Psalm 97:1-12 • Acts 16:16-34 • Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21 • John 17:20-26

This week’s theme is The Enthronement of Jesus. Our call to worship psalm declares the Lord is king and calls for rejoicing because of the righteousness and justice his reign establishes. The long reading from Acts gives the account of the words and deeds of Paul and Silas that result in driving a demonic spirit from a slave girl as well as shaking loose prison doors leading to the conversion of a Roman guard, a story that reflects the words and deeds of Jesus who saves and sets us free. Our reading from Revelation anticipates the return of Jesus, the Alpha and Omega, continuing the motif of Jesus’ enthronement. In the Gospel reading from John, we are given to hear the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus.

Come, Lord Jesus

Revelation 22:12-21 – NIV

Today, we have for the Seventh Sunday of Easter one final passage from John’s apocalyptic vision in the Book of Revelation. In fact, these are the final words in John’s entire book that he writes to the seven churches. We will see that John’s book will end as a culmination of all that has already been proclaimed up to this point. John is not throwing together random new images and titles as if he doesn’t know how to close his letter. Rather, John is very intentional in resurfacing the same images and titles that he has already introduced to emphasize who Jesus is and to press upon his readers the importance and urgency of turning to this One who is returning, to come to this One who has come and is coming again. In short, John is making his final plea, using words both of blessing and warning, to call both believers and unbelievers to place their trust and allegiance in this soon coming King. It’s a message the Spirit is speaking for us today. And in keeping with John’s masterful use of numbers and their Jewish assigned meanings, we shouldn’t miss the fact that this final sermon falls on the Seventh Sunday after Easter. The number seven is the number of fullness and completeness. This is what the coming Lord holds out to us, a fullness and completeness that is only found in him. May we have ears to hear what the Lord is saying to us as we hear John’s final appeal.

Let us begin.

Revelation 22:12-13 — Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

The first words we hear in our selected passage for today come to us directly from Jesus Christ himself. He punctuates with the word “Look” to get our attention. He doesn’t want us to miss hearing his promise that he is “coming soon.” That’s a promise the original audience of John’s letter, who were facing persecutions, needed to hear. We also can have our hope renewed with the reminder that Jesus is coming soon. Have you found yourself longing more and more for Jesus to return as our times thrust upon us disaster and upheaval, discord and uncertainty, and all counts of wickedness and suffering? For the believer, the personal promise of Jesus’ personal return, is of immense encouragement, offering hope in times of despair.

However, the ambiguous meaning of the word “soon” invites us to focus on the true object of our hope. The word John chooses that is translated “soon” can also be translated with “quickly.” Does John mean to say that Jesus will return soon, as in, just around the corner, in short order of time? Or does John mean that when Jesus does return it will be quick and sudden in nature? Most likely, John has chosen this double-meaning word because he intends to convey both. While at the same time, we must wrestle with the fact, that our hope is not in the timing of Jesus’ return, or in how he will return. The source of our hope has everything to do with who is returning. If we put too much stock in when he comes or how he comes, we may miss the sure hope that comes to us in knowing that it is the Lord himself who has promised to return.

Jesus goes on to let us know that his coming will be accompanied by his “reward” and that reward is in some way a fitting reward to what we “have done.” This at first glance may strike us as some works-based salvation but we can rule that out on account of the full biblical witness that is clear that salvation is a work of grace. So, what are we to make of this statement? Maybe it will help to first note that the reward is “with” Jesus and that it is something he “gives” not something we earn. However, it is “according” to something that is “done” meaning it is fitting in some way. Perhaps a way to think about it is to understand that there is no reward greater than Jesus himself. Is he not the reward we hope to gain upon his return? As believers, we know the astounding work of grace to us sinners is that God gave his Son to us for our salvation. What we receive in Christ is God himself, or Emmanuel, God with us. But in order to receive this gift we must “do” the work of faith. We must trust what God is giving us in Jesus Christ. We cannot receive a gift we don’t want and reject. We cannot receive from one we don’t trust. In short, the work we are to do to receive the reward is trust Jesus enough to receive what he aims to give, namely, himself and his relationship with the Father in the Spirit. That’s the reward John had in mind in his Gospel account when he recorded Jesus’ prayer that included “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” This is the reward that we will receive in full upon Jesus’ return. For those who do not want to receive this reward, they will receive the fitting reward of not knowing the Lord. They will get exactly what they want.

This becomes even more clear in the three synonymous titles Jesus claims for himself. Jesus declares that he is the “Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” John has crafted his letter to make an astounding claim to Jesus’ divinity. Earlier in chapter 21:6 John records God claiming, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.” Now, here in chapter 22 we have Jesus also claiming the same thing. Do you see what John is trying to reveal to us? This is a clear way of saying that Jesus is equal and one with God. And this truth has everything to do with “Revelation.” Only Jesus can reveal to us who the Father is. Jesus is the self-revelation of God because he is equal and one with God. There is no other source of revelation that we can turn to in order to receive a true and trustworthy revelation of who God is in his very character, mind, and heart. If you’ve seen Jesus, you’ve seen the Father.

