Revelation 22:16

I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches. I am the root and offspring of David, the bright, the morning star.

Up to this verse, we have been studying God's authentication of this prophecy (Revelation 22:6-15). See outline under Revelation 22:6. This verse through Revelation 22:19 is the authentication of Jesus the Lord. "Revelation again takes on the aspect of a legal document. Note the legal formula, "I Jesus,' showing that Jesus is bearing witness that his angel was divinely commissioned to show the visions to John."[68] Thus God and Christ attest the authenticity of Revelation; "Two witnesses are wholly sufficient."[69] Thus, this book and all of its words are established as faithful and true (Revelation 22:6) by two witnesses and two attestations, that of God by his angel, and that of Christ himself.

I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify ... We may therefore place infinite trust in what is here revealed. In order that the full weight of just who is testifying here may be seen, Jesus further identified himself in the next lines.

These things for the churches ... This requires that we understand the brief individual messages to the seven churches in the beginning of Revelation as an introduction; the whole book is intended for all of them.

I am the root and the offspring of David ... the morning star ... This ties the end of the New Testament with the very first verse of it (Matthew 1:1); and the mention of the star recalls the light that led the wise men to the manger in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:10f).

The bright, the morning star ... "Christ is the Star of the Dawn, and what James Stewart once in a convocation at Edinburgh called "The Star of the Eschaton.'"[70] This particular pair of metaphors, the root and the star, occurs together nowhere else in the Bible. Perhaps a little closer look at them will prove helpful.

CHRIST; THE ROOT AND THE STAR

Can anyone imagine two things more unlike than a root and a star? This proves that the Holy Spirit gave these words, for no man would ever have dared to describe the Lord in one breath as a root and a star. Yet, both terms are frequently applied to Christ in Scripture. The metaphor of the root appears in Revelation 5:8; Romans 15:12; Isaiah 11:1,2; and in this passage. That of the star is in Numbers 24:17; Matthew 2:2; 2 Peter 1:19. It is the contrast in these metaphors which we shall emphasize.

I. Here is the contrast between the near and the far. A root is near, but a star's distance is measured in light years! Is it not so with Christ? Where two or three are gathered together in his name, there is he; and yet he is at the right hand of the Majesty on High.

II. Here is the contrast between the visible and the invisible. The root is hidden beneath our feet, but the star blazes forth in the sky. That is the way it is with Christ. His influence is hidden and works secretly like leaven in the three measures of meal; but it also blazes forth in all creation. The influence of Christ is so universal and extensive that a fool can see it.

III. Here is a contrast between the earthly and the heavenly. Jesus Christ is both perfect man and perfect God. The New Testament has many examples of the humanity of Christ. He was hungry, tired, sorrowful, etc., like all men; but his miracles proclaim him as God of every God.

IV. Here is the contrast between the local and the universal. A root is fixed. It cannot move, except to creep a short distance from its humble beginning; but a star sweeps through the outer reaches of the universe in an orbit of incomprehensible distances. Its light travels 186,200 miles per second, and that for one million years at a time! A root may be localized and contained in an earthen jar; but a star rises for the whole world to see and hangs a blazing lantern in the sky where none can miss it. Is not also Christ like this? To individuals, Christ is "my Saviour," "my shepherd," etc.; but to the world he is the Christ of the Ages, the Christ of the first century and of the last; he is the Christ of Damascus Road, and the Christ of Every Road. He is the Christ of a little child's bedside and the Christ of all races and conditions of man. He is here; he is also everywhere.

V. Here is the contrast with that which is small and that which is big. A root may be so small that an eye can hardly see it; but a star may be so large that a million worlds cannot be compared with it. Jesus Christ is so great that time and space cannot contain him; but he was also wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. Mary clutched him to her breast" and little children sing of the "Little Lord Jesus"; but multitudes of the heavenly host fall down in his presence.

VI. Here is the contrast between the high and the low. A star is high; a root is low. Christ is both:

There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus;

No friend like him is so high and holy;

And yet no friend is so meek and lowly![71]

VII. Here is the contrast between that which needs man's care and that which needs nothing. A root must be watered and cultivated; a star needs absolutely nothing from man. Just so, Christ is above and beyond all people. Nothing that men can do can either cause or prevent the everlasting glory that pertains to him; and yet Christ needs people. There are certain phases of his work that cannot get on without men. Christ works through his human children, and their labors are important to the Eternal. "For it is God who worketh in you both and to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

[68] Olivia Crouch, All Things New (Austin, Texas: Firm Foundation Publishing House, 1976), p. 230.

[69] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 663.

[70] Ralph Earle, Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 10 (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1967), p. 625.

[71] Johnson Oatman, Jr., There's Not a Friend, Hymn No. 267, Great Songs of the Church (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company).