These People Have Come Out of Great Hardship
November 1, 2023 - All Saints Day
John 13:1 | Revelation 7:9-17
Today is All Saints’ Day. We remember those dead in Christ. Sure, that could come with grief and sadness, and that wouldn’t be wrong. But hopefully these memories spur us on. That is what the Hebrews writer meant - “So then, with endurance, let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us.”
We’ll pick John back up in earnest tomorrow, but for today, remember that the first to precede us in death was Christ himself. We’ll get into his preparation with his disciples quite a bit in the next couple of days to come. He loved them fully.
He loves you fully.
John 13:1
Before the Festival of Passover, Jesus knew that his time had come to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them fully.
Revelation 7:9-17
After this I looked, and there was a great crowd that no one could number. They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands. They cried out with a loud voice:
“Victory belongs to our God
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
All the angels stood in a circle around the throne, and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell facedown before the throne and worshipped God, saying,
“Amen! Blessing and glory
and wisdom and thanksgiving
and honor and power and might
be to our God forever and always. Amen.”
Then one of the elders said to me, “Who are these people wearing white robes, and where did they come from?”
I said to him, “Sir, you know.”
Then he said to me, “These people have come out of great hardship. They have washed their robes and made them white in the Lamb’s blood. This is the reason they are before God’s throne. They worship him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them. They won’t hunger or thirst anymore. No sun or scorching heat will beat down on them, because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them. He will lead them to the springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Prayer
God,
Thank you for all those who’ve come before us, striving to live in the way of Jesus. I wouldn’t be praying to you right now if not for them.
When I think of the notion that I am now in their company, passing on the story and Way to those around me and after me, I’m humbled.
…and I’m encouraged. It seems more realistic to me to think of those in the past to be like me, not perfect saintly people, but striving each and every day to know and do you goodness.
So help me, God: I want to be like them. I want to be like Jesus.
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.