“…on either side…is the tree of life…” (Revelation 22:2)
What do we really know about John’s book of Revelation? What can we understand about the very last book of the Bible? It is so full of illustration and symbol – many of which we cannot understand – so what is its purpose for us today? Why is it included in our Bibles?
Language and literature is both beautiful and fickle. There’s a beauty that flows to one’s heart and mind when we read; it lights up the soul. Our imaginations are illuminated and we are at once in a place we’ve never been before! It’s also fickle when it comes to apocalyptic literature, of which “The Revelation to John” would be included. For us in this modern time, it is capricious to say the least. Why is this? It’s because language is a living thing. “The Word became flesh…” (John 1:14) is at the zenith of our appreciation of such thoughts. But, in its life – like any life – it can change. I’ve always said, as an example, my grandmother Lucile Waddell, (God rest her soul) in her day had a totally different understanding of the word, “gay,” than we The word “hood” back in the day stood for the metal part of a car that covered the engine. Today, it carries a number of different meanings. Language, being alive, grows, pulsates, moves, transforms and converts through the ages. This is why we can’t fully grasp some of John’s meanings in his writing, Some where along the way we have lost the key, the proverbial decoder ring, that unlocks his original thought.
And, that’s okay. The dreams and visions of John are still filled with purpose for us. We must be careful with our interpretations.
This Sunday, I want to touch on such purpose of John’s “Revelation.” In the beginning of the Bible, there stood in the middle of the Garden of Eden that was known as the “Tree of Life.” It is mentioned 4 times in the book of Proverbs as a type of the “fruit of the godly life” and not as the actual tree from the Genesis story.
It’s not mentioned again until John’s dreams and visions of Revelation.
Life – according to John here – has, then, gone full circle. There will come a time when all things will come to an end, but not so much like some interpreters suggest, in a bloody all-out war between the good and the bad. My belief teaches that Jesus took care of all that with His death and resurrection. To suggest that Jesus has to come back to solve all the problems we have created over the years is to suggest that Jesus didn’t get it right the first time. Nothing is further from the truth! What part of “Everything is done!” (see John 19:30, CEB) do we not understand?
The “Tree of Life” is a symbol of a new, complete circle of life. When God removed Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden it was so that they would not eat of this tree of life and live forever. It was part of their punishment.
At the end of time-whenever that may be-Johns use of this one and the same tree is to suggest that now we can eat and, well, live forever with Jesus Christ! That sounds wonderful doesn’t it? It doesn’t sound like war or blood – the war has been fought; our blood has been bought. God reigns. We are saved. This sixth week of the Easter season we shall shout, “Alleluiah!”
Come Sunday and hear what we believe about the book of John’s revelation! It’s not as scary as others would like you to believe. In the meantime,
…remember…
…God loves you and so do we!
Pastor Jim