Monday, April 28, 2025
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Revelation 21
Key Verse
Revelation 21:14 — “And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
Devotional Thought
John, exiled on the island of Patmos, lifts his eyes from the worn parchment of his visions and beholds something no prophet before him had seen: a new heaven and a new earth, the first having passed away, and no more sea—that ancient symbol of separation and unrest. Then he watches the holy city, new Jerusalem, descend from God out of heaven, “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” The angel who once poured out a vial of judgment now carries John in the Spirit to a great and high mountain to show him the bride, the Lamb’s wife. What follows is not a warning but a wedding invitation written in gold and jasper, sapphire and emerald, twelve gates named for Israel’s tribes and twelve foundations bearing the apostles’ names—the whole family of God, Old and New Covenant together, built into one city.
April is a month of turning. The last frost yields, gardens are broken open, and what looked dead in January pushes green through the soil. Revelation 21 is the springtime of God’s creation, and John hears the One on the throne say, “Behold, I make all things new.” Notice the tenses: the tabernacle of God *is* with men; God *shall* wipe away all tears; the former things *are* passed away. The promise stands so certain that heaven speaks of it as already done. “It is done,” says the Alpha and Omega. No more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more pain—these enemies are not merely defeated but abolished.
And yet the city has gates, and gates can be entered. John tells us plainly who may come: “he that is athirst.” The fountain of the water of life is given freely to anyone who wants it. The overcomer inherits all things and is called a son of God. But the fearful, the unbelieving, the liars, and the impenitent have their part in the second death. This is not a passage to sentimentalize; it is a passage to decide by. The measurements are exact—twelve thousand furlongs, foursquare, walls of jasper, streets of transparent gold—because this is no dream. It is a real city for a real people, lit not by sun or moon but by the glory of God and the Lamb.
So on an ordinary Monday, with its emails and errands and unfinished chores, remember what John saw. There is no temple in that city because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb *are* its temple. There is no night there, and the gates never shut. The question of Revelation 21 is not whether the city is beautiful—it plainly is—but whether your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life, and whether you are thirsty enough to come.
Reflection
- The gates of the new Jerusalem are never shut by day, and there is no night there—yet only those written in the Lamb’s book of life may enter. What in your life this week shows that you are walking toward those open gates rather than merely admiring them from a distance?
- God promises to wipe away *all* tears, and John names death, sorrow, crying, and pain as “former things.” Which of those former things are you still carrying today, and what would it look like to hand them to the One who says, “Behold, I make all things new”?
Prayer
Lord God Almighty and Lamb of God, who alone are the temple and light of the holy city, we thank You that You have prepared a dwelling place for Your people and that You will dwell with us forever. We confess that we are often fearful and unbelieving, clinging to former things You have promised to pass away. Wash us in the fountain of the water of life, freely given to all who thirst. Write our names in the Lamb’s book of life, keep our feet walking toward those open gates, and make us overcomers who inherit all things as Your sons and daughters, until that day when You wipe every tear from our eyes. In the name of Jesus, the Alpha and Omega. Amen.