Reflection on the Epistle, Gospel reflection is below

Revelation 22:12-end (NRSV)

¹² ‘See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work. ¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.’ ¹⁴ Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. ¹⁵Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. ¹⁶ ‘It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.’ ¹⁷The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let everyone who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift. ¹⁸ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book; ¹⁹if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. ²⁰ The one who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! ²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

When I first entered the ministry I felt very intimidated by the Book of Revelation until I found a little book by James Efird entitled Revelation for Today which led to the acquisition of others as well. But today, I return to Efird again, for guidance.

It is clear in verses 12-15 that there will be a judgment where all people will be called upon to give account of how they have lived their lives. People who have lived well will be rewarded – referring to the great Genesis Creation myth – they will be restored once more to have access to the tree of life – that which was lost in the Fall. It is interesting that the compilers of the Lectionary leave out verse 15. Why? All, even those who have sinned in the ways condemned in verse 15, if they repent, are invited to ‘… wash their robes …’ and enter the city gates. I hope it is not because the sins condemned in verse 15 are no longer seen as being condemned, for how else can a person change unless they are challenged? I do not understand the omission!

Jesus bids us “Come.” (verse 17) and invited all who would – everyone who is thirsty – “Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.” There are no limitations on who can participate. Once again that effective image of thirst is used. People who are bound by sin are ‘thirsty’. They drink more and more, but their thirst is never quenched. Famous people have confessed to needing to deal with a sex addiction, having more and more affairs, yet never being satisfied; alcoholics drink more and more, but alcohol is a diuretic and so makes one more thirsty; people shop until they drop but cannot stop. I am sure you can think of many other examples as well. The offer of Christ is always there, he is the living water, and when one drinks of what he offers, our thirst is quenched.

Verses 18-19 contain a typical apocalyptic warning about ‘adding’ or ‘taking away’ from the words of this book. The reason for this is to assure those for whom the book is written that the persecution they are enduing will come to an end. They were NOT meant as a curse to frighten anyone who disagrees with their particular interpretation of Revelation, which is sadly the way many have used it.

It ends with a promise, “I am coming soon,” and a blessing, and raises the question if this is a reference to the Second Coming of Jesus (which was the case for many years by many interpreters of the Revelation)? Efird suggests that if this is the case, John got it wrong because Jesus did not, and has, as yet, not returned. Efird therefore suggests that – in the light of the whole of the Revelation – that what he was describing would come soon.

Apocalyptic literature is by nature symbolic, so his reference to Jesus here would refer to God or God’s agent to symbolically describe the end of the period of persecution and the establishment of a new age free of persecution. It is generally agreed that the Revelation was written at about AD 94-5. The Emperor Domitian died in AD 96 and with his death the persecution ended – and so the end of their ordeal was near.

John’s basic appeal to his readers is the exhortation to remain faithful to God and Christ, to continue to witness even in the midst of harsh and difficult times; his promise is not that there will be an easy way out, but rather that the community will survive, and those who were called to make the supreme sacrifice, would receive a special reward, to be in the presence of God forever. The essence of the Revelation is that the ultimate victory belongs to God, and to those who commit themselves to God, will share in the fruits of victory.

There is therefore the sense that Jesus comes to us where we are in the here and now, and especially in the midst of difficult times. His grace is a present reality, and the intimacy that marks His coming to us is what blesses us. Christian Aid’s motto “I believe in life before death” is apt. Our faith is about now and when we are faithful and open, Jesus comes to us. John was writing into a specific historic context, but the essence of his message remains true for all time.

We are saved by grace through faith: Jesus declares us right with God; he forgives us and puts us in a right relationship with God. But this is where Luther and the Reformers tended to stop, and I can understand why, because this wonderful truth had been neglected for so long. Instead of being bullied by the Church into always been afraid of Hell and so forced into all sorts of legalistic activities, it was wonderful to come to the realisation that none of this is necessary, because all of it had been done for us in Jesus Christ our Lord. I well remember coming to this realisation myself. To quote Charles Wesley’s hymn: “… my chains fell off, my heart was free. I rose went forth and followed Thee …” But there is more. There is greater joy and fulfilment both now and in all eternity for Jesus gives us the power to become what he has declared us to be. The Holy Spirit enables us to set aside sin and strive to be perfected in love for God and others. As John puts it in verse 12, we will be repaid also for our work. It is not our work that saves us; it is Jesus that does this, but our work blesses us as we bless others – it is by transformed lives that the world is transformed. It is not our work that restores us; it is the washing of our robes that grants us access (verse 14) once more to the Tree of Life. But it is what we do that makes it evident that we have washed our robes, because if one remains in one’s obvious sin (verse 15) it is evident that we have not accepted the gift that Christ offers to all.

John makes this clear in his letters, where he mentions that it is our doing that confirms our right relationship: “You know that you have passed from death to life, because you love your brothers and sisters …” Paul, writing to the Corinthians also explains how our works will be tested as with fire, and some will suffer loss because their works will prove to be worthless – they will still be saved (because they have been justified) but they will make it by the skin of their teeth.

I know the regret when I feel I could have done something better. Imagine the regret when, in eternity, we realise that we could have done more.

It is never too late. Jesus keeps on saying “Come …” We must not do damage to the message of grace, because all is of grace. And there is warning too: warning against overcomplicating the message and letting people think that they are not welcome. But there is also warning that, unless there is evidence of the transformed life, they might be deluded in thinking that all is okay and it is not. There is a share in the tree of life for all people, because Jesus came to save all without exception, but the reality is that too many choose to reject his way, and so in reality only those without distinction (as far as we know) accept the wonderful gifts of God’s grace.