Surely I Am Coming Soon

This meditation is based on a passage for December 23, 2010 in the Daily Lectionary Year 1 from the Book of Common Worship for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (1993).

Text: Revelation 22:6-11, 18-20 /p>

Reflection and Question: The first hearers of John’s Revelation were physically endangered by Roman persecutors who had much more power in this world than they had. How comforting and exhilarating would these assurances that Jesus was returning with heavenly armies soon have been to them! And these promises are also heartening to us now, on this brink of Christmas when we celebrate Jesus’ coming as a newborn, just as weak as any of us were at our birth and quite different from the militant Christ of Revelation. How do you look for Jesus to return and what feeling does it bring to you?

Prayer: Jesus, Child of Love, give us the grace to comprehend and keep the prophecy of John in this book. Spare us the plagues described while allowing us to retain the share in the tree of life and in the holy city promised to those who seek You. Amen.