Revelation 22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.
Revelation 22:15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Consider the first verse. Why are the subjects of the verse blessed? What is the result of this blessing?
When I first read this passage, I automatically though John was simply stating a past fact – that those who had washed their robes – they would have the right to the tree of life. I washed my robes in 1981 – I’m good. Let’s move on!
Yet as I started looking at the passage, I started to consider that the verb was in the present tense. That is to say, it is a continual action. Now I am not a greek scholar, nor even a student of the language. I rely heavily on those who went before, and I am fully open to any for correction. With that said, I will provide what I have found regarding this verb.
As I have found, the verb πλύνω plýnō, – wash in our verse – describes a plunging, or of a flow, a laundering of sorts. The parsing, as shown in the graphic speaks of the possibilty of the verb to be a past action. If this is the correct understanding of this passage, it would definitely support my previous thought.
But in reviewing numerous english translations, non of the translations available translate it as “Blessed are those who have washed…”
Some are so bold to interpret this first phase as
- Blessed are those who do His commandments… NKJV
- Happy are those doing His commands… YLT
- Blessed are they that do his commandments… WEB
I fear that my original understanding, though somewhat comforting, did not provide me the surety of my condition. Surety of my right to the tree of Life, our Savior, is to be found in following Him, washing our robes as they get soiled from our living on this earth.
Got clean robes?
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