Perspective: Speaking of the End Times

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Speaking of the End Times

After Jesus said these things, as they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight.  While he was going away and as they were staring toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood next to them.  They said, "Galileans, why are you standing here, looking toward heaven?  This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you saw him go into heaven."

Acts 1:9-11 (CEB)

There will be a day with no more tears
No more pain and no more fears
There will be a day
When the burdens of this place
Will be no more
We'll see Jesus face to face

From "There Will Be a Day" by Jeremy Camp

Do you remember when the idea of robots' wanting to kill all humans was just a joke on Futurama or the plot of bleak, futuristic action movies like those in the Terminator series?

Those were the days.

Within the last couple of weeks, following the public resignation of a very concerned researcher, a senior employee at a leading artificial intelligence research company admitted that there is a possibility that AI technology could reach the capacity to kill all human life within the next ten years.¹  Discussions about placing limits on AI research immediately followed.  The curriculum my Sunday school class uses for our weekly discussions is based on current events,² so, per the curriculum, this week's class discussion segued from the potential threat of AI research to eschatology or beliefs about the "end times."

Some Christians have constructed elaborate timelines of events that will take place before the end of this age, and they frequently consider how current events might fit into them.  Personally, I think that such frameworks are misapplications of Scripture, distractions from what matters most, and means of frightening people into obedience.

I was tempted, at first, to think the end times are not discussed very much in United Methodist Churches like the one I attend, but, as I prepared to lead the class discussion this week, I realized that, at my church, we actually speak of the end times a lot, though we might not realize it.  In fact, at least five eschatological statements are made at my church on a regular basis.  I suspect these statements or similar statements are regularly made at many other Mainline Protestant churches as well.

One eschatological statement is found in the prayer Jesus taught His followers to pray, which is commonly called the Lord's Prayer.  In it, we pray,

Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.³

Though we all realize that the world is currently not as it should be, with this part of the Lord's prayer, we anticipate a day when God's will is actually done in the world.

At my church, Holy Communion is observed monthly, but, at many Mainline Protestant churches, Holy Communion is observed weekly.  A second eschatological statement is found in the Great Thanksgiving, the prayer prayed primarily by the pastor as part of a Holy Communion Service.  At one point in the Great Thanksgiving, the pastor calls upon the entire congregation to "proclaim the mystery of faith," saying, "Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again."⁴  As we "proclaim the mystery of faith" during the Holy Communion service, we proclaim that there will be a "Second Coming," that Christ will return to earth.

A third eschatological statement is found in the epiclesis, the part of the Great Thanksgiving in which the pastor asks God the Father to "pour out" the Holy Spirit upon the congregation and upon the Communion elements.  The pastor prays,

By your Spirit make us one with Christ,
one with each other,
and one in ministry to all the world,
until Christ comes in final victory
and we feast at his heavenly banquet.⁵

With this prayer, a pastor proclaims that Christ's return to the earth will be a decisive victory against the forces of evil and that a great celebration will follow this victory.

A fourth eschatological statement is found in the Apostles' Creed, one of the creeds used by Christians to proclaim their faith at worship services.  In the part about Jesus Christ, the congregation proclaims,

The third day he rose from the dead,
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.⁶

With this part of the Apostles' Creed, we proclaim that judgment will come with the return of Christ.  Though a lot of people associate judgment with punishment, I like to think of judgment as Christ's setting all things right in the world.  If God's will is to "be done on earth as it is in heaven," then some things cannot be allowed to continue as they are.

Christ's setting all things right in the world will ultimately be good news for all people.  That said, for people who benefit from the messed-up state of the world, Christ's setting things right will be experienced as bad news or even punishment.

A fifth eschatological is found toward the end of the Apostles' Creed.  The congregation proclaims,

I believe in...
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.⁷

With this part of the Apostles' Creed, we proclaim that the Resurrection of Christ is just the first of many resurrections, that, like Christ, other human beings will be resurrected from the dead, never to die again.

Whatever trials and tribulations may come, we can hold on to the hope that someday all things will be set right.

Notes:

1. Robert Booth.  "AI could kill all humans in next decade, warn experts: but how seriously should we take them?"  The Guardian, September 9, 2026.
2. https://www.thewiredword.com/
3. One version of the Lord's Prayer printed in The United Methodist Hymnal.  1989, United Methodist Publishing House.  #895
4. From a Service of Word and Table I as printed in The United Methodist Hymnal.  p. 10
5. ibid.
6. From the Apostles' Creed, Traditional Version as printed in The United Methodist Hymnal.  #881
7. ibid.

The photograph of the sunrise over the Philippines has been released into the public domain.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.

