On Distress….And the Son of Man Coming
Luke 21:25-28
21:25 "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. 26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
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There have been times in my life when I’ve had the privilege and joy of seeing the glory of the Lord displayed along the sea. I’ve especially enjoyed times when I’ve been at the beach, looking up at splendid skies with billowy white clouds, glimmering with the pink-orange hues of the setting sun. The breathtaking beauty of such times reminds me of the Lord’s Second Coming, as I raise my head and see the heavens declare the glory of the Lord.
So, I’m struck by the contrast in this Gospel reading. Clearly, Jesus doesn’t seem to have a lovely beach setting in mind when He tells His disciples about His Second Coming. The backdrop in this Gospel reading is not a stunning view at the water’s edge, when the heavens seem to abound with the glory of the Lord, causing one’s soul to soar.
Far from an artist’s aesthetic impression of the Second Coming, look at the disturbing words that Jesus uses to set up the scene: distress, confused, faint, fear, foreboding, shaken. Not a pretty picture! And, yet that’s precisely when Jesus will come, He says, breaking into the bleakness with His glorious, unmistakable presence.
“Then,” He says, “Then” they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”
There is something (perhaps everything) about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and its perfect truth that is contrary to the wisdom of the world; utter foolishness, in fact, as Paul writes in his letter to the Corinithians. “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the widsom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’” (I Corinthians 1:18-19)
In verses 25 and 26 of Gospel reading in Luke, Jesus describes the kind of circumstances in which people will see Him come “in a cloud with power and great glory.” Speaking to His disciples before His death, the Lord tells them to look for Him when things look that bad. Perhaps in their more immediate circumstances, Jesus was trying to give His disciples a way of seeing His death on the cross as the power of God at work.
And, perhaps, in this time shortly before He was going to die, the fully human Jesus, in the company of His disciples, was reminding Himself that the horrible death He was about to die was the “now” when God, His Father, was in complete control of His life and His destiny as redeemer of the world. Luke’s Gospel has an especially detailed account of Jesus’own agony at Gethsemene (22:39-46). Luke tells us that Jesus was in anguish and that “He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling on the ground.” (22:44) So we know that Jesus experirenced distress and foreboding about what was to happen to Him on that first Good Friday. Even so He trusted God with His life.
What Good News this is to those of us who have put our hope in Jesus Christ, our Lord! As the writer of Hebrews tells us, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknessses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)
Jesus knows. And Jesus cares. And Jesus has the power to redeem. Jesus is not indifferent to our fears and foreboding. Jesus is not dismissive of our distress and confusion. In fact, it is in those very circumstances that we disciples must, as the Lord instructs us, “stand up and raise our heads” and look for the One who is our hope and our redemption.
With Jesus as our High Priest we can, therefore, along with the writer of Hebrews, “approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)
The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is not escapist or fake. It never pretends that things are not the way that they are. In verses 25 and 26 in this Scripture, Jesus acknowledges that there will be distress and confusion and fear and foreboding. I can’t imagine that anyone goes through life without experiencing this in some degree. But, for Jesus that is a mere backdrop to the spotlight which focuses on…Him; His presence, His glory, His power, and His redemption. Here’s where I draw my hope, here’s where I believe every one who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ can draw sure hope (He is speaking to His disciples): Let the believer dwell on verses 27 and 28, where Jesus leaves the disciples with words like “power and great glory” and “redemption” while assuring them of His return.
Now, those who call Jesus Lord, know our redemption isn’t just “near,” it’s here. The “now” of redemption has already happened in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is up to us to receive it by coming to the Lord in faith.
Some day, all the world will see Jesus come again, this time in power and great glory. But, in the mean time, He remains the believer’s firm hope in the midst of distress and confusion and fear and foreboding. When your world is shaken, I urge you to “raise your heads” and look to Him, above the chaos all around you. Jesus Christ is not waiting for our souls to soar in order to reach Him who is unreachable. On the contrary, the Lord comes to us in our deepest distress, in our fears and forebodings.
When we need Him most…He is especially there.
You will see Him come in the midst of your distress with power and great glory. And if He says your redemption is near, it must be so, for Jesus can be no other way but true to His word.
Jesus can be no other way but faithful.
If you don’t know that already, take a chance on Him. You will find Him to be faithful and true. Some day all the world will see Him. But, in the mean time, through the eyes of faith, we who know Him can see Him…now. And, in the words of a meaningful old hymn, He will “sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.”
Let me leave you with the hopeful words of the Psalmist who is waiting for divine redemption and urged his nation to do so (Psalm 130:7,8):
“O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with Him is great power to redeem.
It is He who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.”
Thanks be to God!
