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Have you ever considered how the Bible ends? No, it’s not “The End.” Revelation 22:21 ends with the word “Amen.” It is a Hebrew word signifying agreement. It is sometimes rendered by the phrase “so be it.” John’s final thoughts come directly from the mouth of Jesus and refer to His second coming. “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon’” (v. 20), to which John adds: “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” Then the Apostle, as is the case so often at the close of New Testament Epistles, pronounces a benediction: “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen” (v. 21).
What did Jesus mean when He told John, “Surely I am coming soon”? Soon? Almost two thousand years have passed since Jesus uttered those words. You might be tempted to say, “That’s hardly soon.”
The word is elsewhere translated “quickly.” It is possible that what Jesus meant was that when He comes, it will be unexpected, that He will come “like a thief” (2 Peter 3:10). He will come suddenly and without warning. No one will be able to predict the hour at which He comes. One of the very last words that Jesus spoke before His ascension was a warning not to try to predict the time of His coming: “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority” (Acts 1:7). Interestingly, many have attempted to predict Christ’s return anyway, despite His warning.
But perhaps Jesus meant these words regarding His coming to imply that in the grand scheme of things, the next significant redemptive event will be the second coming, when He will create the new heavens and new earth.
It is also possible that Jesus deliberately worded it to make us come to terms with the fact that the second coming could be within our lifetime. Many of us don’t live each day with that thought in our mind, but we should. Even if there remain unfulfilled prophecies (for example, does Romans 11:26 suggest that many Jews must be saved before Jesus returns?), nothing precludes the possibility that these could occur in our lifetime. What urgency would fill our souls if we were to imagine this possibility—the possibility that we might never die but be taken up into the clouds? Imagine what that would be like.
It is noteworthy that John’s response is a prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus!” I wonder how often we have included those words in our prayers. What decisions—different decisions—would we make if we thought that Jesus would return before we die? There have been many days when reading the daily news has caused me to say, “Come, Lord Jesus.”
Paul, too, made a similar prayer, citing the Aramaic form, maranatha, meaning “Our Lord, come!” (1 Cor. 16:22). Perhaps it is time for us to insert this prayer more often into our own prayers.