Perspective: Overanalyzing a Simple Story

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Overanalyzing a Simple Story

Simon's mother-in-law was in bed, sick with a fever, and they told Jesus about her at once.  He went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up.  The fever left her, and she served them.

Mark 1:30-31 (CEB)

I have seen the healing hand of God
Reaching out and mending broken hearts
Taste and see the fullness of His peace
And hold on to what's being held out
The healing hand of God

From "Healing Hand of God" by Jeremy Camp

In the Gospels, we read that, one day, Jesus visits the home of Simon, where the disciple's mother-in-law is bedridden with a fever.  The family asks Jesus to help her, so He goes to her bedside and heals her.  When she rises from her bed, she begins serving Jesus and those who are with Him.  That evening, many of the townspeople bring to Simon's home their loved ones who are either sick or possessed by demons, and Jesus heals all of them.¹

This simple story is found in three of the four Gospels, and, though all three versions are mostly the same, there are some differences worth noting.

In the Gospel of Mark, the writer notes that, when Jesus casts demons out of people brought to Him, He refuses to let them speak because they recognize Him.²  In Mark's Gospel, there is a recurring theme that scholars sometimes call the "Messianic Secret."  Repeatedly Jesus forbids anyone from saying anything that might lead people to think that He is the Messiah, the long awaited leader who would liberate the Jewish people and restore Israel to its former glory.³  The reason, I suspect, is that people have certain expectations for the Messiah which Jesus does not intend to meet.

In the Gospel of Matthew, the writer suggests, regarding the miracles Jesus performed that day, "This happened so that what Isaiah the prophet said would be fulfilled: He is the one who took our illnesses and carried away our diseases."⁴  Throughout Matthew's Gospel, the writer suggests that the things Jesus does or the things that happen in His life fulfill the Hebrew Scriptures, and one of the books the writer references most frequently is the Book of Isaiah.

In this particular story, the writer is referencing a passage from the Book of Isaiah known as the Song of the Suffering Servant.  In it, we read,

It was certainly our sickness that he carried,
and our sufferings that he bore,
but we thought him afflicted,
struck down by God and tormented.
He was pierced because of our rebellions
and crushed because of our crimes.
He bore the punishment that made us whole;
by his wounds we are healed.⁵

When a Gospel writer suggests that Jesus fulfills the Hebrew Scriptures, he is not saying that they predicted Jesus but rather that Jesus embodies the story of His people.⁶  Though the Servant Songs in the Book of Isaiah are commonly associated with Jesus, they are also thought to describe the people of Israel as a whole, the servant people of God.⁷

According to Matthew and Mark's Gospels, Jesus heals Simon's mother-in-law of her fever by either touching her hand or taking her by the hand and lifting her up from her bed.⁸  According to Luke's Gospel, Jesus heals Simon's mother-in-law by leaning over her and rebuking her fever.⁹  The Greek word translated into English as rebuke or speak harshly is epitimaō.¹⁰  Interestingly, the writer uses the same word to describe how Jesus speaks to the demons He throws out of the people brought to Him that evening.¹¹  The writer will use the same word later on to describe how Jesus speaks to a violent storm to make it stop.¹²

Jesus' rebuking illnesses and demons is a testament to Jesus' authority.  According to scholar N.T. Wright,

The strange thing about Jesus... is that he did what he did by simple commands.  No magic formulae; no (what we would call) mumbo-jumbo.  He just told the spirits to go, and they went.  That was what astonished people.  He didn't have to summon up stronger powers than his own; he just used the authority he already possessed in himself.  And... he did the same with "ordinary" diseases as well, like the raging fever of Simon's mother-in-law.¹³

Jesus is greater than anything in life that oppresses or troubles us.

When I study the Gospels, I like to compare different versions of the same story.  It reveals to me things about the different Gospel writers, and it draws my attention to things I might ignore otherwise.  It also reminds me that there are no throwaway details in the Gospels.


Notes:

1. Matthew 8:14-17; Mark 1:29-34; Luke 4:38-41
2. Mark 1:34
3. Wikipedia: "Messianic Secret"
4. Matthew 8:17 (CEB)
5. Isaiah 53:4-5 (CEB)
6. Peter Enns and Jared Byas.  "Pete & Jared Ruin Prophecy (Christmas Edition)."  The Bible for Normal People, Episode 289.
7. Wikipedia: "Servant Songs"
8. Matthew 8:15; Mark 1:31
9. Luke 4:39
10. Blue Letter Bible: "epitimaō"
11. Luke 4:41
12. Luke 8:24
13. N.T. Wright.  Luke for Everyone.  2004, Westminster John Knox Press.  p. 51

Christ Healing Peter's Mother-in-Law was drawn by Rembrandt in the mid 1600s.

