Fifth Sunday of Easter
Most often when somebody says, “I have a new …” or “There is a new …” it is always said with a smile. People are generally happy with new things. The other day, someone wanted to get their new car blessed. When I went to bless it, I was surprised that it was not a new car. It was a new car for this person. But she was excited. We like things new - a new home, a new job, a new car, a new baby, a new life. Sometimes we even ask people, “What’s new?” There is a ring of hope to the word new.
Between the second reading and the gospel, the word new occurs five times. The readings talk about a “new heaven,” a “new earth,” “new Jerusalem,” “all things new,” and a “new commandment.” These new realties are also meant to make us smile, to bring us hope, to bring us peace. Let us reflect on them.
New Heaven and New Earth
What is the “new heaven” and the “new earth” that the book of revelation talks about? How do we imagine it? In a commentary I read, the author says that John is sure that the end of this world will mark the emergence of a of the “new heaven” and a “new earth.” But it will still be a heaven and an earth – a dwelling place for humankind. It will be a place in which righteousness dwells. However, the new heaven and new earth is not understood as another world. Rather, it is our earthly world redeemed from its misery. It is a transformation of the old. It is a restoration of God’s original creation. To think otherwise leads to contempt and rejection God’s original good creation.
That John saw that “the sea was no more,” is also significant. The sea is the primeval symbol of chaos. The disappearance of the sea is the assurance of God’s total victory. Its disappearance takes away from the new heaven and the new earth the seven elements of the old order: chaos, death, mourning, crying, pain, evil, and night.
A New Righteousness
Just in case this point gets lost, the difference between the old heaven and earth and the new heaven and earth is that the new one is a place where righteousness dwells. It's a new reality, a new existence, where sin and its effects are gone, and believers dwell in perfect harmony with God for eternity. But how is this newness accomplished?
First, the new heaven and new don’t appear as if by magic, but it is the work of God. The work of the transformation and restoration of the old order is accomplished by the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was born among us, he lived among us, and he drew us to the Father. In him we can see the image and likeness of God in which humankind is created. Jesus forgave the sins of humankind, and most of all, his death and resurrection set us free from the eternal consequences of sin. In other words, Jesus creates the conditions in which human persons can live to their full potential as the image and likeness of God.
Second, the new heaven and new earth is not possible without human cooperation in the work of our own redemption. God cannot save out against our free will. For example, the first human persons worked against God and God’s beautiful creation was marred. Humankind was doomed. Even today, look what we are doing to God’s beautiful creation. Even today, look what we are doing to each other. As we navigate the old heaven and the old earth, God needs us to save us to make the new heaven and earth a reality.
John’s new heaven and a new earth was a vision. It is a vision into the kind of world God envisions for humankind. It is an eternal reality where death and destruction have no place and we can live forever in righteousness, peace, and eternal harmony. Jesus, by his life, death, and resurrection has begun the task of the transformation of the old order into a new heaven and a new earth. There is an open invitation for humankind to play its part. Little by little, one by one, one day at a time, God is accomplishing a new heaven and a new earth for us.
A New Commandment
Jesus began the work of the transformation of a new heaven. But when his work on earth was accomplished, and before he ascended to his Father, he gave a new commandment. In today’s gospel reading we hear Jesus say, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:34-35).
Jesus love commandment was not something that he taught merely at the end of his life. During his ministry, he said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who persecute you” (Lk 6:27). In Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, six times Jesus would say, “You have heard that it was said of old…” Then he would introduce that which was new, saying, “But I say to you….” Then one day, a lawyer walked up to him, and asked, “Which commandment is the greatest?” (Mt 22:36). His gave a whole new interpretation to the Mosaic Law when he replied, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:33-40). But then, after the resurrection, he said “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (Jn 13:34). Throughout his life, Jesus was laying the foundation of a “new heaven” and “new earth” in which righteousness dwells. But his life was his greatest work. He became love, he lived love, he loved us to death. Jesus literally showed us the way to love ourselves into the new heaven and new earth.
I said in my introduction that new things make us happy. New things make us smile. But we work toward a new car, a new home, a new life. Similarly, a new heaven and new earth promises us eternal happiness. It will make us smile forever. Jesus has shown us the way. Now we must work with him towards a new heaven and a new earth by living out the new commandment. In fact, it is the new commandment that brings about a new heaven and a new earth.
In this Eucharist, Christ continues his work toward a new heaven and new earth. As we participate in this Eucharist, let us join hands with him.
Fr. Satish Joseph