Revelation 22
12. “Look, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to each according to his work.
13. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning (leader) and the end (fulfillment).
14. Blessed (SO happy) are those who wash their stoles, in order that the Tree of Life is their right, and they shall enter the city by the gates.
15. Outside, the dogs, and the sorcerers (pharmacists-drug abusers), and the porn people, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and all who love doing lies.
16. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give testimony to you these things to the churches. I am the root and the son of David, the bright and morning Star”
17. And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” and the one hearing, say “Come!” and let the one who is thirsty come, The one who wishes, let him take of the Water of Life as a gift.
18. I testify to all those who hear the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds anything to these things, God will add to him the plagues written in this book.
19. And if anyone takes from the words of the prophecy of this book, God will take away his part of the Tree of Life, and out of the Holy City of those written in this book.
20. Thus says the one who gives testimony to these things, “Yes, I am coming quickly”. “Truly (Amen). Come, Lord Jesus!”
21. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all the holy. Amen.
Come!
Have you ever been invited to a special dinner at a friend’s house?
If you’re like me, you may think of all the busy-ness that may keep you from accepting that invitation. You may think of a bit of shyness, hesitance. And yet, the thought of time together, of fellowship, of setting the stresses and concerns aside and simply enjoying friendship and company with people you love, overwhealms your objections.
The Bible ends with this kind of invitation. It is an appeal from God Himself to you and to me. He invites us to a feast at His house.
I’d like to quote a passage from the Gospels that is a little lengthy. Bear with me. I think it expresses the purpose of the Revelation well.
At that time (when Jesus had just finished pronouncing “Woes” on those who rejected His message) Jesus answering, said
“I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and the earth, that You hide these things from from the wise and the educated, and reveal them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was pleasing to You. All things are given to me by my Father. And no one knows the Son, if not the Father, nor the Father, if not the Son, and those to whom the Son choses to reveal (apocalypsai) Him.”
“Come to me, all laborers and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me (become my disciple), for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find (heuristics) rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” Matthew 11:25-30
This is the message of The Revelation. It is not a merely predictive prophecy of the judgement of the earth in the Last Days. It is a love song-an invitation to intimacy and restful fellowship with the Creator.
He loves us.
He wants to be with us, and for us to be with Him.
And this is not a message for some distant future. It is immediate.
The Bridegroom is coming quickly. We don’t know when He’ll come-it may be morning or could be the middle of the night. But we need to be ready.
Because
For those who are ready, we’re invited to a wedding feast like no other, and the wedding is our own.
As the Lady of the Song of Solomon pronounced:
My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. -Song of Solomon 2:10-13
Jesus stands at the door of our hearts and knocks.
Today, if you will hear His voice
Do not harden your heart.
Prayer for Today
Come! Lord Jesus
Come into our heart.
Come into our mind.
Come into our world and make it your own.
That, for us,
Will be heaven.
Amen! Come Lord Jesus!
COMMENTARY
v. 12 & 20 we’ve seen the “. . . coming quickly” statement elsewhere (Revelation 2:5,16; 3:11; 11:14 22:7,12, 20 –Yes. This is another of those words that occurs 7 times in the book). The rewards according to works is reminiscent of Jesus teaching in Matthew 25-the Parable of the Sheep & Goats, and all the parables of the Talents (Matthew 25, Luke 19). We often think of God’s treatment of us as grace and gift, and for good reason. Salvation is given as a gift (Ephesians 2:8-10, etc. and here in this passage, Revelation 22:17-we take of the river of life as a free gift). Yet He promises to judge, both for reward and punishment, based on our works.
There is a beautiful symmetry in these verses-a pattern of Jesus saying He’s coming quickly, and His invitation to us to come, and our invitation to him to come.
v. 12 “I come quickly . . .”
v. 17 “The Spirit & bride say, “Come!” and the one hearing, say “Come!” and let the one who is thirsty come . . . take of the Water of Life as a gift.
v. 20 “Yes, I am coming quickly”. “Truly (Amen). Come, Lord Jesus!”
again, the structure, Jesus says he’s coming quickly, we respond, Come! He says to us Come!
He says he’s coming quickly & the final response, AMEN!!! Come, Lord Jesus!”
In Hebrew poetry, the point of the passage is often in the center of the poem. Jesus invitation to us, His call for us to come. This reminds us of His invitation in the Gospel “Come to me all who are weary and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest . . . (Matthew 11)”
v. 13 Here is the repeat of the Alpha & Omega & beginning and end statements-Please see comments on Revelation 1:4 & 8, as well as 21:6 . Jesus is claiming to be the God of the Old Testament.
v. 14 this is the last of 7 Beatitudes in Revelation. Our stoles & garments see comments on Revelation 3:4. the Tree of Life also v. 19 (Genesis 2 & 3; See comments on Revelation 2:8; & 22:2).
v. 15 We’ve seen this list before (Revelation 9:21; 21:8)
v. 16 the Root and Son of David, see comments on Revelation 5:5. Interesting that Root and Trees are associated. The Tree of Life cannot be separated from the Root of David-Jesus.
v. 17 we are invited to join in the chorus, to say “Come!” We can say this from the perspective of where we are, asking Jesus to come and set the world right and start anew. We can say this as the Bride of Christ, saying “Come!” to everyone who will here, inviting them to Jesus. We can answer Jesus, as He promises to come quickly, “Come, Lord Jesus!”.
v. 18-20 the One who gives testimony is Jesus. From beginning to the end it is His Revelation. We are given the task of reading and of proclaiming His message. Maybe this exhortation to not add or take away from the words only applies to this Revelation. But I think it should also apply to the whole collection of books of which the Revelation of Jesus is the final entry. We must take God’s word seriously. We must be careful not to add or subtract from His Word.
v. 21 Thus John ends as he began:
John, to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from the One who is and was and is coming . . .