Perspective: Offensive Thoughts About an Offensive Parable

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Offensive Thoughts About an Offensive Parable

So the last will be first, and the first will be last.

Matthew 20:16 (NRSV)

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'

From "The Times They Are A-Changin'" by Bob Dylan

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells a story about a vineyard owner who hires day laborers to harvest grapes.  Early in the morning, the vineyard owner hires a group of workers, agreeing to pay them a denarius, the standard daily wage at the time.  A few hours later, at nine o'clock in the morning, he goes to the marketplace and hires additional workers, agreeing to pay them "whatever is right."  The vineyard owner goes out three more times that day - at noon, at three o'clock in the afternoon, and finally at five o'clock - hiring more and more workers to harvest grapes.¹

At the end of the workday, the vineyard owner sends his manager to pay the laborers he hired, instructing him to start with those he hired last.  The workers who were hired at five o'clock receive a denarius, as do all of the other workers who were hired throughout the day.  Naturally, the workers who were hired first expect to receive more, since they worked the entire day, but they too receive a denarius, the same amount paid to those who were hired last.²

As one might expect, the laborers who were hired first feel cheated.  They complain to the vineyard owner, saying, "These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat."³

The vineyard owner replies, "Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius?  Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you.  Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?  Or are you envious because I am generous?"⁴

What I'm supposed to tell you about the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard is that it teaches us that, whether a person turns to God early in life or late in life, the person will be met with God's abundant grace.  That said, I've wondered if maybe this typical interpretation is actually an over-spiritualization of this parable, and recently I've started to wonder if maybe we over-spiritualize this parable in order to make it less offensive.  A literal reading of the parable is a shock to our system, and the real-world implications of such a reading would be unthinkable to many of us.

When we encounter this parable, everything inside us screams that the laborers who worked all day should be paid a lot more than those who were hired toward the end of the day.  Someone who worked twelve hours should be paid twelve times as much as someone who worked only one hour.  It's only fair, after all.  The idea that someone who worked only one hour should be paid the same amount as someone who worked twelve hours offends our sensibilities.

Notice that, when the vineyard owner hires the first workers early in the morning, he agrees to pay them the standard daily wage but that, when he goes out later in the day to hire workers, he agrees to pay them "whatever is right."  Apparently, in the vineyard owner's eyes, the right thing to do is to pay all of his workers the standard daily wage, regardless of how long they worked for him.  He gives his workers both a living wage and also the dignity of having worked for it, even if they only worked one hour.

Jesus says that the Kingdom of Heaven is like this vineyard owner.⁵

What St. Matthew calls the "Kingdom of Heaven," other Gospel writers call the Kingdom of God.  This Kingdom is not Heaven itself but rather the place where God's will is done "on earth as it is in heaven."⁶  It is where God reigns.  It is the world as God intended it to be.

When Jesus begins His public ministry, He proclaims, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."⁷  Repentance is not merely feeling bad about the sins one has committed.  As I've noted countless times on this blog, the Greek word metanoia, which is translated into English as repentance, literally describes a change of mind.  Repentance is a change in the way one thinks that ultimately changes the way one lives.⁸  The world as we know it is not what God intended it to be, so if the Kingdom of God is indeed breaking into this world, then we need to be ready to rethink anything and everything.

Maybe we even need to rethink something as basic as the idea that a person who works twelve hours should be paid twelve times as much as someone who works only one hour.  If the Kingdom of Heaven is indeed like the vineyard owner in Jesus' parable, then maybe God wants us to care about what people need and not what they deserve.

Maybe, dear reader, when you hear Jesus call people to repent in preparation for the coming of the Kingdom of God, you are tempted think that He is talking to everyone besides you.  Surely Jesus doesn't think about things differently than you do!  After all, if your opinions were wrong, you would have changed them by now, right?

Maybe you need to let go of some of your most deeply held beliefs, including your beliefs about politics and economics.  I've heard it said that, though people commonly leave their churches over politics, they rarely ever leave their politics over the Church.  What if Jesus is not the good conservative, progressive, capitalist, or socialist you think He ought to be?  Would you still want to be part of what God is doing in the world through Him?


Notes:

1. Matthew 20:1-7
2. Matthew 20:8-10
3. Matthew 20:11-12 (NRSV)
4. Matthew 20:13-15 (NRSV)
5. Matthew 20:1
6. Matthew 6:10 (NRSV)
7. Matthew 4:17 (NRSV)
8. Wikipedia: "Metanoia (theology)"

Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard was painted by Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich in the 1750s.