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At the end of the visions I, John, heard these words:
[12] "See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone's work. [13] I am the Alpha and the Omega Ὦ, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
[14] Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.
[deleted verse fifteen]
[16] "It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."
[17] The Spirit and the bride say, "Come."
And let everyone who hears say, "Come."
And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.
[deleted verses eighteen and nineteen]
[20] The one who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon."
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
[21] The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.
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This is the Year C Epistle selection that all come from Revelation, which will be read aloud on the seventh Sunday of Easter, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. The readings for this day will begin with a mandatory Acts reading, where we learn: “A slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation." She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour.”
That will be followed by a singing of Psalm 97, where David wrote, “Yahweh loves those who hate evil; he preserves the lives of his saints and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.”
All will accompany the Gospel selection from John, where the prophet wrote of Jesus praying, “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
In the above presentation, one will see there are omitted verses [three]. Rather than have expected regular attendees to realize the Year C lectionary features Revelation as the Epistle selections each Sunday, where everyone has been keeping abreast of John writing about his divine vision, the Episcopal Church has found need to make up a pretend verse that says, “At the end of the visions I, John, heard these words.” That is not written. In verse eight [not read aloud by a priest, nor listed as a verse that will be read] is written [NRSV]: “I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me.” The Church chose not to read that verse wholly.
In verse eight, John says, “I fell down to worship before the feet of this angel [Jesus, as a Yahweh elohim] of this showing me these (visions).” That says John’s was worshiping an “elohim,” not the Creator of all, including His elohim (the soul giving his flesh life). So, in verse nine, the angel [Jesus] tells John, “Look upon (me) not, [because] I am a fellow servant of you, kai of all brothers of you [apostles-saints – m & f] , kai of all keeping these words of this of this book – of this to God worship !” That says Jesus is sent by Yahweh to His servants, which makes Jesus a servant in the same manner as all apostles and saints. It says: Do not worship apostles and saints; and, Do not worship Jesus. The exclamation point makes it be very clearly stated: Worship God! [Yahweh]
In verse ten, Jesus (the angel) tells John “Not to seal this book.” This prophecy is to be known by all. Thus, one can read between the lines and hear Jesus saying, “When you parse out verses to read in buildings of worship, make sure you do not omit anything that is important [and it is all important].” Then Jesus (the angel) said, “The time indeed near exists,” meaning the time to know what this book of divine visions and divine words reveal [an Apocalypse] is always when they should be understood and acted upon. So, Jesus (the angel) told John, in verse eleven:
“this being unrighteous, let him (or her) be unrighteous still ; kai this being defiled, let him
(or her) be defiled still ; kai this being righteous, righteousness let him (or her) practice
still ; kai this set apart by God, let him (or her) be set apart by God still.”
This means this book, when read, most likely will not be understood by those who are not divinely possessed. Being a sinner and freely reading this book will not save their souls. Likewise, being an apostle or saint and understanding what this book truly says will not change one’s soul from be possessed … by knowing what John wrote means. The apostles and saints will be sent to find the seekers of truth and tell them the meaning of other Scripture; and, then it will be up to those souls to decide which path their bodies of flesh will walk: unrighteousness or righteousness.
In verse twelve, the angel (Jesus) is speaking the Word of Yahweh. He first says importantly (via capitalization of “Idou”), “Behold!” This says open your mind’s eye (a soul’s vision) and “See!” the truth that is known. When the voice spoke in the first-person, adding “I AM” to “coming quickly,” this is not about Jesus coming, but Judgment “coming” to all mortals; and, that always comes faster than a soul in the flesh would like. This then links back to Jesus (the angel) having said, “The time indeed near exists.” [Verse ten] So, when that time of Judgment comes, the ”reward” or “punishment” (“misthos” means the same thing, as “payment for work done”) that will come, measured by who had the soul of Jesus “of me with of myself” (a “self” equals a “soul”). Those souls married to Yahweh and reborn as His Son Jesus will be led to do the works [remember the Easter season is when lessons from Acts are read] that will gain Judgement of eternal life [a reward, not a punishment].
