Envisioning the End of Time
by Fr. David M. Knight
Friday, November 29, 2024
Rv 20:1-4, 11—21:2/Lk 21:29-33 (507) (Lectionary 507)
The verses after Luke 21:29-33 (tomorrow’s reading) give the practical application:
Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth.
Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.
Today’s passage is saying we should not make the mistake of assuming that the “day of the Lord” is so remote we need not think about it. Jesus says, “When you see these things happening, know that the reign of God is near.” By “these things” he doesn’t mean just the signs that precede the fall of Jerusalem and the end of the world. They include anything that warns us that “Here we have no lasting city.” We live always in the simultaneous expectation of death and glory: “We are looking for the city that is to come.” That will be the “day of the Lord.” It is always imminent.
If we know “the heavens and the earth will pass away,” and this “present generation” will pass away, it makes sense to look for something that has permanence. Jesus says, “My words will not pass away.” His promises stand, no matter what changes take place in our world. So, we need to focus on them.
Revelation 20:1 to 21:2 gives us something to focus on. When the “end time” comes, God will dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s. As a preliminary, God’s angel will master the “dragon.” The devil is free to tempt us only as long as God allows him. The martyrs and all who have been faithful to Christ will rise and “reign” with him. All the dead will be “judged according to each one’s conduct.” There will be nothing un-addressed, no loose ends. All the injustices that seemed to have impunity on earth will no longer be ignored. All things will be brought into balance and order. All lies, “spin” and cover-ups will be laid bare. Truth will prevail. Then there will be “a new heaven and a new earth.”
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
This vision of the “end time” is given to us. Very few have it. Even fewer think about it. That explains much. Our job, as stewards of the kingship of Christ, is to make it the inspiring, empowering goal of everything we do.
Initiative: Be the lookout. From the height of faith, see and say what is to come.
Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry
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