He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:
From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead:
Welcome to the season of Advent, a time of reflection and preparation for the coming of Christ. The next four weeks are seen by many as the countdown to Christmas, but they are far more than that. We can spend time looking for and waiting for God.
When Jesus comes again, it will be to judge the world. This is a good thing. This world was created beautiful and pure, and it has been corrupted and spoiled. Every day we hear of war and insurgency, poverty and disease, rapes and murders, evil being perpetrated in the name of good. Jesus is coming back to sort things out and to bring in a new heaven and a new earth.
We need not fear judgment. Yes, we feel remorse for our part in bringing this world to its present parlous state. Michael Mitton starts his book for Advent “A Handful of Light” with a short chapter on lament, as we acknowledge that we also face judgment and merit punishment. Therefore we confess our sins, confident that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from each and every sin. We seek to repair and build up relationships wherever possible. We seek to be ready for the hour of Jesus’ appearing. We still will face judgement: 1 Corinthians 3 says “But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.”
We have confidence, however. In Romans 10 we read “ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
We remember that when we were God’s enemies, still he loved us, and Jesus freely and joyfully gave his life for us.
This does not mean that God says that evil and cruelty and sin do not matter; he has not gone soft. Romans 1:18 says “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness”. There is furious debate about the second verse of the hymn we have just sung, with people wanting to substitute new words, because in their opinion God should not be angry with sin.
Is this not the problem, that we would like to be the ones in charge, making the rules, shaping God in a way that we find comfortable? And is this not really the heart of idolatry? We do not worship statues, but we do make sure that God is cut down to a size with which we can cope.
Consider that when the ‘powers that be’, appointed by God and charged with ruling in his name, make it known that they “do not do God”, they in effect raise themselves above judgment. They feel themselves free to follow any policy, wage any war that seems convenient or that seems to be a good idea to them. But of course there will be a weighing in the balance and a judgement.
Advent is our time to ponder these things and to allow God to reassure us of our Salvation and to continue his work of Sanctification, changing us to be like Jesus, ready for when he comes again.
No-one knows when that will be. In the long passage from Matthew that our gospel fragment has come from, Jesus starts by talking about the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple, and links this with the Last Day when he will come in judgement. They are linked in terms of their meaning, in that the fall of the temple makes clear that it is the new covenant in Jesus’ blood that now brings us forgiveness and salvation. They are linked in the awesomeness of the events; Jesus borrows language from the Old Testament, from Daniel, to paint a stark almost frightening picture of what is to come. Much of this was reflected in the events of AD 70 when Titus destroyed the temple. Much else we are still seeing worked out in the events of world history.
And our response? Jesus makes it abundantly clear that only the Father knows the times. Many strange sects and persuasive preachers have claimed to predict the date and the time, but they were wrong to attempt to do so. The angels do not know. Jesus does not know. Only the Father.
And so we wait. We watch. We look for the dawn. We light our candles. We live in the light. We make it our priority each day to walk in the Spirit, looking for the fruit of his Spirit to be formed in us. We clothe ourselves each morning with the Lord Jesus Christ, allowing him to be central to our lives. We cooperate with him as he trains us to think in new, godlike ways. Amen, Come Lord Jesus.
Questions for Discussion
1. How would our society be different if more people took seriously the second coming of Christ and his claim to be king?
2. What difference does it make practically in our lives that “he will come again to judge the living and the dead”? What might we do differently in the future?
3. What would you say to a Christian who was still worried about facing the judgement of God?
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