Together on the Journey:
A Weekly Blog
Happy New Year, everyone! This Sunday marks Advent 1, the first day of the church year. And nothing says happy new year like a story about the second coming of Jesus, am I right?
As we prepare for the first coming of Jesus at Christmas, the gospel reading for this Sunday, Matthew 24:36-44, takes us right to the second coming. Jesus urges us to stay awake, because we do not know on what day the Lord will come. Here is the full reading:
‘But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’
Texts like this one have long been used as threats, tools to make us fall in line with whoever is in charge. But this is an entirely unfair interpretation of this text and others like it.
So this week, I invite you to watch this excellent video by one of my professors from seminary. In it, she reviews where this idea of the rapture comes from and what this Matthew text, and others like it, are actually saying. Maybe after watching it, this concept of the second coming won’t seem as scary.
– Jess