These two verses from the very end of the Bible come at the very end of this last chapter where John is putting finishing touches on his book. He’s reminding readers that he didn’t just come up with this apocalypse on his own, but that it was given to him by Jesus Himself—and it was given for all the churches. Jesus then describes Himself as being both the root and the descendant of David, which is a bit of a head-scratcher: How can someone be both the root and the descendant? Either you were there at the beginning of the family tree or you are one of the branches of it. Not both, surely? But Jesus as an eternal member of the Trinity can indeed fairly claim to have been at the very beginning of all things (“In the beginning was the Word,” as John 1:1 tells us), and He is also a new branch on the family tree of David.
Then Jesus says, “I am the bright morning star.” The morning star is seen in the sky as the dawn approaches. That star lets us know the dark of night is coming to an end, and a new day is dawning! Jesus’s coming lets us know the night of sin and death is at an end, and the new day of hope and faith in Jesus is beginning.
And then we have a fourfold invitation, four welcoming cries to enter the heavenly city and enjoy its company and its gifts. We’ve seen in the previous verses that the city is open and enormous, ready to welcome and accept any who want to enter who belong to the Lamb. And now we hear a clear invitation to come on in, from the Spirit, and from the Bride of the Lamb (which is that holy city personified). The last invitation is to drink our fill. If you are thirsty for the water of life, this four-fold invitation says you are most welcome to drink. We know that Jesus offered the woman at the well this living water, which would quench her thirst for good. That water represents all we deeply thirst for: love, grace, acceptance, justice, healing, forgiveness, significance. All we desperately thirst for can be satisfied in that heavenly city.
In this time where there is so much that we long for, it is good to remember that there is deep satisfaction for us in the love of Jesus, a delicious foretaste here and a full quenching draft in heaven.