This is where Jesus (the angel) repeated what was said in Revelation 21:5 (the Epistle selection for the fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C), where “Alpha” is spelled out, but the symbol for omega is written (capitalized, as "Ω"). The Greek letter is open at the bottom, which reflects where sin enters the soul-body. Jesus, as the Alpha completes the meaning of “omega,” which is a word that says "great [“mega”] O." A great “O” is a completed circle. So, Jesus completes us; and, the Greek word “telos” properly means: “consummation (the end-goal, purpose), such as closure with all its results.” [HELPS Word-studies] As the “end times,” when every mortal human will face the death of a body of flesh, when its soul is judged, one should want to be judged for having already figuratively died of self, married Yahweh in submission to His Will, and been the soul where the soul of Jesus has been resurrected. That presence of Jesus keeps a soul-flesh from reverting back to a sinful way of life. That presence of Jesus within defines one as an apostle-saint.
Now, in verses fourteen and fifteen, Jesus (the angel) summed up this “reward” or “punishment” phase of Judgment. In verse fourteen, John wrote the capitalized word “Makarioi,” which is a word of divine elevation, meaning “Blessed.” Matthew wrote that word nine times in his fifth chapter, when remembering what Jesus said on the mount by the sea. Many people use the Latin equivalent word, and call Matthew 5:3-12 the “Beatitudes.” In reality, what “Makarioi” is divinely elevated to say is: This marks a Saint, or One Set Apart by Yahweh. That is the capitalized meaning of "Blessed." So, verse fourteen says “Saints” are those “washing the robes of their souls” [that makes the flesh be metaphorically a robe]. They are the ones who live righteously [led by the soul of Jesus only, no shortcuts possible]. They are the ones fed the fruit from the “tree of life;” so, they are the souls that pass through the ‘Jesus gate,’ as the flock of Yahweh, into the “city” that is Christianity [those Teaching Peace as Jesus reborn].
When verse fifteen is omitted, this would be when Dana Carvey could resurrect his SNL days and become “church lady” again, saying, “Isn’t that special.” It begs the question, “What about those who don’t get a good Judgement Day grade? Church lady would ask, “What about those who go to S A T A N?”
Verse fifteen is omitted. It says, “without these dogs , kai these poisoners , kai these fornicators , kai these murderers , kai these idol worshipers , kai all loving kai making lies .” Obviously, nobody sitting aloft on the altar stage in a priestly chair situated cozily in an Episcopal Church wants to have this be read aloud. None of the hired hands or false shepherds want to take the chance that a parishioner might actually listen and hear Yahweh telling John, in a divine auditory experience, this verse that is contrary to who has their robes washed clean by Jesus. That is because it would not take much to prompt someone actually listening to ask, “Isn’t that you priest?” Therefore, the Church has decided it is best to cut this verse out.
When one immerses oneself in readings from divine Scripture, it is easy to get the feel that the whole world is hunky-dory and everyone is headed the same direction. Reading from Revelation and getting the image in one’s mind of so many angels and saints standing around the throne and the Lamb makes it seem that every soul goes to heaven when it dies. The reality, when one wakes from that daydream, is for every saint or apostle that walks the earth as a TRUE CHRISTIAN there are myriads more that wallow in sin like hogs in mud. The entire point of true Christianity [the “city” without a temple, where all inhabitants are Jesus reborn, as tabernacles of the throne, reborn by the Lamb] is to lead seekers to become Jesus sent out into ministry in the flesh again and again. When a denominated group of religious philosophers call themselves “Christian” and only plan on leading sheeples into the pews, where they can be fleeced to pay the mortgage of buildings and insurance benefits for hired hands … with nobody ever taught the truth of the Word … well then … there are a lot more sinners in the world [headed to bad Judgements] than there are saints. Deleting that truth as a serious warning is just an example of what Jesus (the angel) meant when he told John, “Leave the book unsealed. The trash will burn itself as trash. The sheep will be saved, as always.”
