Utterly, Totally, and Completely Beyond Our Experience

And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. (Rev 22:1-5)

The first paragraph of the final chapter of the Bible leaves us agog as we realize how it is so utterly, totally, and completely beyond our experience. How can we understand no curse when all we have experienced is under the curse? Trees that bear fruit every month, a river of water of life, light without shadows, leaves that heal nations...what is this place?!

John looks as the Lord Jesus reveals, but all the last remaining disciple of our Lord's earthly ministry can do is report what he sees. Only one little simile, clear as crystal, shows John's attempt to understand this new place. The remainder is simply a stating of what is there, and indeed we struggle to understand in our limited terms what Jesus shows us of this promised land.

For us to be caught out in a desert waste without shade to shield us from the sun is to die, but even there night will fall. Drinking from a river has long been a risk to life and health, and few tree leaves are either edible or palatable for us. We look at maps, but how many rivers begin at a throne? And, John apparently did not get to eat of the fruit at that time, else he may have reported to us such a taste as to put us off our earthly fruits for good. We haven't begun to speak of seeing God's face, for how could we with only this experience we have lived?

What a glorious promise from our Lord!
Bucky