Come

In the last chapter of the book of Revelation the word “come” appears seven times.  The word is used for two purposes: to describe how Christ will come again to the earth, and to invite us to come unto Christ.  The Lord said, “Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book” (Revelation 22:7).  A few verses later He said it again: “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be” (Revelation 22:12). 

We then have an invitation to us to come unto the Savior in preparation for His coming: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17).  Three times we are invited to come unto Jesus, “the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star” (Revelation 22:16).  Finally, in the second to last verse we have these powerful words: “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).  In other words, the Savior says, “Surely I come quickly,” and then John responds full of desire to see His Lord again: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”  I think this usage of the word come here in the last chapter highlights one of the great messages of Revelation: the Savior will come back and triumph over evil, and we need to come unto Him now in order to overcome the great tribulations of the last days.

                This message of the last chapter of Revelation seems to connect with the very first chapter of John.  In that famous text we also learn of Christ’s coming and the need to come to Him.  John the Baptist told of Christ’s coming to the earth for the first time and his own role as a forerunner: “He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me” (John 1:15).  When Christ came to John who was baptizing, he repeated himself: “This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me” (John 1:30).  So this first chapter is a witness that Christ indeed came to earth.  We then have a record in this chapter of Christ’s invitation to His followers to come to Him just as Revelation 22 invites us.  When two disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, where dwellest thou?” his response was thus: “Come and see” (John 1:38-39).  And then when Philip spoke to Nathanael who wondered about Jesus and whether any good thing could come from Nazareth, Philip invited him saying, “Come and see” (John 1:46).  So we have here the bookends of John’s writing (at least as they appear in order in our Bibles) that testify that Christ came, that He will come again, and that we must come unto Him.