Easter 6
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
... and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
-- Revelation 22:2d
This image of the culmination of history has some challenging aspects to it. First, it was clearly earth-centered. If other scriptures spoke of believers being caught up into the clouds, here Jerusalem came down to earth. In contrast to gnostic belief that salvation was in escaping the material world, which they believed was evil, Revelation saw salvation as including the material reality of our life here on earth. Second, this passage suggested that Jerusalem was still only part of the whole world. Other nations would continue to exist and there would still be those who practiced falsehood. Such nations could not enter Jerusalem and despoil God's saved community, but they still existed. There was continuity with what had gone before as pictured in the fact that both the river and the tree of life from the Garden of Eden were again present. The tree of life produced twelve kinds of fruit, and its leaves were for the healing of the nations. This would only be important if there were nations that still needed to be healed.
If there were still nations in need of healing and there were still those who practiced falsehood, what was different about this image of the culmination of history? It would appear that life continued on in its diversity but that the people of faith finally had a clear and certain relationship with God. Perhaps we never arrive at a place where all of creation is fixed in perfection. Maybe life is always evolving and progressing in some manner. Those who arrive at a secure faith and trusting relationship with God are not content within themselves but are still directed outward toward the nations that need healing. As with the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, by the faith of the people, all the nations of the earth will be blessed.
-- Revelation 22:2d
This image of the culmination of history has some challenging aspects to it. First, it was clearly earth-centered. If other scriptures spoke of believers being caught up into the clouds, here Jerusalem came down to earth. In contrast to gnostic belief that salvation was in escaping the material world, which they believed was evil, Revelation saw salvation as including the material reality of our life here on earth. Second, this passage suggested that Jerusalem was still only part of the whole world. Other nations would continue to exist and there would still be those who practiced falsehood. Such nations could not enter Jerusalem and despoil God's saved community, but they still existed. There was continuity with what had gone before as pictured in the fact that both the river and the tree of life from the Garden of Eden were again present. The tree of life produced twelve kinds of fruit, and its leaves were for the healing of the nations. This would only be important if there were nations that still needed to be healed.
If there were still nations in need of healing and there were still those who practiced falsehood, what was different about this image of the culmination of history? It would appear that life continued on in its diversity but that the people of faith finally had a clear and certain relationship with God. Perhaps we never arrive at a place where all of creation is fixed in perfection. Maybe life is always evolving and progressing in some manner. Those who arrive at a secure faith and trusting relationship with God are not content within themselves but are still directed outward toward the nations that need healing. As with the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, by the faith of the people, all the nations of the earth will be blessed.
