“But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.” (Revelation 2:4-5).
Volumes has been said about maintaining our first love with Jesus. This is a good thing! But what does this mean? Fortunately, other parts of the book of Revelation to give us valuable insight. One big clue is the reward Jesus promised to the church of Ephesus. “To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (2:7). So to the one who conquers or overcomes abandoning first love receives the reward eating of the tree of life. As asserted in a prior blog, the tree of life is future-present. Its leaves of the healing of the nations are applicable right now, in a world still stinging from the mad hornet’s nest of the curse. This tree of life is a magnificent blending of now and not yet, its future fullness mercifully piercing through shroud of darkness, chaos and confusion of our present world. I am further proposing that eating of the tree of life is now. It’s not only some far off future blessing when we all get to heaven. Eating of the tree of life is expressing what our first love for Jesus is all about.
As we turn to Revelation’s final chapter, the tree of life emerges in the spotlight. We’ll see that your access to it has to do with doing “the works you did at first.”
“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” (Rev 22:14 ESV). Man would put the sequence differently. First you enter the city, then you access the tree of life. But God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts. The tree of life comes first in priority to Him.
Now, washing one’s robes here is, of course, a metaphor. It’s a picturesque way of depicting a cleanness or righteousness of our outward conduct that everyone can see. The New King James Version (NKJV) translates it this way: “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life.” Without going down the rabbit hole of textual variants, quite simply the metaphor “wash their robes” has been interpreted to mean “do His commandments.” That’s the essence of washing one’s robes. It’s observable obedience to God. Revelation 19 clues us in that “white garments” are “the righteous acts of the saints.” So as our clothes broadcast our outward appearance, our acts and deeds display who and whose we are to a watching world. Jesus’ call to the Ephesians to first love was a call to the first commandment: love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength.
Now here’s where it gets really interesting and the Lord gave me an aha moment. I’ve always have thought of “washing our robes” as a purification from the filth and defilements of the world. And it certainly is that. James witnesses to it: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world (1:27). So does Jesus: “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean” (John 13:10). But this linkage back to the church of Ephesus brings into focus a nuance I’d not perceived before.
Notice that the Lord Jesus admonished the Ephesians to “do the works you did at first.” This first love wasn’t romantic feelings tucked away in their innermost recesses. It was manifested in works, observable acts of obedience. Why, that’s our metaphor for robes! Doing the first works are garments! “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life.” Washing one’s robes is a cleansing of what we do. It’s repentance.
There’s a mirroring going on here between chapters 2 and 22. “Repent,” says Jesus, “and do the works you did at first.” And if you do? “I will grant to eat of the tree of life.” How does Revelation 22 state it? “Blessed are those who wash their robes.” That’s repentance. And if you do? You will “have the right to the tree of life.” So in these parallel truths, washing our robes isn’t exclusively avoiding the negative—not sinning, not giving into my fleshly appetites, and so on. Washing our robes in connection with the Ephesians church has to do with doing those things that express first love to Jesus, the Bridegroom. The best summary I know of concerning first love is from Jesus’ prayer just hours before the cross: “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory…” (Jn 17:24). He created us to be with Him and to see His glory.
The Shulamite bride in Song of Songs was head over heels in love with her bridegroom, King Solomon. Chapter 2 heralds her first love:
“As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my beloved among the young men.
With great delight I sat in his shadow,
and his fruit was sweet to my taste.”
She greatly delights to sit in the shade of her Solomon as an apple tree among the woods. She just loves being with him. She enjoys being in his presence. Now one greater than Solomon is here. Jesus is more than an apple tree among the trees of the forest. He is the unique, one-of-a-kind tree surpassing all trees of the entire world! He’s the tree of life.
She finds his fruit sweet to her taste. She was enjoying intimacy, fellowship and communion with her lover. Seeing Jesus’ glory is also a partaking of a sweetness of seeing Him as He truly is that utterly satisfies and delights the soul. This is our calling. This is what we were made for, beloved. Let us wash our robes, do those things we did at first when our love for Jesus was all fresh and new, and we’ll receive the reward of eating of the tree of life now. And when eternal day is ushered in, we’ll never stop knowing better and better this Jesus, “the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month.”
Glory Unveiled: Discovering Jesus 
Hi Ken. Thanks for your post. I left a comment, which didn’t appear to go through, so I’ve pasted it below. Keep up the insightful writing, Chris Nicholson
Good writing, Ken. I had always glossed right over “Wash your robes,” assuming it was just another product of the rough terrain of the times, akin to washing one’s feet. I see what you’re saying, though, about tying it back to “Do the works you did at first.”
Instead of an extensive comment, I’m going to make a movie recommendation–“Saving Grace” (just make sure it’s the 1986 film starring Tom Conti, as there are a half-dozen movies with the same title.) It’s about a reluctant pope who never quite fits in to the Vatican’s pomp and circumstance. He eventually escapes The Vatican walls and goes undercover, to pursue his first love, serving as the parish priest of a remote village that needs God more than most. It’s an interesting premise. Not surprisingly, it didn’t get much box office play, but is worth tracking down.
And finally, your ending quote “the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month,” brought to mind a funny story about my late in-laws. My father-in-law was a church planter and parish priest. One year, to show their appreciation for his service, one of his parishes enrolled the family in the “fruit of the month” club, where they’d get a care package each month featuring whatever was in season including apples, peaches, pears, cherries, etc. Well when December came along, the company must have been running out of ideas, as the “fruit of the month” was….onions. Granted, they were big, beautiful Vidalia onions, but onions none-the-less. My mother-in-law was looking forward to something special for Christmas, and she was not happy.
So thanks for the latest edition of “Glory Unveiled,” track down “Saving Grace,” and if you’re ever tempted to gift Marian a “fruit of the month” subscription, be sure you ask some questions first.
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Hi Chris,
Thanks for comments and humor! I meant to reply yesterday but the day got away from me.
That Saving Grace sounds like an interesting movie. I added it to my wish list :-).
Love that “fruit of the month” as onions! Hilarious!
Hope you have have a great week. I continue praying for you.
Ken
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