Revelation 22:17

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come: he that will, let him take the water of life freely.

The Spirit and the bride say, Come ... "The Spirit is the Holy Spirit, and the bride is the church (Revelation 21:2,9). It is the testimony of the church empowered by the Holy Spirit."[72] Note that there are four invitations in this verse, yet there is only one. "It is not as though the Spirit says, Come; and then also the bride says, Come; but the Spirit moves in her, and she is moved by him."[73]

Come ... This is what people have to do if they wish to be saved. This verb implies that unless men shall "come," they shall continue to be lost. This means that God in Christ has already done everything that even God can do to save people, and that the next move is up to them. This also inherently teaches that it is possible for people to do this. No enabling act on God's part is necessary; it is the human will that must respond to this call.

And he that heareth, let him say, Come ... Roberts tells us that, "There is evidence from early sources (Didache 10:6-7), that this was a liturgical prayer used in the ritual of the Lord's supper."[74] This is no doubt correct; and it is most important in determining the meaning of "come" in this passage and elsewhere in the New Testament. The word maranatha, transliterated from the Aramaic was commonly used in such rituals, and it may be written either marana tha, or as maran atha (The old manuscripts did not divide between words.). Note the discussion of these two ways of dividing this word in 1 Corinthians 16:2, and see the discussion in my Commentary on 1Corinthians, pp. 284,285. Remember that there is just as much authority for rendering "Come, Lord Jesus" as "The Lord has come,"[75] as there is for understanding it as a petition for him to come. In fact, there is a double meaning in it. It means, "Come Lord, and be with us in the communion, as thou hast promised"; but it also means, "Lord, come in the Second Advent." The Supper itself was observed with reference to that future event as well as a reference to the crucifixion. What better way could there have been to preserve this mystical implication than by using one word that gathered up multiple meanings in itself, maranatha? The late great Christian scholar, J. W. Roberts, left us this priceless comment:

At the table (of the Lord's Supper) they saw his presence with the eye of faith and took it as a pledge of his ultimate manifestation at the parousia ... (John) knows that the church will join in saying of Christ, Come.[76]

The double meaning here extends even further than this, for the saying of "Come" by the Spirit and by the church also refers to the invitation for men to accept the gospel, as already pointed out.

The key word in this passage should be rendered maranatha, as a single word with two meanings. It is a tragedy that the usual scholarly bias to the effect that all of the first century Christians believed the Second Advent to be scheduled for their immediate future has caused them to edit out of the word one of its legitimate meanings by writing it marana tha. We defy anyone to deny that there is just as much authority for writing it maran atha. To divide the word at all is to impose an interpretation upon it. The true meaning is that, "The Christians prayed for the Lord to come in whatever manner of visitation he should choose."[77]

And let him that heareth say, Come ... This is directed not to the Lord but to sinners to accept the gospel. "The personal responsibility of each Christian to bear testimony to the lordship of Christ is here asserted."[78] We also agree with Strauss that many Christians are not living up to this trust, because, "The contemporary church is snarled up in the clergy system."[79]

It will be noted here that we construe the first two "Comes" as directed to Christ, and the latter two as directed to sinners. Beasley-Murray also concurred: "It is more likely that John intends us to view the call in the first two sentences as directed to the Lord."[80] H. B. Swete also took this view.[81]

[72] Robert H. Mounce, op. cit., p. 395.

[73] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 670.

[74] J. W. Roberts, op. cit., p. 201.

[75] F. F. Bruce, Answers to Questions (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1973), p. 100.

[76] J. W. Roberts, op. cit., p. 201.

[77] Ibid., p. 202.

[78] James D. Strauss, op. cit., p. 293.

[79] Ibid.

[80] G. R. Beasley-Murray, op. cit., p. 344.

[81] H. B. Swete, as quoted by William Barclay, op. cit., p. 229.