The next two verses will give us words of blessing and words of warning. It is important to remember that both verses are spoken by Jesus. We must take both seriously. Revelation 22:14-15:

Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

The words of blessing speak of inclusion. Those who have put their trust in the One who has saved and sanctified them by his own blood are granted access to the “tree of life” and the “city” which is a reference to the “New Jerusalem” spoken of in chapter 21 which we covered in last week’s sermon. Keep in mind, these are images taken from Jewish history and the Old Testament scriptures that the readers would understand and grasp. They point to a deeper reality of what Jesus has included us into. It’s an inclusion into his abundant life and love that he shares with the Father. That is what the Kingdom of God is that we are included into by grace.

The words of warning speak of exclusion. These words don’t sit as well with us. We don’t like the idea of something being “excluded.” However, we would be quite silly to think heaven would be heaven if anything and everything were included. Surely, one of the things we look forward to when Christ returns is the very exclusion of all that has brought such suffering and torment in our world. Namely, evil must go. Also, it is good to remember that these are words of warning. Warnings are given for the purpose of preventing the outcome being warned against, not a proclamation of what will be no matter what. If people heed the warning, then there is no exclusion. But if one wants to hold on to a life as described in verse 15, then that person would ultimately be excluding themselves because they want no part of a the “tree of life” or a “city” filled with God’s presence. They are rejecting the grace of the Lord Jesus which will lead to an undoing of their very existence. And this is why the warning is so strong. Jesus and his Father do not want anyone to reject such a gracious gift. Their heart is for all to come to know the life and love of the Father and Son in the Spirit. They want all to repent and turn to the Lord for he is “the tree of life” and a rejection of him only amounts to death and darkness.

The list given in verse 15 is not meant to be an exhaustive list but rather a picture of some of the prevalent practices occurring in the Roman empire and cult worship. The message would have been clear to John’s audience; do not conform to the culture around you that runs counter to who God is and who he has created you to be. The list excludes things that dehumanize people. For example, the reference to “dogs” is not name calling to be mean, but rather a reference to male prostitution drawing from Deuteronomy 23:17-18. Remember, John’s audience would know exactly what was being referenced when referring to “dogs” in this context. Prostitution was rampant in the Roman empire as was every sexual deviance you could imagine. When we think of the dehumanization that takes place in such human trafficking, we pray all the more earnestly, “Come, Lord Jesus.” We are also told that sorcery will have no place in God’s Kingdom. Praise God. The evil involved in sorcery, or the “practice of magic arts” comes with unmentionable and detestable acts that will make your stomach turn. The addition of “murderers” would be a word of vindication for the persecution these Christians were facing and would face at even greater levels. These words of “exclusion” would be good news for the seven churches undergoing such atrocities at the hands of the Roman empire. Idolaters and liars also make the list along with the “sexually immoral.” This warning was easily identified in the culture of the Roman Empire; however, it is still a warning for us today. And sadly, the culture that is emerging around us today is not a far cry from what John was writing into. And, instead of praising the exclusion of such dehumanizing sinfulness, we are being tempted and threatened to not only allow for its inclusion, but to embrace it in wild celebration. We too will want to add our voices to “Come, Lord Jesus.” So, I hope we can begin to see that what the Lord Jesus and his Father choose to “exclude” is also an act of their love to us and the entire creation. What great hope we have in knowing that the Lord will not allow entrance into his city those who would seek to destroy and defame it.

Following Jesus’ stern warning, he then proceeds to extend an invitation in Revelation 22:16-17:

 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

Jesus first gives some credentials to establish that he is indeed the promised Messiah. He is the hope of all creation. And on account of that reality, an invitation goes out to all that are thirsty and who want to receive the gift Jesus brings. The bride, which is the church, also carries forth this invitation. They are the ones who have turned from all that is excluded from God’s Kingdom and gratefully received the thirst quenching life poured out in Jesus by the Spirit. They know the difference and they know Jesus is the source of abundant life, purity, and truth. There is no life outside of him and they are willing to suffer and die for the witness to go out for others to heed the warning and accept the invitation Jesus freely gives. No one needs to remain outside the gate. The gate remains open. The call goes out. “Come!”

Perhaps, some would like to claim that these words are outdated, not keeping with progressive change. Surely, they may think, we are beyond creating divisions of who is in and who is out. Surely this letter from John would have been written differently if he knew what we know today. For those, the next couple of verses must be heeded. Revelation 22:18-19:

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

Again, these are words of warning from a loving God who does not want any to reject his words of life. We are not in a position to be judge over God’s word to us. We must heed it for life or reject it to our own destruction. We are not invited to make amendments and adjustments to fit our times of progressive ideologies. What we are invited to is far better than anything we could conjure up in our sinful minds. Heed the warning. Receive the invitation. Come!

And now for Jesus’ final words in verses 20 and 21:

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

The last words Jesus says is his third time saying it. John uses another significant number, the number 3, to emphasize the trustworthiness of the promise of Jesus’ return. This promise to us is to offer us great hope for the future, a hope that shapes how we live in the present. It’s a hope that fuels our hearts to extend the invitation to all who have run dry on living a life of self-exclusion, and are ready to receive the life-giving water freely giving in Jesus. It’s a hope that daily seeks to repent and remove all things that are not fitting to who God has revealed himself to be in Jesus Christ, and that are not fitting for who we are becoming in him. It’s a hope that anticipates the fullness of blessing that will come with the coming of the Lord. And it’s this hope that empowers us to be a blessing to others by extending the invitation to “come” and moves us to pray “Come, Lord Jesus.” And so it is fitting that John concludes his letter with a benediction of grace. “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”

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Small Group Discussion Questions