospel of John had the last word? John ends with a loving one-on-one conversation between Jesus and Peter. Jesus' final words, after settling one last internal squabble, are, "follow me!" The Gospel ends with the two men sitting by the lake. 

Christian theology at its best has a sense of what theologian Walter Bouman called "already, but not yet." 

We do still proclaim that Jesus will return, in a way that will be unmistakable, and the Reign of God will bring ultimate healing and justice to this world. This is the "not yet," which can't be denied if we acknowledge that God really does want better for this hurting world. 

Yet there is also an "already" to the coming of Christ. When Jesus says at the very beginning of his ministry, "the Kingdom of God is at hand," he means it. In the healing and justice we see here and now, the word of Gospel hope we hear, the sacraments of grace we receive, and the care for the poor they inspire, Jesus is already here. Sitting by a lake, gathering on a mountaintop, prepping food in a kitchen, sitting down to eat with friends and strangers, we can still say, "Amen! Come Lord Jesus!" and trust... 

that he will...

and that he did...

and that he is, right here and now. 

My poetic interpretation of REVELATION 22   

22. Forth from the throne, a living river flows

On either side, grows Eden's Living Tree;

The raging nations, healing now will know 

From its twelve fruits, producing constantly.


The servants of the Lamb shall see his face

To worship and to reign beside the throne;

But no accursed thing is in that place,

But those for whom the Lamb's own blood atoned.


I, Brother John, have heard and seen each thing,

Commanded not to seal this worthy tome,

“The time is near; I, Jesus, witness bring,”

The Spirit, bride, and all who thirst, say, “Come.”


Come, Lord Jesus! Though we know not when,

Bring freedom! Grace be with the saints–Amen. 

 




Wednesday, October 1, 2025

"Have An Apocalyptic Day." Chapter 21: The Kind of Earth You Won't Want to Fly Away From

 


The Gospel is, was, and always will be: 
Heaven Comes Down.
Once more for the people in the back: 
Heaven Comes Down.
A third time, before we get another rapture prediction:
Heaven. Comes. Down.

In the penultimate chapter of Revelation, after the final judgment comes a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and earth have passed away. 
There's a voice saying: "God lives here now." 
A new Jerusalem comes down, and there's no Temple in it, because why would you need a special, holy place when the whole land--every blade of grass, every grasshopper, every microbe in every drop of water in every river, and every person drinking it--is already holy? 

Why would you sing, "I'll Fly Away" when that kind of earth is coming?
Why would you fantasize about all the tribulation and torture your friends and neighbors will endure while you hop a cloud and take off for some celestial realm,
when the words of Holy scripture are so clear and so final in saying,
Heaven
Comes
Down?

Why would you waste your thirty seconds on a Sunday morning, or ever, praying as your Lord taught you, "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven," if you don't believe it will actually happen, or believe that our world needs yet more calamity and destruction in order to make it so?

The plan was always for heaven to come down.
That's what happened in Bethlehem.
That's what the angels on the mountainside promised would happen again.

Don't let false teachers lead you astray with doomsday scenarios pieced together with a patchwork of out-of-context verses about how to escape this world. 
If Jesus chose to live here, you better believe none of us is too good for it.
It's right here in the Book of Revelation.
Heaven comes down. 

My Poetic Interpretation of REVELATION 21 

21. New heaven, new Earth, new Jerusalem,

Prepared, as bride for husband, now descends;

This mortal people, God shall dwell with them,

Of mourning, tears, and death to make an end.


“Behold, for I am making all things new!

Drink now my living water, gift sublime;

Inscribe my words, the trustworthy and true,

I, Alpha and Omega, hold all time.” 


Of gold and jewels, the city stands Foursquare,

No lamps: the Lamb himself will be their light;

Twelve gates, with twelve apostles’ names, are there,

By day they open, and there is no night.


No need to climb; God comes to you and me,

Oh, taste the living water and be free.