21:25 "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. 26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
---------------
There have been times in my life when I’ve had the privilege and joy of seeing the glory of the Lord displayed along the sea. I’ve especially enjoyed times when I’ve been at the beach, looking up at splendid skies with billowy white clouds, glimmering with the pink-orange hues of the setting sun. The breathtaking beauty of such times reminds me of the Lord’s Second Coming, as I raise my head and see the heavens declare the glory of the Lord.
So, I’m struck by the contrast in this Gospel reading. Clearly, Jesus doesn’t seem to have a lovely beach setting in mind when He tells His disciples about His Second Coming. The backdrop in this Gospel reading is not a stunning view at the water’s edge, when the heavens seem to abound with the glory of the Lord, causing one’s soul to soar.
Far from an artist’s aesthetic impression of the Second Coming, look at the disturbing words that Jesus uses to set up the scene: distress, confused, faint, fear, foreboding, shaken. Not a pretty picture! And, yet that’s precisely when Jesus will come, He says, breaking into the bleakness with His glorious, unmistakable presence.
“Then,” He says, “Then” they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”
There is something (perhaps everything) about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and its perfect truth that is contrary to the wisdom of the world; utter foolishness, in fact, as Paul writes in his letter to the Corinithians. “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the widsom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’” (I Corinthians 1:18-19)
In verses 25 and 26 of Gospel reading in Luke, Jesus describes the kind of circumstances in which people will see Him come “in a cloud with power and great glory.” Speaking to His disciples before His death, the Lord tells them to look for Him when things look that bad. Perhaps in their more immediate circumstances, Jesus was trying to give His disciples a way of seeing His death on the cross as the power of God at work.
And, perhaps, in this time shortly before He was going to die, the fully human Jesus, in the company of His disciples, was reminding Himself that the horrible death He was about to die was the “now” when God, His Father, was in complete control of His life and His destiny as redeemer of the world. Luke’s Gospel has an especially detailed account of Jesus’own agony at Gethsemene (22:39-46). Luke tells us that Jesus was in anguish and that “He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling on the ground.” (22:44) So we know that Jesus experirenced distress and foreboding about what was to happen to Him on that first Good Friday. Even so He trusted God with His life.
What Good News this is to those of us who have put our hope in Jesus Christ, our Lord! As the writer of Hebrews tells us, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknessses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)
Jesus knows. And Jesus cares. And Jesus has the power to redeem. Jesus is not indifferent to our fears and foreboding. Jesus is not dismissive of our distress and confusion. In fact, it is in those very circumstances that we disciples must, as the Lord instructs us, “stand up and raise our heads” and look for the One who is our hope and our redemption.
With Jesus as our High Priest we can, therefore, along with the writer of Hebrews, “approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)
The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is not escapist or fake. It never pretends that things are not the way that they are. In verses 25 and 26 in this Scripture, Jesus acknowledges that there will be distress and confusion and fear and foreboding. I can’t imagine that anyone goes through life without experiencing this in some degree. But, for Jesus that is a mere backdrop to the spotlight which focuses on…Him; His presence, His glory, His power, and His redemption. Here’s where I draw my hope, here’s where I believe every one who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ can draw sure hope (He is speaking to His disciples): Let the believer dwell on verses 27 and 28, where Jesus leaves the disciples with words like “power and great glory” and “redemption” while assuring them of His return.
Now, those who call Jesus Lord, know our redemption isn’t just “near,” it’s here. The “now” of redemption has already happened in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is up to us to receive it by coming to the Lord in faith.
Some day, all the world will see Jesus come again, this time in power and great glory. But, in the mean time, He remains the believer’s firm hope in the midst of distress and confusion and fear and foreboding. When your world is shaken, I urge you to “raise your heads” and look to Him, above the chaos all around you. Jesus Christ is not waiting for our souls to soar in order to reach Him who is unreachable. On the contrary, the Lord comes to us in our deepest distress, in our fears and forebodings.
When we need Him most…He is especially there.
You will see Him come in the midst of your distress with power and great glory. And if He says your redemption is near, it must be so, for Jesus can be no other way but true to His word.
Jesus can be no other way but faithful.
If you don’t know that already, take a chance on Him. You will find Him to be faithful and true. Some day all the world will see Him. But, in the mean time, through the eyes of faith, we who know Him can see Him…now. And, in the words of a meaningful old hymn, He will “sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.”
Let me leave you with the hopeful words of the Psalmist who is waiting for divine redemption and urged his nation to do so (Psalm 130:7,8):
“O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with Him is great power to redeem.
It is He who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.”
Thanks be to God!
posted by Ruth at 4:01 AM
1 Comments:
You really should blog more often!
I know you wrote this last year, but it has been what I needed to hear today. Thank you.
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