Revelation 21:22 - 22:5
On Saturday Marilyn held together the beginnings and endings that we find in the last chapters of Revelation, and in other apocalyptic writings. Just a chapter or so later, I get off a little easier, as we have left behind the endings (often a little scary) and we are fully into the making of new beginnings. That’s what it seems like in the context of the book of Revelation. However, considered as the conclusion of our scriptures, Hebrew and Christian, it is very much a conclusion. Where there was a differentiation of night and day in the creation story of Genesis, here in Revelation we find that in God’s full Presence there is no more dark, no more night. And while a tree is associated with humanity’s disobedience in the story of Adam and Eve, here we read of the tree of life being used for the healing of the nations (22:2). There’s also water imagery. In Genesis we read of a river watering the garden of Eden, and here in the new Jerusalem we have “the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city” (Rev. 22:1-2, NRSV). To appreciate the ending, we need some familiarity with the beginning. (Unless we’re talking about Star Wars, in which case you’re better off skipping the prequels.)
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Revelation is a mysterious and difficult book, but in these descriptions of the world to come we find language and imagery that is familiar to us: light, fruit, trees, water. When I read this part of Revelation I can’t help but start daydreaming about my favourite place I’ve visited: New York City. Both are cities with, basically, big parks in the middle. People say you shouldn't visit Central Park at night, but that's not a problem in the New Jerusalem, where it's full of radiant daylight all the time.
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While some of the language and imagery used in today’s passage is familiar to us, alluding to earlier parts of the Bible, there is some discontinuity in that in John’s vision there is no Temple, “for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb" (Rev. 21:22, NRSV). Just when we think we have everything figured out, we’re surprised. John’s description stands in contrast to the ending of the book of the prophet Ezekiel, which has several chapters devoted to the measuring out of a new Temple. Was John influenced by the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE? Could be. This interesting break with previous tradition should awaken us to the necessity of being flexible and open to change. The Temple was considered the locus of God’s Presence, yes, but it was understood that it didn’t wholly contain and constrict God. The Temple was a symbol of God’s Presence among God’s people. Symbols represent, but also point beyond, to a reality beyond themselves. This is why we must be careful not to idolize the symbols themselves, but to let them awaken us to that to which they point. In the new Jerusalem there is no Temple because in the world to come symbols give way to the Reality that was previously veiled (see Rev. 22:4). While Revelation and Ezekiel differ in some details, the spirit is the same, though. There will come a day when the distance between God and God’s creation will not be so great. "The name of the city in future must be: Yahweh-is-there" (Ezek. 48:35, New Jerusalem Bible).
- Matthew Kieswetter
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