MATTHEW 24:32-44
32"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
36"But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. 42Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.
I admit that this is a common passage of scripture from my childhood, and it has come to mean so many different things in my life, depending on which church I attended or which preacher I heard. It's not uncommon in some places in the South for people to say, when setting an appointment with a friend in the future, "I'll see you then if the creek don't rise and the Savior don't come first." As a child, I always worried that Jesus would return at an inconvenient time, like when I was angry with my brother or when I was in the shower. The Left Behind series and rapture theology didn't help my troubled mind very much.
As an adult, the second part of this reading troubles me much less than the first part: "Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place." I tend to think: "It's been a couple thousand years, Jesus; did you get stuck in the Christmas shopping traffic?" Or when we await for Jesus and the coming of the fullness of the kingdom of heaven, are we taking him too literally here, that "this generation" is really a much longer period of time than we originally expected? In particularly the history of the United States, there have been many prognosticators who have claimed that the world will end with our generation- that we are the culmination of all human history (that's how important we are!!). They've all been pretty much wrong, and we're left asking, "How Long, O Lord? Will you forget us forever?" Are we waiting for heaven and earth to pass away first? Did Jesus return (or does Jesus return every time peace is established, reconciliation occurs, forgiveness is granted, and healing is allowed), and we missed him? What does Advent teach us about the nature of waiting that is not easily accessible in our hectic (and very important) lives?
My hardest question: "Did you come already, Jesus, and we didn't recognize you? Or has the time not yet come?"
As an adult, the second part of this reading troubles me much less than the first part: "Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place." I tend to think: "It's been a couple thousand years, Jesus; did you get stuck in the Christmas shopping traffic?" Or when we await for Jesus and the coming of the fullness of the kingdom of heaven, are we taking him too literally here, that "this generation" is really a much longer period of time than we originally expected? In particularly the history of the United States, there have been many prognosticators who have claimed that the world will end with our generation- that we are the culmination of all human history (that's how important we are!!). They've all been pretty much wrong, and we're left asking, "How Long, O Lord? Will you forget us forever?" Are we waiting for heaven and earth to pass away first? Did Jesus return (or does Jesus return every time peace is established, reconciliation occurs, forgiveness is granted, and healing is allowed), and we missed him? What does Advent teach us about the nature of waiting that is not easily accessible in our hectic (and very important) lives?
My hardest question: "Did you come already, Jesus, and we didn't recognize you? Or has the time not yet come?"
No comments:
Post a Comment