He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. – Revelation 21:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 4, 2015): Revelation 21

Today is Black Saturday. The day in between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Today Jesus lies in the tomb. For the disciples, Jesus last words must have been a bit of a mystery. According to John, one of the last things that Jesus spoke were the words “It is finished” (John 19:30). What exactly was finished? For the skeptic, maybe it was simply Jesus’ life that was finished. And maybe on this Saturday the disciples were content with that message. If that is the case, then “it is finished” were not words of hope, but rather of resignation. It was over. Now we move on to something else – something different – something without Jesus. This was not the end that any of them had imagined.

But that was not the message that Jesus intended with his words. The task that he had been sent to do was now completed. With those last breaths Jesus understood that it was the job that was done. Jesus had completed exactly what he had come to do. The crucifixion was not an unfortunate accident that cut off the potential of a great life; it was final act of saving the world from itself. Finally forgiveness was available for everyone. We no longer had to be a race who struggled to overcome its past. We could be forgiven, the debt could be paid, and we could walk bravely into the future, steadily becoming more and more like Christ.

The conclusion to Revelation begins with similar words – It is done. But this time rather than a task that has been completed, the words seem to indicate something larger – we have finally matured into what we were supposed to be. Add to this the words “I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End” (incidentally similar words to the first ones that Jesus spoke to John in Revelation 1:8) and we get a much bigger picture. Finally creation is completed. It has taken a while for us to get here. But the same Jesus who spoke creation into being (John 1:3) has now brought creation into completion. It has finally become what God imagined that it could be when he placed Adam and Eve in the garden.

And it has changed. John sees water once more in his vision, this time it is a spring that bubbles up and gives itself freely to all who will come and taste. But action is required on our part in this new creation. Water symbolizes all that is needed to keep us alive, and it is freely given to us if we will receive it. That is the way that it had been for Adam and Eve before the fall – everything that was needed for life was available to anyone who would receive, and now that the process of creation has finally been completed, it is that way again. A new day dawns.

A new day dawns on Black Saturday as well. With the setting of the sun tonight something new and big is going to happen. Tomorrow, death will be defeated and freedom will be given to all who will receive, because tomorrow Jesus will no longer be in the tomb. Easter Sunday is the ray of light that punctures the dark of this black Saturday – it is a light that the disciples missed, but one that we can see clearly.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 22