These In White Robes--Who Are They?

“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. 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. Therefore, 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. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.””

These in white robes—who are they? Each one of us here today could name at least a few of those wearing white robes before the throne of God. Today is a day set aside to remember those who have fallen asleep in faith; to remember the example of those who now worship in the Church Triumphant. It is also a day to vigorously take hold of our identity as saints of God in the here and now. But let’s not lose sight of the picture painted in Revelation.

The images in the scene are stunning and beautiful; a true melting pot of people from around the world, gathered into one countless mass of white-robed worshippers; palm branches are being waved about, as if another Palm Sunday is breaking out, which in a better sense, it is; the Lamb is not riding into Jerusalem to bleed and suffer and die; that is past. The living Lamb here in Revelation 7 has accomplished that mission and is now ruling over all things in the realm of heaven. The Hosannas continue. On the dusty road into Jerusalem the people had shouted “Save now!” Here in heaven they sing “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.”

We need to look into the picture and study the details. We need to let these images and words speak to us. We need this because we need to be reminded, again and again, that this will truly be our experience someday, and for our loved ones who have died in the Lord, it already is. Our stories turn out this way in Christ. With faith in Him, you will find out what John was trying to describe here. We must not lose sight of this picture.

We need these word pictures of heavenly beauty, worship, and comfort to be held before us again and again because life can often be so ugly. Life in a sin-polluted world can become so grotesque and so sick that in our terror and fear we forget. We forget or discount the fact that this life, so marred by sin and darkness, so twisted by bitterness and evil, so haunted by loneliness and apathy, is not all there is. We forget that day by day we come closer to singing at the Lamb’s High Feast. We forget that we are strangers here and that heaven is our home. And when we lose sight of the Lamb, what else is there but despair? What else is there but pain? Hopelessness?

That’s why we need this picture to be painted. We need to know that every single person who has been touched by the blood of the Lamb and who has washed themselves in Jesus’ shed blood by faith will inherit this heavenly life. We need to know that those who have preceded us in faith and death have received a clean robe from Christ, and now they are—before the throne of God—serving Him with perfect purpose—no longer affected by hunger, thirst, or any type of suffering—and are in joyful and total communion with God.

We also need to know that the white-robed faithful are there for no other reason than this: Jesus the Lamb paid for their sins with His blood, and they trusted in His payment. In this life we loved them and they loved us; in this life they were good to us and others; but it is not their goodness that got them to heaven. Nor will it be our goodness that gets us there. We must abandon any sense of “Well, God’s got to let me into heaven because I’ve been a good a person.” There is no such thing as good enough for heaven, if we are measuring the good we’ve done versus the sin we’ve done. The only way to appear before God’s throne in a white robe ready to sing and serve and celebrate is to depend totally and completely on the Lamb who was slain and who lives again. The only way into heaven is through faith in Jesus, crucified for your sins and raised to life to be your life forever.

This is the sum and substance of the Christian faith. This awe-inspiring picture of the saints in triumph is what it is all about. One of the boldest statements in all of Holy Scripture speaks directly to this point. St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15: ‘If Christ hasn’t come back to life, your faith is nonsense and sin still has you in its power. Then those who have died as believers in Christ no longer exist. If Christ is our hope for this life only, we deserve more pity than any other people. But Christ has come back from the dead. As everyone dies because of Adam, so also everyone will be made alive because of Christ.’

These in white robes—who are they? As John said to the elder, “Sir, you know.” These are the people who lived real lives in this world; lives affected by sin, hatred, disease, hardship, persecution, and everything else that life can throw at you, and yet these people remained faithful. They trusted not in themselves but in Christ; they knew the key to heaven was not their personal goodness but the shed blood of the Lamb.

Hold onto this key through faith in Christ. Look often into this picture of the gathered multitude of saints, knowing that by God’s merciful decision, the white robe and the palm branch and His never-ending love will always be yours.

Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb! Amen.