Wash, Eat, Enter
Revelation 22:14 encourages us with the words “Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter by the gates into the city.” The city is, of course, New Jerusalem. I like all the words of this verse, and all three actions—wash, eat, enter—are very 
positive.
But then I realized that the order of the words does not match the description of New Jerusalem. Certainly we first “wash our robes,” that is, to cleanse our conduct by confessing our sins to take the Lord’s forgiveness. But since the tree of life is inside the city, shouldn’t we enter and then eat?
After considering this for a week I realized that Revelation 22:6-21 is not a description of New Jerusalem but rather a conclusion of the book of Revelation. As a conclusion it includes promises, warnings, and encouragements for our present Christian life.
At present we have Christ as our life but we do not have the fullness of New Jerusalem. Christ needs to grow within us to bring us into the reality of the city. For this growth we need to eat the fruit of the tree of life, which is a symbol of Christ as our life supply. As we eat, we grow. We begin with spiritual milk (1 Peter 2:2) and continue unto solid food (Heb. 5:1, 14).
“Let us be brought on to maturity” (Heb. 6:1) by partaking of the milk and the solid food to enter the city.
Image courtesy of pixabay.com.
Posted by Don on September 19, 2022
