Revelation 14:12-20: a reflection

12Here is the perseverance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” 13I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their works follow with them.” 14I looked, and saw a white cloud, and on the cloud one sitting like a son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 15Another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Send your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe!” 16He who sat on the cloud thrust his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. 17Another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven. He also had a sharp sickle. 18Another angel came out from the altar, he who has power over fire, and he called with a great voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Send your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for the earth’s grapes are fully ripe!” 19The angel thrust his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vintage of the earth and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 20The wine press was trodden outside of the city, and blood came out of the wine press, up to the bridles of the horses, as far as one thousand six hundred stadia.

In the middle of a passage full of the imagery of coming judgment, a harvest and a winepress of God's wrath, there comes a sudden, tender word of comfort, a voice from heaven: Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them. Amid the sober frame of judgment, a beatitude of rest and reward for those who belong to the Lord.

Notice the two comforts folded into that beatitude. First, rest: those who die in the Lord rest from their labors. The struggle, the toil, the weariness of faithful life is over for them; they enter rest. Death, for those who are the Lord's, is not a plunge into nothingness or terror but an entrance into rest. And second, their deeds follow them. The faithful work, the labors of love, the quiet obedience of a lifetime, are not lost or forgotten; they follow the believer into God's presence, remembered and honored. Nothing done faithfully for God is wasted.

That is a double comfort for us, both about death and about our work. About death: for those who die in the Lord, it is blessed, an entrance into rest, not something finally to be feared. And about our labor: the faithful things we do, often unnoticed and seemingly small, are not lost; they follow us, they matter, they endure. If you fear death, or wonder whether your quiet faithful work counts for anything, hold this beatitude. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; they rest from their labors, and their deeds follow them. Your rest is coming, and your faithful work is not in vain.

Lord, amid the imagery of judgment you speak a tender word: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; they rest from their labors, and their deeds follow them. When I fear death, remind me that for those who are yours it is blessed, an entrance into rest. And when I wonder whether my quiet, faithful work counts, assure me that my deeds follow me, remembered and honored, not lost. Thank you that my rest is coming and my labor for you is not in vain.