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Fourth Sunday of Easter
April 21, 2013
Revelation 7:9-17
The Lamb will be our Shepherd.
The Bible uses a variety of pictures for us, one of the most prominent, one that we even use today is imagery of sheep
and a shepherd. We are comfortable with it; we are familiar with it. But do we really get it? I don’t know how many of us
here have ever really worked with sheep. I am sure there are some, but I know it isn’t everyone. I don’t know how many
of us have ever really seen a shepherd. Once again, I am sure there are some, but I know it isn’t everyone. And of course
our ideas of shepherds are somewhat burdened by our Americanization understanding of what these people do. We
imagine a shepherd as someone who sets up a fence, puts the sheep in the pen and lets them graze. But when the
people of Israel heard these words of sheep and a shepherd, they understood that so much more was involved.
The apostle John was living in exile on the Island of Patmos. He had been sent away because he faithfully preached the
truth about Christ. But such preaching, as it did to many of his fellow disciples, brought persecution and attacks in his
life. Some lost their lives, others, like him, lost their freedom. It would have been easy to just say forget it. It would have
been easy to throw in the towel and give up. John realized something that we all come to understand at some point in
our lives. Being a Christian is hard. Being a Christian brings challenges, sometimes even pain into our lives.
Well, while John was in exile, God came to him in a vision to bring him comfort. This comfort was not only for him, but
he was to share this comfort with the churches who were also undergoing such persecution and pain. Jesus told John to
record what he saw in this vision. It was a vision that brought some pictures of violence and terror, but also victory and
peace. It is that victory and peace to which John points us this morning.
At the end of chapter six, John was pointed to the picture of unbelievers on the earth. The day of Judgment was going to
come and it would only induce fear and dread and horror among those who stand against the Lord. They will try to flee,
but there will be no escape. They will try to hide, but there will be no cover. God’s judgment will come. But that horror
was not for everyone. Following the vision of violence and destruction, God pointed John’s eyes to the believers on
earth. The elect, those whom God has chosen before the creation of the world will be rescued and saved. They will be
found in God’s protection.
And now John’s eyes are raised to heaven and he gets a glimpse at what will be, what continues to go on. After this I
looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and
language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding
palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the
throne and to the Lamb.” Did you catch that? An innumerable crowd of people were all gathered together in heaven
before God’s throne. Our mind travels back to the promise made to Abraham that his descendents would be more
numerous than the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. By faith, believers are called children of Abraham. By
faith, these believers are gathered in heaven before the throne of the Lamb. John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world. This true Passover Lamb that was slain is the author of this salvation and the
recipient of the praise of the saints in heaven. He sits on the throne of God as the ruler of heaven and ruler of all.
John gives us more about this multitude before the throne. Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have
come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
John didn’t try to answer. In this vision, John was content to let God give him the answer to this question. And as this
elder answers, while he explains the multitude in white robes, he must point John and us back to Christ, the Lamb. Your
Bible says the elder answered, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation.” But the text actually says,
“These are they who are coming out of the great tribulation.” This is a continuing and ongoing process. When believers
die, they are delivered from the tribulation, the troubles of this world and are brought to the realms of heaven. There is
suffering. There are hardships that we must face in this world. But when death comes it serves as the gateway to the
true life in heaven. These who John saw before the throne of the Lamb were once the Church Militant - the church on
earth, but now are the Church Triumphant - the full recipients of Christ’s saving work, celebrating his victory and giving
praise and glory to him who brings salvation.
And why are they there? What makes them qualified to be there? I look at my life, I’m sure you look at yours, and we
can see, we don’t deserve to be there. I know my sins, and I’m sure you know yours, and I certainly wouldn’t be clad in
white. Isaiah said our sins are like scarlet. Rather than a beautiful, brilliant white robe, I know mine would be dirty, filthy,
stained and tattered. I would stick out like a sore thumb. And why would God even want me there? I, you, have the
same gift of heaven offered to us as the multitudes that John saw, for the same reason that these multitudes had. “They
have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” This blood of the Lamb is a picture for the
death of Christ on the cross. His blood covers over our sins. His blood washes sins away. The perfection of Christ clothes
those multitudes, turns their sins from scarlet and makes them as white as snow. Our Lord Jesus laid down his life, he
gave up his life, he became the ultimate sacrifice to God to wash away all of our sins, the sins on the surface, the sins we
have hidden, the sins we were born with, the sins that we don’t even realize. All of them are washed away. Salvation
belongs to him. He has it. He is the author of it. He gives it to us. The Lamb has washed us with his own blood to make us
righteous and give us heaven.
And here is where the picture of Christ takes an unexpected jump. Because not only is Christ the Lamb who cleanses us,
the Lamb also serves as the shepherd of his people. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he
will lead them to springs of living water. Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb, and he also serves as the shepherd who takes
care of his sheep. This is what Jesus described in the Gospel this morning. He is the good shepherd who leads his sheep
to eternal life. He protects his sheep. He keeps them safe. No one can steal them. They are his.
I said before we don’t always have the best understanding of shepherds as the Israelites would understand the picture.
Israel is not a land teeming with green pastures. The land is arid, and rocky. There were dangers of wild animals and
dangers of terrain. The shepherd had to lead his sheep to good grazing lands. The shepherd had to lead the sheep to
water. And all the while the shepherd had to keep a watchful and protecting eye over the sheep. It was a dangerous
profession. And the shepherd who owned the sheep looked at his flock as his own family, his own children. This is what
our Lord Jesus does for us. He protects us. He knows us. He loves us. He tends us with his shepherd’s care and he leads
us to the living water - he gives us salvation that meets our every need.
And as our Shepherd, Jesus has the best in store for us. Listen to the greatness of heaven as John describes it. “They are
before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent
over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any
scorching heat.” The greatest thing about heaven will be that we will be with the Lord forever. He will spread his tent
over us. He will protect us and dwell with us. And in God’s abiding care, look at what else he promises - no hunger, no
thirst, nothing will be able to harm us. Everything we need, we will have. Anything negative will be gone. And he sums it
up with this final promise. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. This world is filled with trials and
struggles. John knew it. The churches in Asia Minor knew it. We know it. But where our Good Shepherd will lead us - to
the green pastures of our heavenly home - those trials will be gone. God himself shows his tender care for each and
every one of us. He himself will wipe away every tear from our eyes. Sin will be gone. Sorrow will be over. Only joy will
be our experience.
How can we be sure of this joy? The Lamb has washed us clean in his blood. He has forgiven all our sins. And he
continues to take care of us, provide for us and take us to his side. Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Because the Lamb will be our Shepherd.