In verse sixteen, the literal English that translates from the Greek text is this: “I , Jesus , am sent this angel of me to bear witness to your soul [“you” or “yourself”] these on the basis of these assemblies . I exist this root kai this offspring of David , this star this bright this dawning light .” In this are two ‘sentences,’ or complete statements. The first is begun by a capitalized “Egō,” which is divinely elevated to be a statement of Yahweh being the “self” that is then named “Jesus.” When “Jesus” is stated separately and capitalized, it must be read as a statement that says “Yahweh Saves.” The conversation to this point was last on Judgment and Salvation, so this verse says the “I” of Yahweh Judges, with His favor given to those He Saved in the name of His Son. The second statement begins with a lower-case “egō,” followed by “eimi,” which says “I am” or “I exist,” where the lower-case is the soul of Jesus being the Lord over the soul-flesh of all Yahweh’s wife-souls. As such, Yahweh “exists” as “Jesus” in apostles-saints; and, Jesus is “this angel sent to bear witness to your soul” that Jesus is Yahweh incarnate in true Christians. Those are the “assemblies” [a.k.a. “churches”] that are so-called [Christian] because of this divine presence sent by Yahweh, as His Anointed to receive His Son – all are Baptized with the Spirit as Christs. All are then Jesus reborn. The “assemblies testify” to that truth of soul-being – “Jesus exists” in all of their souls.
In the second sentence, Jesus said he was “this root,” which is the vine through which the Spirit of the Father flows, reaching all the branches, being the impetus to produce good fruit. When John placed “kai,” as a signal to see importance to follow, the good fruit of the vine can then be seen as “this offspring,” meaning "fruit." In that, the word translating as “root” can also translate as “shoot” or “sprout.” This means the possessive case stating “of David” means the capitalization of that name forces one to see the divine elevation coming through the meaning behind the name, which is “Beloved.” The good fruit of the “root” of Yahweh is the love of Yahweh, which flows through His Son and into his apostles-saints. This can then be seen as the “tree of life,” where the presence of Jesus within becomes the “star” that brings life to the physical world. That life comes from the “light” is shines forth. The “brightness” of the sun (the only “star” that matters to the Earth) shines through the good fruit, so seekers can ‘see the light’ and have the “dawning” of salvation come over them. When they see the light shone by apostles and saints, they can submit their souls to Yahweh, as all before them have done. When no one ever rises from a pew in a building with mortgage payments and hired hands to pay, then no light of Jesus is shining upon their souls. They then never leave as good fruit produced by a priest, minister, or preacher who is a soul alone in a body of flesh, unaware of what the book of life says. The blind leading the blind will always end up in pits.
To make sure Jesus was telling John about a divine marriage of souls to Yahweh (each individually wed), verse seventeen has Jesus say, “Kai [great importance to follow] this Spirit kai this bride speak , Come ! kai this hearing , let him (or her) say , Come ! kai this thirsting let him (or her) come ; this desiring , let him (or her) receive water of life freely .” The use of “kai” between “Spirit” and “bride” says the ”Spirit” does not speak outside of a soul that possesses a body of flesh. Since all mortals are of feminine essence (souls in bodies that are males and females) then the “Spirit” (meaning Yahweh) must marry a soul in human flesh. That divine union allows the voice of Yahweh to be heard, which is inviting all souls in bodies of flesh to also marry His “Spirit.” The key words here (introduced by the word “kai”) are “dipsōn” [“thirsting”] and “thelōn” [“desiring”]. Yahweh is not interested in any soul that is looking for free samples in the grocery store. To drink freely of “living waters,” those which maintain the Baptism of the “Spirit,” one must be a seeker who loves the idea of submission of self to Yahweh, in order to be risen from the dead as His Son Jesus reborn.
