Every high school student has had the delight of displaying the magnetic fields by spreading some iron filings on a piece of white paper and gently agitating them over a magnet. In like manner, the First and Second Advents of Jesus are the poles between which Christians live, between which they are agitated for good. Or to change the metaphor, the Advents of Jesus act like the corner strainer posts by which the farmer aligns every intervening post. The Cross and the Coming are the alignment points for the Christian.

One of the tragic misunderstandings of both those who advocate and those who oppose an affirmation of the last things ("eschatology") is the view that an emphasis on a future hope encourages an indifference to present social issues. Like the melancholy songs of the dwarfs in Tolkien’s The Hobbit, many believe that the last things do "not much affect the daily business."1 Of course, the truth is the opposite. To claim that one hopes for God’s kingdom of righteousness, for a sinless world, a world where God himself takes away the cause for tears, for a new world and new heavens, a world where love and goodness reign, and then to show no concern for justice or care for others is to be guilty of the most serious sin in the New Testament—hypocrisy.

Those who pray for God’s kingdom to come will live in the present according to that realm’s values. Those who hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness to prevail will have a profound concern for justice now. Those who long for the day when sin (that which maims others and disfigures the self) is no more, will live ethically now. Is this not the message of the parables of Jesus that surround the Olivet Discourse with its Second Advent theme (Matt. 24 and parallels)?

The Lord returns when people are occupied with the normal affairs of life. They are eating, drinking, falling in love, being married (Matt. 24:38). It is within such ordinary activities that his people will be found living the grace of the gospel when he returns. Those who serve out of fear, soon revert to their true character once the crisis is passed. This is Jesus’ point in the parable of "the Wicked Servant" (Matt. 24:45–51). Such a person was moved simply by the nearness of the Coming and knew nothing of the Cross. The servant reformed only so long as the imminent return (seen as a dread and not as a hope) was believed. Once the urgency ended, so did the moral renewal. Thus, he who supposes that the Return is overly delayed, but who has no commitment to the Cross, is likely to neglect ethical concerns.

On the other hand, an excessive belief in the nearness of the Advent may leave one inadequately prepared for a longer haul. The five bridal friends who neglected to take account of a possible delay ran out of oil and their lights went out (Matt: 25:1–13). The foolish maidens, like the foolish servant, focused simply on the time of the Return; they were not committed to its long-term principles. They isolated the hope of the Coming from the fact of the Cross. The foolish servant was relieved by the delay; the foolish maidens were surprised by it. In both cases, they were not stimulated by the Advent polarities and their deeds were either not sustained or were lacking.

Generally, the New Testament attaches a moral exhortation whenever it mentions the Second Advent. This is not some kind of scare tactic. It is simply stating that those who have committed themselves to the Crucified Christ and live with the hope of his return will act in ways consistent with those two events. This point is reinforced by the parables of the talents (that is, "investment funds") and the sheep and the goats (Matt. 25:14–30, 32–46). Having accepted the Cross, and while awaiting the Coming, how should the Christian live in the meantime? By trading with the Lord’s gospel investment, by doing the deeds of the kingdom, by letting the grace of the gospel shine, that’s how.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau could not see how Christians could be good citizens of this world if they were primarily concerned about the next. But the truth, as C. S. Lewis noted, is that those Christians who are the most conscious of another world make the biggest contributions to this one.2

In Matthew 24, Jesus answers the disciples’ questions concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the Return (vv. 2–3). The destruction is nigh, within a generation (v. 34). The signs of that are evident (v. 33). Will the Return coincide with the fall of Jerusalem?3 Jesus did not know (v. 36). The important thing was not when but whenever. That is, whenever he comes his followers should be found living appropriately in the time between the Cross and the Coming (vv. 3, 42, 44).

Notes and References

1. J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit (London: HarperCollins, 1978/1995), 173.
2. Quoted in Philip Yancey, What’s So Amazing about Grace (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1997), 269.
3. Notice the ambiguity in v. 33. The text could mean either "He is near," that is, the Coming, or "it is near," that is, the destruction of Jerusalem.

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE