Sunday, November 1 · Church of the Redeemer
All Saints: Perspective, Accessibility, and Hope
All Saints Day lifts the eyes to the great multitude around the throne, reminds the church that saintliness comes from the blood of the Lamb rather than from flawless people, and gives a people who cannot yet see that crowd a hope worth running on.
The passages
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. They cried with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” All the angels were standing around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before his throne, and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might, be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” One of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and where did they come from?” I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great suffering. They washed their robes and made them white in the Lamb’s blood. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them. They will never be hungry or thirsty any more. The sun won’t beat on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them and leads them to springs of life-giving waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Revelation 7:9–17
Therefore let’s also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1–2
Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.”
Luke 2:13–14
Go deeper
What is the great multitude around the throne doing, and where did they come from?
John is shown a crowd so large no one could count it, drawn from every nation and language, standing before the throne with palm branches in their hands. The elder asks John who they are, and the answer is that they came out of great tribulation with robes washed in the Lamb's blood.
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. They cried with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Revelation 7:9–10
One of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and where did they come from?” I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great suffering. They washed their robes and made them white in the Lamb’s blood.
Revelation 7:13–14
Therefore they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them. They will never be hungry or thirsty any more. The sun won’t beat on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them and leads them to springs of life-giving waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Revelation 7:15–17
Why does the author of Hebrews point a discouraged church to a cloud of witnesses before pointing them to Jesus?
Hebrews is written to Christians who had lost their nerve, and it opens its last chapter by setting them in front of a crowd. The witnesses are the faithful who already finished the race, and their presence is meant to make the readers lay down what is slowing them down.
Therefore let’s also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1–2
Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen. For by this, the elders obtained approval.
Hebrews 11:1–2
These all, having been commended for their faith, didn’t receive the promise, God having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
Hebrews 11:39–40
What does the song of the angels in Luke's birth narrative show about where heavenly worship and earthly worship meet?
When the angels appear to the shepherds, they are not giving private information to one audience but announcing a glory that fills heaven and earth. The church's liturgy reaches back for that song, which is why the congregation's voice and the angels' voice are treated as one sound.
Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.”
Luke 2:13–14
All the angels were standing around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before his throne, and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might, be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
Revelation 7:11–12
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew. One called to another, and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!” The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isaiah 6:1–4