“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away. Then the One seated on the throne said, ‘Look! I am making everything new.'” — Revelation 21:3-4 (HCSB)
John is writing down a vision. People have debated for centuries exactly what kind of vision it is. Some say metaphor, some history, still other’s present reality, and most say it’s a future promise. The early church read it as a picture of what is coming, and honestly that seems like the most natural reading. John’s original audience would have recognized echoes throughout this passage of things Jesus said and promised throughout his ministry. This wasn’t new information to them. It was confirmation that the story wasn’t over.
What is most meaningful to me in this passage is the connection to the cross. When Jesus said “It is finished” as he died, he was talking about the work of salvation, the debt paid and the gap closed. But here in Revelation 21, those words show up again in a completely different context. This time it isn’t about the cross. It’s about the completion of everything Jesus promised when he told his followers he was going away to prepare a place for them. The making new that began at the resurrection is finally, fully done. Every tear wiped away. Death itself gone. Grief and pain and the other things that define so much of our experience here are simply no more.
That promise is worth clinging to, especially on the hard days. God is faithful to reward those who have been holding on to what he said. That’s not a small thing. But I also can’t read this passage without feeling the weight of verse 8, the list of those whose end is very different. Not because I’m worried about my own standing, but because I think about the people around me who are carrying the crushing weight of unrepentant sin, or worse, who have come to faith but are still being haunted by decisions they made before.
I’ve talked to Christians recently who can’t seem to shake the guilt of their past. And that’s not God doing that to them. God doesn’t see that sin anymore. It is gone. It is the enemy who keeps dragging it back out and holding it up. Instead, the promises that Jesus offers are completely opposite.
The freedom that Jesus offers isn’t just freedom from the penalty of sin. It’s freedom from the shame of it. The same voice that says “It is finished” on the cross is the voice that says “I am making everything new” in this passage. That includes you. That includes your past. That includes the thing you can’t seem to forgive yourself for.
I feel a real pull to help people land in the hope of this passage rather than fear of the last verse. There are people all around me who need to hear that the story ends with every tear wiped away and that Jesus meant that for them personally.