Devotion for today: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth

Revelation 21:1-5

	Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
	And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband;
	and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them;
	he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away."
	And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." The following selection is taken from the book, “Inside the Passion” by John Bartunek, L.C. He is commenting on a scene from the movie, “The Passion of Christ” where Jesus is carrying His cross and he falls. His mother Mary runs to comfort Him. …When the three see Jesus, the thought of having to go and grapple with the gruesome reality again was more than Mary could take. But then Jesus falls. Mary’s reluctance snaps as she realizes that her son is in trouble…. Mary presses through the crowd and puts her arms around Jesus and says, “I’m here.” All she needs to do is simply be there for Him…. Jesus rewards her gesture of love, strengthening her even as she strengthens Him, by reminding her of the meaning behind His hideous torture. Rising to his feet, He looks her in the eye and says, “Behold, Mother, I make all things new!” This quote is taken from the last book of the New Testament, the Apocalypse. It refers to the final victory of Christ over evil, the end of history when, Christians believes, He will come again to judge the living and the dead. The verse in the Apocalypse preceding the line Jesus speaks in the film explains symbolically the difference between the “new creation” that will be fulfilled at that time and the fallen creation that precedes it. By including that line (“Behold, I make all things new”), the film shows Jesus reminding Mary, who is entirely (and understandably) absorbed by her son’s terrible sufferings, that the suffering isn’t the end of the story. Rather, it is the path to freedom and eternal joy for her and for all sinners. Co-screenwriter Benedict Fitzgerald believed that even though the line was not part of the Gospel’s account, it seemed to fit well. When Icon Productions screened the first version to an auditorium of four hundred Jesuit priests in Los Angeles, that line threw them into a chorus of affirmation. They loved it; they saw it as the climax of the film, the perfect touch. When the Savior of the world needs His mother’s help to get back on His feet and continue His redeeming journey, a powerful line of Scripture added to a script flashes like a bolt of lightning to reveal the meaning of human history.