Sermon Notes

22 Then the angel[a] showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life[b] with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; 4 they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
6 And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true, for the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”
7 “See, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
(New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, NRSVue)
22 1-5 Then the Angel showed me Water-of-Life River, crystal bright. It flowed from the Throne of God and the Lamb, right down the middle of the street. The Tree of Life was planted on each side of the River, producing twelve kinds of fruit, a ripe fruit each month. The leaves of the Tree are for healing the nations. Never again will anything be cursed. The Throne of God and of the Lamb is at the center. His servants will offer God service—worshiping, they’ll look on his face, their foreheads mirroring God. Never again will there be any night. No one will need lamplight or sunlight. The shining of God, the Master, is all the light anyone needs. And they will rule with him age after age after age.
6-7 The Angel said to me, “These are dependable and accurate words, every one. The God and Master of the spirits of the prophets sent his Angel to show his servants what must take place, and soon. And tell them, ‘Yes, I’m on my way!’ Blessed be the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” (The Message, MSG)

The Revelation To John is one of the most beautiful books in the New Testament canon due to its mysterious visual imagery, use of poetic language and metaphor, and its theological imagination that is unbridled by the suffering and political hardships of these 1st century followers of Jesus. The author of Revelation self-identifies as “John of Patmos” but offers no additional information about his familial ties or ancestral background. Traditionally, Revelation has been associated with the Gospel of John and the Letters of John although only the apocalypse offers the name “John” for its writer. These writings share similar thematic concerns such as binary dualisms (light/dark; night/day; good/evil), the Christian ethic of universal love, and the literary convention of representing Christ with lamb imagery. However, early Christians soon realized different authorship because the grammar of Revelation is markedly different from the Gospel of John and The Letters of John.
While not sharing common authorship with the Gospel and the epistles, John is a prophetic figure who writes from Patmos, an island 60 miles off the coast of Asia Minor. He employs imagery from the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament prophetic books and epistolary forms to fashion an alternative vision of the world so he can summon hearers to action, just like Isaiah, Ezekiel, and other prophets of old. Because Revelation discusses events that reference both Emperor Nero (54-68 CE), and Emperor Domitian (81-96), biblical scholars believe the book was written in multiple stages, reaching its final form at the end of the 1st century CE.
With regards to literary contexts, Revelation is comprised of three types of literature. First, it is the New Testament’s only “apocalypse,” from the Greek word apokalypsis which means “revelation” (the other canonized biblical apocalypse is Daniel in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament). As a genre, the primary purpose of an apocalypse is to make unknown things “knowable.” Revelation literally seeks to “lift the veil,” or “pull back the curtain” for the 1st Century CE Christian communities who live in seven cities of the Roman province of Asia (modern-day Turkey). These “Jesus people” constantly wrestle with evil as manifested in the political leadership and imperial systems of their time.
Second, Revelation is also says it is prophetic literature. Like the biblical prophets of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, John seeks to awaken and encourage 1st Century Christians to the pressing and perilous times in which they live. Asia Minor Christians are living through political corruption, imperial idolatry in the form of worshipping political leaders, and rampant social injustice that is disenfranchising, impoverishing, persecuting, and destroying communities that refuse to embrace an imperialistic worldview. Third, Revelation is also an epistle. It fashions itself within an epistolary structure to ensure its prophetic message is read aloud to the seven churches in Asia Minor. Because he was isolated on Patmos, John knew a circulating letter would best allow his prophetic visions to be shared with the Church universal.
This week’s lesson comes from the portion of Revelation (chapters 20-22) that envisions a utopian New Jerusalem for the embattled and besieged Christians who have been traumatized by Rome’s imperial overreach. In poetic phrase and narrative structures that would make William Shakespeare, Toni Morrison, or James Baldwin green with envy, John paints a picture of what will be, so Christians can run on to see what the end will be.” New Jerusalem is creation itself renewed and restored, just as God spoke “in the beginning.” Like the Garden of Eden, this New Jerusalem has a river flowing through its center and a tree of life which eschatologically symbolizes how the earth flourishes and heals all of God’s creation (humanity and nature) when God and Christ are at the center. Talk about a vision for urban renewal, climate justice, and human flourishing! The lesson should be divided into two parts, verses 1-5, and verses 6-7.

