Continue from ......
The Final Feast (21:1-22:5)
"I saw a new heaven and a new earth" (21:1)
Seven reflections on the future which God offers
-
The future which God offers us is a new creation
- The future God offers us is a new earthly paradise
In the first paradise four rivers irrigated the land and made it fertile (Gen. 2:10-14). In the new paradise only one river springs from the throne of God (22:1). Its waters irrigate the land and everywhere along its banks there grow trees of life, giving fruits twelve times a year, and their leaves can heal the nations (22:2). All this symbolically tells us that death is conquered. Now, only life remains, and life abundantly for all beings. Even the wounds caused by the persecutions and the hurts on the way have been healed. Even the curse pronounced in paradise (Gen. 3:14-19) had disappeared (22:3). No more death, no more mourning, no more tears, no more pain. God wipes away all tears from the eyes of His faithful people (21:4). He will give them water from the fountain of life (21:6).
- The future God offers us is a new Covenant
Like in the days of old after the flight from Egypt, God comes and dwells with His people. He pronounces the very same words of the Covenant: "I will be their god and they will be my people" (21:3). Nay, He tells each and every one personally: "I will be your God and you will be my son/daughter (21:7). God enters into a covenant with the people as a whole and with each and every member personally. There exists perfect harmony among the people, and between the people of God, as also between the community and the indidivual person. No one gets lost, either in the de-personalisation of the masses or in a self-centered faith.
- The future God offers us is a new organisation of the twelve tribes
The fraternal and egalitarian organisation of the people began in the desert after the people came out of Egypt. It was taken up again by the communities, in opposition to the system of the Roman empire. In the future that God is offering us, this fraternal system is accomplished after the defeat of the empire by the plagues of history and the judgement of God. The number twelve can be noticed everywhere. It is shown as the true number of the new creation: twelve gates (21:12), twelve angels (21:12), twelve tribes (21:12), twelve foundations (21:14), twelve apostles (21:14), twelve thousand stadia (21:16), twleve times twelve cubits (21:17), twelve kinds of precious stones (21;19-20), twelve pearls (21:21) and twelve fruit-harvests each year on the tree of life (22:2). This is the perfect organisation, symbolised by the perfection of the holy City. Among these faithful people unfaithfulness, laziness, corruption, murder, impurity, magic, worship of false gods and lies (21:8) can no longer be seen. All these have disappeared. Faithfulness wins the victory through the observance of God's commands (12:17).
- The future God offers us is a new holy City (Jerusalem)
The holy City comes down from heaven from the side of God (21:2,10). In it everything is perfect: the length, the breadth, the height (21:15-16), the walls, the gates, the materials used (21:15,17-18) as well as the foundations (21:14,19). Its main square is made of pure gold, transparent as crystal (21:21). Each tribe enriches the City with its own richness without being lost in the whole. Its gates are always open (21:25). The riches of the nations are brought to it (21:24,26) and there is no danger of theft since in the City no one does what is loathsome or false (21:27). Everything and everyone is at the service of life. The holy City is the light to the nations (21:24).
- The future God offers us is a renewed people, beautiful like a Bride
The City of the empire was a prostitute. The City of God is a bride, beautiful and fully adorned for her bridegroom (21:2). The Lamb is her Bridegroom (21:9). She is the Woman who had fought against death and against the Dragon. In the future offered by God the struggle is over. The Serpent no longer troubles anyone: it is forever in the lake of fire. The people, represented by the bride, get ready for their final union with God through the nuptials with the Lamb (19:7,9; 21:9). It is the final feast that crowns the journey of the faithful people.
- The future God offers us is Himself, God present in our midst
Heaven has come down on earth (21:2) which is transformed for ever into the dwelling-place of God (21:3). God is the source of life (21:6; 22:1). He is the beginning and the end of everything (21:6). He is Yahweh, God with us, God Liberator; He will be our God for ever (21:3). In the future that God offers, the sun will no longer be needed, nor the moon, nor any lamp (21:23); 22:5), for God Himself will be the sun. His glory will illumine His people (21:23) and shine on them (22:5). God is Light; God is Father (21:7). And all will for ever contemplate His face (22:4).
Yes, before this future which the love of God prepares for and with the struggling and resisting people, we can say: "Blessed are those who keep the prophetic message of this book" (22:7). They will participate in the final feast and sit at the wedding banquet of the Lord (19:9).
Final Counsels (22:6-21)
John has ended his book. He has shown courage by interpreting the events of his times in the light of his faith. He needed much courage indeed, for the Christians were only a small group, without a voice, persecuted, lost in an immense empire. Where did John get the courage to challenge in this manner the mighty powers of his time? Mainly from the surety that God was with the persecuted people and that God is Yahweh, God with us, God Liberator.
In the very last lines, he gives a few Counsels (22:6-21). He knows that his book will meet with criticism. Not all will accept his opinion about the politics of the Roman empire. He knows that his book will be interpreted in varied and even contradictory ways. He, therefore, gives at the end a few counsels and recommendations to give guidelines and forestall opposition.
I too have finished this book. I have written it without any claim to merit. It is the fruit of much reading and study, of many conversations and investigations and of much prayer. I tried to be faithful to God, to the faith of the Church, to the meaning of the text and to the reality which we are living today. I do not know whether I have succeeded. But if people who suffer in our communities find here some encouragement and justification to believe and to hope, and hence continue their march and their battle against "the empire", then I believe that the interpretation I have given corresponds to what God hopes for and demands of me.
|
