Jesus said to his disciples:
“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars,
and on earth nations will be in dismay,
perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
People will die of fright
in anticipation of what is coming upon the world,
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
And then they will see the Son of Man
coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
But when these signs begin to happen,
stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand.
“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy
from carousing and drunkenness
and the anxieties of daily life,
and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.
For that day will assault everyone
who lives on the face of the earth.
Be vigilant at all times
and pray that you have the strength
to escape the tribulations that are imminent
and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Gospel for First Sunday of Advent, Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
Prophets say things at God’s direction—then faithful people try to understand them. The language the prophecies are spoken in is metaphorical, like all human language, and thereby somewhat ambiguous. Prophecies predict events—events clarify prophecies. The inherent ambiguities in the language are specified more exactly as the prophecy is fulfilled.
As mentioned before, during his 2-2 ½ years of public ministry, Jesus prophesized about three different events: 1.) his own death and resurrection, 2.) the destruction of the Temple with the end of Temple worship and the exile of the Jews, and 3.) THE END of the world and his return as ruler of all humanity. By the time Luke wrote his gospel, the first had taken place, and the second may have, too. It was certainly foreseeable by many as Roman might and Jewish resistance grew in the late 60’s AD. Our Gospel for today is Jesus talking about his return at THE END.
But wait. Why do we have a Gospel about THE END when Advent is all about preparation for Jesus’ first coming into the world as the infant of a Jewish mother? After all, the Gospels do have information about the run-up to that wonderful event.
Patience! That will be covered as we go deeper into Advent. We will read the first two predictions as fulfilled prophecies brought to amazing and awful fruition at the birth of the Messiah and the destruction of Jerusalem by 70 AD. But it is because those things have happened that we need to keep in mind the prophecy that is still pointing to our future—Jesus’ return and THE END. All the wonder of his first coming and the gifts (such as Communion and Scripture, re-birth, healing, forgiveness, etc.) God is providing for us will be for nothing if we ignore where all this is going. The prior fulfillment of the earlier prophecies should reinforce our certainty that what Jesus left us as prophecies about THE END will also happen.
What does he tell us?
- Cosmic and worldly disasters are on-going features of the future (as of the past) and are not special signs of THE END. Pray that you can survive all these events.
- Be alert and vigilant, not so sunk in daily life that his pending return has no effect on your life.
- When Jesus returns, his return will be immediately and overwhelmingly obvious to everyone on the planet, and your response should be to:
“…stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand.” (“redemption” or “liberation”)
That is, it will not be a time of terror for his followers, but a time of rejoicing!
For further reflection:
Worry about the End times is wasted motion and emotion on our part. THE END may come at any moment–today, tomorrow, or the next day, for that matter. But given the history of Christianity to this point, we would have to suspect that our own personal death and judgment is more likely to happen first. THE END has so far not come in 2000+ years–but none of us is going to live even one more century before our earthly life is over.
Taking care of what is certain to happen to us in a few years or even sooner is the smarter way to go about things. If we are prepared for our personal end, THE END holds no special terrors for us. The world may crack, but it is our SAVIOR who stands before us. Trust him. Love him. He welcomes us with open arms.