When Jesus
speaks of bringing his reward, what is it that he means? Other Bible
translations use the word recompense
instead of reward. The two words in some ways may be synonymous, but in my way
of understanding, the word reward has
a meaning that makes it seem more like winning a prize. Recompense, on the other hand, seems more to me to carry the
meaning of compensation for work done or for service. It is the second of these
that is closer to the meaning that Jesus intended.
“I am bringing
my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done” (ESV).
At another
time, when Jesus was with his disciples, he told them this:
If anyone wishes to
come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For
whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My
sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world
and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His
angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds. (Matthew
16:24-27 NAS italics mine).
It is clear
that at least here, Jesus is talking about payment, as we would normally think
of when we think of earning a wage. Indeed, this is very close to the meaning
of the word that Jesus spoke in our verse in Revelation 22:12. The very literal
meaning of the word (misthos)
actually is “wages.” James uses the very same word when he speaks of the pay or
the wages for the laborers (James 5:4).
The Ol’ 9 to 5
When I was
going to the university, I also worked part time in a factory. There, every two weeks – on a Friday, my
foreman would walk around the factory floor with a handful of envelopes. One by
one he would stop at each work station and hand the man or woman working there
one of the envelopes that he carried with him. My own work station was near the
end of the long building, and I could see him stop at each place as he made his
way down the building. Each worker would brighten a little when he handed them
the envelope, and very soon rip it open to look inside.
What was in
there? It was their wages, of course. It was payday! We had worked for two
weeks and now we were to be rewarded for that work.
The Day that Jesus Comes Around
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