The Nazareth Page- A gospel meditation for your home

December 1, 2024 – First Sunday of Advent - Luke 21:25-36

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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As we begin a new year in the church, we are immediately met with a gospel about the “end of the world,” an interesting twist to encourage us to look at time a bit differently.

Most of us have been introduced to images of what it will be like at the end. Or when it will happen. I learned about this future “event” in Catholic grade school. As I recall learning about it, my fear level immediately increased. It sounded very scary.

Many churches believe that this event will include the return of Jesus – a second coming. Often this future event might involve a massive separation of the good people from the bad ones – of those already dead and those soon to die -the so-called Last Judgment. This would possibly be accompanied by spectacular cosmic, often destructive events. Some Christians believe that the end is immanent. Until it isn’t.

Many accounts or descriptions of “the end” were common in the time of Jesus. We find them in Jewish scriptures that were composed in the two centuries before the arrival of Jesus. And after he ascended into heaven, a whole book of the New Testament, attributed the John the evangelist, called The Revellation, was entered into the New Testament.

How are we to read about these matters today? Are we living in “the end times?” Here’s what many biblical scholars suggest. First, all these accounts of an end can remind us that all things on earth will eventually end. All humans will die. Everything on Earth is temporary.

Then after our deaths, it is widely believed that we will all face some kind of judgment by God relating to how they lived our lives on Earth. Whatever exactly comes next is mostly unknown. I hope that I will be in heaven with God, and with many others. Especially with those close to me while I lived on earth. Like members of my family and good friends I encountered along the way. We call this kind of thinking, hopeful. We have no complete listing of who might already be there. But we can imagine with lively hope.

We also need to believe that God knows all things created and is completely honest and fair, fully compassionate and forgiving toward all of us. With this conviction, we can endure and enjoy each day right now, trusting that our personal futures will be wonderful. This can help us positively begin this new year.    

David M. Thomas, PhD