This season of the year we celebrate Jesus, born into human flesh and laid in a manger. An incongruous arrival, the son of God delivered to poor parents on the edge of the empire. But of course that’s part of the mystique, the power of the event. God shows up in the most humble of circumstances. Just ask those shepherds jolted to the ground by the heavenly host.

Today we live in the in-between. Even though Jesus doesn’t walk among us, our Bibles end with the promise of Jesus returning to the earth a second time.

On his homecoming, everyone will experience the heavenly host. No one will need to search out the manger. He will return on a white horse leading an army of saints. No more doubt as to just who this man is.

At the end of the Good Book, Jesus confirmed his return with a simple statement: Yes, I am coming soon. John, the author of Revelation responded with Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Jesus’ second arrival promises our old world reformed into a new Eden. No more crying or mourning or suffering. The books are opened and justice served. All will be made right. The hope wrapped in swaddling clothes now boundless before our eyes.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Revelation 22 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Greyson Joralemon