1-5 Then the Angel showed me Water-of-Life River, crystal bright. It flowed from the Throne of God and the Lamb, right down the middle of the street. The Tree of Life was planted on each side of the River, producing twelve kinds of fruit, a ripe fruit each month. The leaves of the Tree are for healing the nations. Never again will anything be cursed. The Throne of God and of the Lamb is at the center. His servants will offer God service—worshiping, they’ll look on his face, their foreheads mirroring God. Never again will there be any night. No one will need lamplight or sunlight. The shining of God, the Master, is all the light anyone needs. And they will rule with him age after age after age.
In the first five verses of the lesson text, John receives an up close and personal tour of New Jerusalem from his angelic companion. The angel provides him with a glimpse into the fertility and flourishing of New Jerusalem. The city is revealed to him—apocalypses—with the river of the waters of life (NRSVue) and tree of life as the center showpieces within this verdant paradise. These images abound throughout canonized (Hebrew Bible/Old Testament) and non-canonized scripture (Book of Enoch).
The tree of life is found in the Garden of Eden, along with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:9). Psalm 46:4 says, “There is a river that makes glad the city of God.” Ezekiel describes a river flowing out from the throne of God (Ezekiel 40 and 47). It is a wonderful river to swim in, he said. In Ezekiel's vision there are multiple trees on each side of the river that bear fruit monthly (Ezekiel 47:12). Thus, the tree John speaks of may be a collective word for Ezekiel’s trees. So abundant is its vitality that it bears a crop of fruit each month! Its leaves produce healing for the nations.
John invokes the image of the “throne” two times in these five verses, intimating that God’s place of habitation will literally “move into the neighborhood,” as Eugene Peterson translates in John 1:14 (MSG). In similar fashion, New Testament scholar Barbara Rossing notes the living waters also move into the central neighborhood of New Jerusalem, forming a processional flow from the dual thrones of God and the Lamb, that satisfies all who hunger in a radical reversal of Genesis 3:22.
Rossing goes on to distinguish how New Jerusalem is distinguished from Roman imperial systems and structures. She notes the tree of life’s leaves not only provide healing for God’s people (Ezekiel 47:12,) they provide “healing for the nations” and the world by exhibiting a divine economy which focuses on therapeutic healing (therapeio in Greek), derived from the Tree of Life that is free of charge. Conversely, Babylon—John’s code word for Rome—focuses on “sorcery” (literally, pharmakeia in Greek) that is centered in capitalistic profits instead of healing.
In verses 3-5, John’s tour of the city concludes with a wonderful proclamation: “Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever,” (NRSVUE).
When the world has God and the Lamb at the center, it draws life from the One that created and nourishes all of creation. Further, God’s servants will worship God before the thrones and reign with God for all time in a communal structure without hierarchy. As the Greek grammar denotes, the servants of God will not reign over any person or anything because there is no object of the verb, reign.
In New Jerusalem, what Adam and Eve in Eden (Genesis 3:22-24) has now been fully restored. In this eternal city, people love and respect each other and God’s creation. No longer is nature the playground for the rich, restless, and greedy. Every person has what they need and everything flourish because divine purpose reigns; human greed, selfishness, and injustice is eliminated once and for all.
6-7 The Angel said to me, “These are dependable and accurate words, every one. The God and Master of the spirits of the prophets sent his Angel to show his servants what must take place, and soon. And tell them, ‘Yes, I’m on my way!’ Blessed be the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
Verses 6 and 7 are the beginning of an epilogue harnesses “eschatological and ethical urgency” to provide divine assurances. The first one is from “the God and Master of the spirits of the prophets.” There is a guarantee that these words are to be believed. They are trustworthy and true. This is followed by an assurance from Jesus: “Read it, study it, keep it.” You will be blessed and strengthened by it and made ready to meet Him when He comes. God is reminding us that the Words of this book should lead us to the worship of God. We should open our hearts and praise the God of glory who gives us a fantastic future.
We should translate the words “must take place, and soon,” as meaning, “must quickly come to pass.” John is dealing with future events here. His language is designed to gather our attention. When Jesus returns, it will be quick (Revelation 1:7; 22:12, 20). He will give no warning when he comes. He will come suddenly. It will be unexpected. That is why we need to be alert to His coming.
John receives ratification of the certainty of Christ’s coming–“These are dependable and accurate words, every one.” God does not seek to bewilder believers. God faithfully keeps divine promises and ensures that prophetic promises come to pass. God’s character means God never goes back on the divine Word. For the sixth time in this book, God gives a special blessing or beatitude for those who keep the words of the prophecy contained therein. If we read, study and apply (guard, protect, and give heed to) what is contained in the book, God assures us that He will bless us by it. We are to guard God’s Word by applying it to our lives.

What John describes in Revelation 22 is paradise regained. What humans lost in Genesis is recovered by the work of the Lamb. In the Garden of Eden there was a river which flowed through the Garden and a tree of life. Here, in the paradise of New Jerusalem, we see both a river of the waters of life and a tree of life. One thing is noticeably different, however. Here there is no tree of the knowledge of good and evil for here there is no possibility of invasion and rebellion again. God alone will be man’s life and his source of the knowledge of good. Man will never again try to become God.
The words “Water-of-life River,” are literally, “a river of water, of life.” The entire phrase is intended to stress the quality and character of this river above all other bodies of water. “Of life,” points out what kind of river it is, a life-giving river. This symbolically portrays the abundance of life which God and the Lamb will provide in this kin-dom/kingdom. It is to this beloved community that Christians should aspire and work towards.

i. Judy Fentress-Williams, Holy Imagination: A Literary and Theological Introduction to the Whole Bible (Westminster John Knox Press: Kindle Edition), p. 380.
ii. Barbara Rossing, “Revelation” in Gale A. Yee’s Fortress Commentary on the Bible (Fortress Press: Kindle Edition) p. 3552-3553.
iii. Ibid.
iv. Ibid.
v. Ibid., p. 3557.