Many people, even non-Christians, appreciate Jesus the teacher, Jesus the healer, Jesus the provider, even Jesus the Saviour. But Jesus the end-time prophet is another matter altogether. Jesus who heals, feeds, teaches beautiful Kingdom of God principles and who redeems by his death on the cross is attractive to many. But when he speaks about what is going to happen generally in the world, and specifically to his followers, it can be shocking.
Read More prophecy, prophet, persecutionIn his masterpiece work on the history of Jerusalem, Simon Montefiore describes the destruction of Herod’s Temple in AD 70 in gruesome detail. He says this about the arrival of the Romans, under Emperor Vespasian’s son Titus, at the Holy of Holies: “Titus, unable to stop the fire and surely relieved at the prospect of final victory, proceeded through the burning Temple until he came to the Holy of Holies.
Read More worship, truth, sacrificesOver the past two millennia, followers of Jesus have discussed, debated, and deconstructed the words of Jesus in Matthew 24, trying to get a handle on the logistics and timeline of his second coming. Self-proclaimed prophets and false Messiahs have led many astray, claiming to have figured out what was going to happen and when. Well-meaning Bible scholars and theologians have made clear their take on these matters.
Read More hope, Jesus’ returnThere are people who don’t like to be surprised. They tend to be low on the intuitive scale – they prefer logic to feelings. Before they make a decision they like to have all the facts and figures so they can make a wise decision.
Followers of Jesus who are like this tend to be the ones who spend hours and hours poring over the pages of the Bible, trying to make sense of what it says about the return of Jesus Christ
Read More second comingThe proverb “when the cat’s away, the mice will play” is not a Biblical proverb, but it is still true. The point is that human nature being what it is, when there is no fear of getting caught, people tend to take advantage of the situation for their own pleasure and gain.
Jesus understood this principle, and speaks to it in a parable he tells about being prepared for his return.
Read More second coming, servantJesus loved to teach using parables, heavenly stories with earthly meaning. They drove home the kingdom principle he had been making as he was teaching his disciples.
Smack in the middle of his lessons on his return, he tells a parable. It is the story of a groom who arrives at midnight to collect a house full of young women. The point being that he arrived at midnight. It was dark
Read More salvation, parables, second comingSuccessful business people understand the importance of measuring their return on investment. Before investing time, finances and other resources in any endeavour, they work out a business plan that will predict how much profit there should be in the project. Romans12 tells us that God has placed within the body of Christ those who are gifted administrators. In the midst of teaching about his return and the establishment of his kingdom, Jesus tells a parable that every Holy Spirit gifted administrator would understand.
Read More salvation, service, investmentFollowers of Jesus ought to be obvious to everybody. Somewhere in recent years Christians have come to be known for the things we are against rather than what we are for. It is true that we are called to be salt and light and the principles of the kingdom of God will often put Christians in opposition to the principles that move the world. But we are also called to be the loving hands and feet of Jesus.
Read More compassion, salvation, faithOne thing about Jesus, nobody has ever ignored him. Even in our day, it seems, everybody has an opinion about him. Some think he’s a fine example, others that he is great prophet, others a great figure of history. Yet others only know his name, which they use to curse the people and events that bother them.
Then there’s another group, in which, I pray, you count yourself.
Read More Messiah, humilityOn the night that Jesus was betrayed, he sat down with his disciples and ate with them. The event has come to be called the Last Supper and at the end of the meal, he did something that Christians have come to almost take for granted. With just a couple of exceptions, every Christian denomination celebrates this event in some manner or another on a regular basis.
Like a family meal, this supper gave Jesus one last opportunity to sit down with his disciples and have them share something special together.
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