“24 Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” Signs of the End of the Age 3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. The Abomination of Desolation 15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. The Coming of the Son of Man 29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:1-31 ESV)
Wistfully, the theologian talks about a second coming. In hope, the Christian rehearses its key tenets. That God’s reign shall be triumphant rather than Cruciform and persecuted. That God’s Son shall repair every wound and heal every sin. That God’s Spirit shall call all those who are in the Lamb’s book of life.
Wistfully, indeed, because any good theology can be turned evil. If we get too “logical” and “this implies that” kind of thinking. Is anyone claiming Christ’s reign is already upon us? Surely not any secular agency, no secular agency is Cause for us to panic or get all principled and such. Let the secularists worry about what they worry about, making good people, inspiring good morals, emulating characters most mythological and artistic.
The Christian deals in economies not of push and shove, not of moral deeds done in faith, but in the knowledge that at times to bargain with Dying and one’s own Cross, is at times the right path. That we not try to Evade some down pat Cross, even if it seems decades too early or eons too abrupt. Likewise, we do not become those evil theologians who “sue” their own religion: “well, gee, if Christ has to die, then let’s bring that ending about!”. All together, right?
No one is claiming that Christ walks amidst us Today, except insofar as there are evidentials: healings, forgiveness, conversion, blessed Handshakes across the wartime no-man’s-land. Christ… there is the constant reminder, stop “suing” your own religion, O Man, O Woman. More, learn to reflect: always, we are asked by our would-be leaders to put up with things distasteful and inimical to our better senses. Always life pinches us. Always… and why is it we are the only barrier to entry, why is the prophet or Christ forbidden from reaching the common man or common woman, and instead asked just to bargain ad nauseum with the wrong people?
It was like in a movie, wasn’t it? That something appealed to the Hero in each of us. That the intention was something wistful, that it might even—dare we say—speak well of so-and-so who bears a passing resemblance to our Hero on screen, in the lore, told of around the watering can, in the bars, at the summit of Important People. He isn’t Christ to all people, just to some few to whom He—we—are sent. And we find our own personal Christ in a friend, the less Lauded One, the secret source of amphetamines or juice most sublime.
Important People… we can’t have it both ways. Either so-and-so is so mighty and impenetrable that we must submit, or they are so pathetic and loserish, that we need no help dismounting their cabal. Need no help. Yet the lecturing, what is called by theologians, the “Law”, to berate, to coach a bit too proudly, to mock up a good show around here: these things meet the wandering Jew, the Nazarene, the gentler Remedy to problems we invent all manner of aggrandizements for, but which are Simple Problems. Problems of our own pride, our own denials, our own pain, our own trauma. We go to war, even, rather than simply to fess up… not that we alone are to bear the weight of God’s righteous Judgment, but that on some level the Group Mind is appeased, satiated, and paid in full: God for us, and we His painfully at times submitted souls. His sheepfold. His wistfully hopeful, that a Better Tomorrow will alight upon these fine scenes and panoramas, these fine rolling hills and fertile plains.
Never ones to go mode Frustrated, we patiently Preach, notwithstanding the “logical” lawsuits against one’s own creed, the cute factors, the attempts to have it both ways. We patiently do stay Humble as to the fact, that maybe some Dying logical denouement, outcome, is all we have to give. That by “dying” metaphorically, as well, we take the route unplanned, offensive to our pride, denying our very self. We take that route and Light Up the night with the News: so-and-so is now a Believer!
Be assured, O thinker, O pensive one, that people—the right people—are talking to each other already. Dream big for your nearest and dearest, hoping still that some pattern matching means our prayers are in fact, like the Hero on Celluloid film, praying for Mankind at Large, for the average Man or Woman on the street, for the Hero in each of us. See how well people play their hand, make the chess move, and we of all people the first to think: gee, it is my job to do Everything around here, when in fact it isn’t! Learn to trust the genius of other people, to marvel and count on their Sanity when our own deeds are hit or miss, rather, our own deeds are some brand of “Genius” as well, perhaps, but at the fault of missing some basic foot steps needful.
If we may flatter ourselves. If we may arrive Today at Tomorrow’s Peacetime, writ in large script for the deaf and blind, that God is for us, and we His people are not going to be Abandoned. That the perfect Outcome is marching forth, the Cross for those destined for Glory, the streetside skirmish for those destined for Prophetic warring already here and now, the opening of conduits for the oil to get through, to light lamps, to share Someone’s Good News, to end the frustrated silencing of His prophets and simpler sorts of dedicated servants.