Chapter 21 has some intensely good nuggets of truth in it! Unfortunately, this morning is the first chance I’ve had to dig in to it.
DJ’s sample prayer on p. 274 really reflects my heart, even though I don’t use the words “I have a good feel for how the world is, so I think it would be better if I…” the underlying attitude is the same. One of my favorite things about Jesus is knowing that anywhere I go, he goes. Anything I see, he sees. Anything I feel, he’s there feeling it with me. So I’ve been kinda struck this morning by that last line of the prayer, “And you will come with me, won’t you?” And Jesus’ answer (via DJ’s interpretation) is not “Yes”…but rather “Here, behind me, on my heels.” Oh yeah… sorry Jesus, here I come. More than anything, I want to be able to say with confidence, “I am in the job I am in because I followed the Lamb here. I am in this relationship with this person because I followed the lamb here. I live where I live because I followed the Lamb here.”
Because I hadn’t read any of DOTE prior to this morning, what has been most impactful to me this week in studying “just” the text itself is the lingering imagery of “blood coming out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles” (Rev 14:20). I can’t get that image out of my head, and it has really become an image of encouragement to me, much like the throne room of Rev 4.
This past week has been super difficult. I have found myself discouraged, frustrated, confused, and feeling very hurt and defeated. And yet at the end of each day as I have revisited in Scripture the communion table where Jesus offers bread and wine to his disciples in remembrance of his sacrifice, the imagery of blood rising to horses’ bridles crosses my mind again and again. It’s almost as if my heart is reassured that indeed, there is blood, Emily. Blood to cover that. Blood to cover Judas. Blood to cover you. Blood to cover all those things you can’t fix yourself. That’s why there must be so much.
Honestly, I didn’t know such a grotesque image could be so comforting… but it is!
TANATS.
This post has been on my mind since I read it yesterday, and this morning at church it hit me hard again as we were taking communion. As everyone was lining up to take the elements, all I could think was "There's so much blood. There's so much blood." I'm not sure how else to describe it except that the way I was in awe of it almost felt like the way that someone in shock after seeing an accident might fixate on repeating, "There's so much blood."
ReplyDeleteFor each person there this morning, there was enough blood to cover a multitude of sins. And then I realized as I zoomed out a little mentally that around the globe so many other brothers and sisters were partaking in the same meal, and there was enough blood for them too.
And to think that somehow we convince ourselves we need to bleed too. I'm always convincing myself that His blood isn't enough, that somehow I need to contribute to the flood. But how could I? There's already blood enough.
You're right, it's such a grotesque, messy, gruesome image, but it's the perfect way to describe it. Our lives are grotesque, messy, and gruesome, but He descended into the muck of it all. It's sloppy and it makes me uncomfortable, but it's perfect.
Awesome post and comment team! The addition to the daily prayer for this week brought my mind back to this post. The prayer says "that being rooted and established in your love, we may be able to comprehend with all the saints how high, wide, long and deep your love is, and that we may be filled to all fullness of you God.
ReplyDelete"Up to the horses' bridles, for a distance of one thousand, six hundred stadia." Blood high enough. Blood wide enough. Blood long enough. Blood deep enough. Enough for you and me and completely lots of humanity.
We took communion yesterday too. "EM", "Q" - what's crazy about your journey is that it's a journey of truth. The blood flood image is not less real and powerful than our struggles, it is more real. More real than my frailty, more real than my weakness, more real than highways, cars, buildings, environmental disasters, and political chaos. I pray that I can truly believe John the Baptist's revelation -- "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." I remain in a "say it but kind of believe it" spell. For me, "taking hold of that for which Christ took hold of me" is saying it and also believing it more and more. I love Mike and Pearl's comments. The three of you confess beautifully God's redemptive process. I'd like to share in your proclamation and confess- "nothing is more valuable and real than the blood of the only begotten Son of God shed for you before the foundation of creation." Alleluia!
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