In my main reference source [BibleHub Interlinear], verses eighteen through twenty-one are headed with this notice: “Nothing May Be Added.” The NRSV places no such heading beyond its heading before verse eight, which says the rest of the chapter tells the “Epilogue and Benediction.” When you leave out three verses here, there is no need to remind anyone, “Oh yeah! Jesus said do not add anything or subtract [another word for “omit”] anything.” He said if you add anything then whoever does that will bring plagues upon their souls. Anyone who subtracts anything will lose their name being added to the tree of life. So, rather than spoil all the fun of a soul leaving its dead body of flesh and finding out it is plagued and marked as dead limbs to be thrown into the fire, I will leave it up to the readers to check out what is written, which the Episcopal Church has subtracted from your ‘daily bread’ on this last Sunday of Easter.
Verses twenty and twenty-one say, if one is a witness to the presence of Jesus within, then one will shout out “Yes!” to all written here in John's Revelation. One will say, “It is the truth!” [the meaning of “Amen”] They look forward to death, so they say, “I AM (is) coming quickly. Come, Lord Jesus!” … and lead me to Yahweh, as my “Lord.” In verse twenty-one, where we read [NRSV], “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints,” the actual text says, “Hē charis tou Kyriou Iēsou (Christou) meta pantōn <hagiōn . Amēn > .” If you look closely, you will notice the “Christou” is in parentheses, as an aside, which is seen as optional text [another subtraction of what is written here]. Because it is in parentheses the NRSV does not translate “Christ” in this last verse. The reality is the parentheses separates that capitalized possessive word from “Jesus,” so it is not meant to be read as his ‘last name.’ As an aside, it says all who have “Jesus” as the “Lord” over their souls are (separately and equally) “Christs.”
The Genitive case (the possessive) is also not clearly shown in this translation. It literally says, “This” [the “coming of Lord Jesus”] is by “grace of Lord of Jesus (of Christ) with all.” Then, there are angle brackets separating “saints” (or “sacred ones”) from a period mark, still within a set of angle brackets. This word is then silently stated. This means “all” who are shown “grace” - the “grace” presented by Yahweh - are each one “Anointed” by Him (thus “of Christ”). Yahweh sends “Lord Jesus,” so he will “come Lord Jesus.” To whom he goes, those will be “saints,” but the caveat is none will know it while alive in a body of flesh. Saints Act first; and, then they are Beatified posthumously, never considering themselves anything more than servant-wives of Yahweh, reborn as His Son. Then, still within the silence of a statement unspoken, “Amen” repeats, “This is the truth.”
As a standard Revelation selection for the seventh Sunday of Easter (Year C), when the season places focus on souls in bodies of flesh being raised from the dead (mortal condemnation of reincarnation, if not saved by Jesus), this is a great example of why so many calling themselves “Christian” will find their souls gathered at each's own personal Judgment Day and placed in with all the goats (not the sheep). None of them will have a clue what they did to deserve being given a failing grade; but that will be due to them bowing down and worshiping their priest, minister, or preacher (add in rabbis too), who told them everything they wanted to hear [none of it true]. Maybe they bowed down before a cross with dead Jesus on it, hanging on the wall of a church? They did not read this book, which says, "Do not worship Jesus. Worship God!" One worships God by being His loving wife in a divine union of soul to Spirit (see the references to "Saints). Eternal salvation is based on Acts, which means more than getting fanny blisters from sitting on the same spot in the same pew for a lifetime. Acts means being filled with the soul of Jesus and taking your body of flesh on the road in ministry, letting seekers find the truth flowing from your lips (Jesus speaking through you!). That puts your soul in the sheep group at Judgment Day, but you will not know what you did to deserve that either. That is because your self will have long ago been sacrificed at the altar to Yahweh. Your works will have kept you too busy to count your blessings [or read your press clippings].