Revelation 7:2–17
1 John 3:1–3
St. Matthew 5:1–12
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
There are three important Mountains in Scripture: Sinai, Calvary, and Zion. The first is Mount Sinai, which was wrapped in cloud and thick darkness, when the Lord came down in fire and shook the earth. On that Mountain, the Lord spoke the Ten Commandments and rightly terrified the sinful people of Israel. We must also go and stand at the foot of Mount Sinai, witness God’s consuming fire, hear His Law, and be condemned to death. Sinai is where we must start on the path of repentance, mourning our sins and fearing God’s wrath. Only by knowing the terror of that mountain can we see our great need for the mercy that God has shown to us on another mountain.
That next mountain is Mount Calvary. We also know this hill as Golgotha, the place outside Jerusalem for the execution of criminals: “The Place of the Skull”—Golgotha in Aramaic, Calvary in Latin. And it was on this mountain that the same Lord who issued His Law on Sinai, now accomplished His Law and suffered the penalty that He had pronounced upon a sinful world. On Calvary, the Lord Did His work, and met His death; Like a lamb He humbly yielded On the cross His dying breath (LSB 454:3). By His death the world is forgiven and death itself is destroyed. So, we must also leave Mount Sinai and go to Mount Calvary by faith in the Lord who died there. The Word of God brings us from Sinai to Calvary, from the Law to the Gospel, from the condemnation of our sin to the forgiveness of our sin. And by faith in His holy blood shed for us, by faith in His Word of forgiveness spoken to us, we are pardoned and cleansed of all our sins.
This is why we place the cross of Jesus before our eyes—a visual reminder of Calvary.
Faithful cross, true sign of triumph, Be for all the noblest tree;
None in foliage, none in blossom, None in fruit thine equal be;
Symbol of the world’s redemption, For the weight that hung on thee! (LSB 454:4).
And we follow the processional cross with our feet and with our eyes because our journey does not end at Mount Calvary.
The cross of Jesus leads us on to the third mountain: Mount Zion. This was the name for the hill where Jerusalem was built, where God dwelt with His people of old in His temple. Zion is the name for the holy city and holy people of God. Mount Zion is the Church. But you can only get to that mountain if you’ve first been to the other two. The road up to Mount Zion begins at Sinai and must go through the cross of Jesus. That’s why the cross of Jesus processes us into the Church, into God’s presence. Because it’s His holy blood that makes us holy ones—saints. We have washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. His blessed death is why we can say, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on (Revelation 14:13).
Now, hear what the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews says in chapter 12 (:18–24): You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new testament, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. If these words sound familiar to you, it’s probably because I say something based on these words when one of our brothers or sisters in Christ dies.
But notice what the writer actually says to his hearers and to you: You have come to Mount Zion. He’s not actually talking about the saints who have died. He says it in the present tense to you: Right now, you have come. Mount Zion is the holy Church, the holy people of God. And it is fitting to use an Old Testament name for God’s people, for they were also part of the Church. This is just like Revelation 7, where the Church on earth is pictured by the twelve tribes of Israel, numbered, drawn up in ranks, the Church Militant on earth.
So, Mount Zion is the name for the Church which includes both the saints on earth and the saints in heaven. Hebrews says, You have come to Mount Zion… and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven. “Assembly” is actually the word for “church”; and the firstborn are those born again in the water of Baptism; and enrolled in heaven means their names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. This is talking about the saints still dwelling here on earth. But the passage also says, You have come… to the spirits of the righteous made perfect. These are the souls who are now free from sin, and resting in the presence and perfect peace of Jesus. This is talking about the saints in heaven. As a Christian, having come to Mount Zion, you have come to both groups: the saints on earth and the saints in heaven, because the Church is one. The Church is the communion of saints and nothing, not space nor time, not even death, can break that fellowship.
Oh, blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine. Alleluia! Alleluia! (LSB 677:4).
And guess what? It is okay, in fact it is good, to use your imagination in church for the sake of your worship. When you come to church, you are brought to Mount Zion, because the Lord Himself is here in His Word. This is made even clearer in the Holy Communion when the Lord is here in His body and blood. So, when we say that we worship God with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, picture that back wall vanishing, and the altar is God’s throne so that we bow in reverence to God and to the Lamb who sit on that throne, and surrounding the altar are the angels and the saints in heaven also bowing, worshiping along with us. Picture this, because it’s real. It doesn’t matter that you can’t see it. You believe it, so act as if you can see it. Our God is real and He is here. Heaven comes down to earth here and now.
This hidden reality is also taught in our Epistle and Gospel readings. In 1 John 3, we are told, Beloved, we are God's children NOW. We cannot see the proof of this yet, because what we will be has not yet appeared. Nevertheless, we know that when Jesus appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And in the Beatitudes, Jesus tells us, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs IS the kingdom of heaven. Even though you do not yet enjoy the full comfort of Mount Zion, still, by faith in Jesus, you are in the Kingdom of Heaven NOW.
This means that for us in this life of struggle and sorrow, there is a tension between the NOW and the NOT YET. Right Now, you have come to Mount Zion, you are in the Kingdom of Heaven, you are righteous and holy in Christ, your eternal life has begun. But you don’t see it, you don’t experience it. Not yet… but you will. NOW, you mourn because of your sin, you mourn because of the effects of your sin, you weep because loved ones die and because you will die… BUT you WILL be comforted in the life to come. NOW, you are meek and humble, you are lowly and some will take advantage of you… BUT you WILL inherit the earth in God’s new creation. NOW, you are reviled and persecuted and all kinds of evil is uttered against you falsely on account of your faith in Christ… BUT rejoice and be glad, for your reward IS great in heaven. For NOW, we live in this tension, and we struggle against the devil, this evil world, and our own sinful hearts.
BUTwhen the fight is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong. Alleluia! Alleluia! (LSB 677:5).
We can’t give up the fight yet. Another more glorious Day will dawn and we will have our reward.
So, even though that Hebrews passage about Mount Zion is actually addressed to us here on earth, it’s also okay to say those words for those who have died. Because they now see what we only know by faith. You might say that the dead in Christ are higher up on Mount Zion. While we are still climbing on the lower slopes, they rest at the top. The Lord is present with us here, but He has summoned them to His nearer presence so that they may rest in His blissful peace forever (Commemoration of Faithful Departed). And we long to be there too.
But even that is not the end, not for the saints now at rest, nor for us. Death is not the end of the story—not even blessed, holy death. A day will come when Mount Zion is made visible to all. The Lord will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever (Isaiah 25:7–8). In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet… The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed… Then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” (1 Corinthians 15:52–54). Then, finally, that glorious scene from Revelation 7 will come to pass: that great multitude… from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, will cry out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Then the Lamb, who was slain and even now is on the throne, He will be our shepherd, and He will guide us to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Come quickly + Lord Jesus. Amen.
