Luke 21:20-28
“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it; for these are days of vengeance, as a fulfillment of all that is written. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
There are basically two ways to read apocalyptic literature. Actually, that’s not quite true – there’s a third way, which is to discount it altogether because it’s too odd, too confusing, or seemingly too irrelevant. Truth be told, I sympathize with this third option, but because this part of the tradition was so important to earlier Christians that Luke wove it into his story of Jesus, I can’t bring myself to discard it.
So…back to the two options. One is to read this as prediction. You know what I mean – focusing on the various apocalyptic descriptions and trying to match them to historical or current events. The hope, when reading apocalyptic passages as prediction, is to develop a timetable, to figure out what is coming and when, and in this way to be ready for the end. From Hal Lindsey to Harold Camping, we have plenty of examples of folks reading portions of Scripture this way.
The second option is to read this passage as promise. From this point of view, we recognize that this message was initially directed toward Christians in situations of crisis and meant to offer hope and comfort by placing their struggles in the larger story of Christ’s eventual triumph over evil and return in righteousness. But we also recognize that these same words can apply to us, and so we focus less on the specific descriptions and instead fasten our eyes on Jesus’ words of promise: “Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Did you hear that? No matter what may come, no matter how bad things may get, no matter how bleak the future may seem, yet Christ has promised to return for us, to redeem us and all creation.
No one knows, Jesus says elsewhere in the gospels, the day or the hour when all this is to take place. No one has a map by which to read or predict the future. No one has a decoding key to explain current events in light of an apocalyptic timetable. But we do have this promise: that Christ will return to redeem us and all the world.
That may not always be everything we want. But most days – and when it really matters – it’s enough.
Prayer: Dear God, remind us most especially in the darkest of days of your promise to redeem us, and encourage and equip us to share our hope with others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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