The following reflections on Revelations 21: 1-7 were written by Mr. Gomez Hodge, brother of the late Johnson C. Hodge and reader of that passage of Scripture during the thanksgiving/funeral service:

Mr. Gomez Hodge

The foregoing Scripture Reading is very comforting and reassuring on this occasion. But in order to understand its full impact let us back up a bit to Chapter 1:9 where we first see John the Prophet on the Isle of Patmos. It appears that Patmos was a penal colony of the Romans, and that John was sent there as a punishment for spreading the Word of God, and for his Testimony concerning Jesus (See also Chapter 20:4).

One can only imagine seeing John looking towards the mainland of Asia Minor, longing to be back home with his family and friends. But he had no boat, no means, no hope of escape. In other words, the sea was a great barrier separating him from his beloved family and friends. Now isn’t this the same thing that death does? It separates our loved ones from us. Today we are saddened because it separates our beloved Johnson from us.

However, it turns out that John’s exile into solitude is the perfect setting for the Divine Revelation of God’s Word to him, for no other purpose than that he should spread the Word, and witness for Christ. Isn’t remarkable how God works in a mysterious way? For the same reason for which he was being punished was the very same reason that God wanted him there in the first place. A Minister in his sermon once aid that if we could ask John right now why he was sent to Patmos he would say it was God’s will, and would deny that it was as a punishment.

Turning back to Chapter 21:1, we see the Divine Revelation to John reaching its climax. John saw “a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea! Just think about it! No more sea – no more dividing barriers separating loved ones. Praise God! In verse 3 God shall dwell with his people, and in verse 4 there shall be no more death! Here sea and death are synonymous as factors of separation. They shall be no more! In 1 Corinthians 15:55-56 Death is swallowed up in victory, and the questions are asked: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Finally, in today’s Scripture Reading, verses 4-5 we are assured of the coming of a time when God shall wipe all tears from our eyes, when there shall be neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. “Behold”, he said, “I make all things new”. So my beloved brothers, sister, relatives and friends, take comfort in the Lord. Peace be unto you all. And may the soul of our dear departed brother Johnson REST IN PEACE . AMEN!

Editor’s note: Mr. Hodge is a former Sergeant of Police in Anguilla. He resides in Montreal, Canada where he qualified and worked as an Accountant. He now serves as a Verger in the Anglican Church of St. James The Apostle.

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