Word to the Wise
Friday, November 25, 2022 - Friday in the 34th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rev 20:1-4, 11-21:2 and Luke 21:29-33]Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. [Revelation] "Consider the fig tree and all the other trees. When their buds burst open, you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near; in the same way, when you see these things happening, know that the KIngdom of God is near. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." [Luke]
When we read these words from the Book of Revelation and the Gospel According to Luke [and much of the New Testament]. they may seem a bit strange to us because the "last things" that they speak to have not occurred in the centuries since they were written. But those words "will not pass away!" There have been many well-intentioned souls who have tried to predict when Jesus would return and what the "Kingdom of God" would be like. The context for much of the New Testament is a "crisis" situation of persecution of Christian faith. For Jewish converts, the loss of the temple, a sign of God's presence, was catastrophic. Their entire theological world was undergoing a change to synagogue worship instead of material sacrifice! For non-Jewish converts, persecution from pagan and government sources was a constant danger. When would the suffering end and justice be restored?
The Gospel According to Luke emphasizes the importance of understanding that the death and resurrection of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit are the pivotal events of the "kingdom." What Christians must do NOW is to live faithfully. The end of time as we know it will come in God's "time" which is not ours. What we have to encourage us are the words of the gospels and the "letters" of the New Testament, foreshadowed in the Old. Those words will not pass away. This coming Sunday, we will once more look back to the words of hope and expectation in Old Testament prophecy and their realization in the coming event of Jesus' birth. "Words matter," and just as the words of Scripture have encouraged and supported Christian faith for centuries, so they may encourage us now to live faithfully until the end of time. AMEN