As we come to the end of the liturgical year before the beginning of Advent, we continue to have readings from the book of Revelation as well as hear of the second coming of Christ in today’s gospel from Luke. Perhaps to the disappointment of some, the book of Revelation is not a prediction of when or even how the end of the world will come. It was written to bring hope to the persecuted Christians through proclaiming God’s justice and ultimate victory over evil in history. Scripture scholars tell us that the symbolic or “coded” language was used by the author of Revelation to criticize the Roman emperor and empire in a way that would not necessarily put his readers at risk of persecution or even death at that time.
I think it’s also helpful to understand the context of today’s gospel passage (Luke 21: 20-28). We hear of the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome (in AD 70), which Luke and his community are looking back on as something Jesus predicted that was fulfilled. This provides assurance to them (and to us) that so too will Jesus’ announcement of their final redemption be fulfilled.
Sometimes I find myself overwhelmed with the amount of suffering and evil in the world. From violence to poverty to injustices in all corners of the earth (the very earth that we have not taken good care of), as well as the suffering of illness and aging, death and natural disasters that seem to abound, it can be rather depressing when I take it all in. It is in this light that I do find today’s readings a comfort and a hope.
As Christians we can take great joy and hope in the promise of a new world as described in the beginning of chapter 21 of Revelation in which God will “wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain…Behold, I make all things new.”
I don’t see this as an excuse for not doing our part to decrease the suffering in the world today and to bring about God’s kingdom on earth; rather we can take hope in knowing that we are not alone and God will ultimately be victorious over evil and death. As a loving father or mother, wiping away the tears of a child, so God will wipe away every tear. The tears that we wish we could wipe away with every death, every injustice, every suffering, will be wiped away by our God. The same God that was willing to take the form of a human, being born of a woman, and living and dying on this earth. The God incarnate in Jesus whose coming we will prepare our hearts for again this Advent.
Let us pray that we will be prepared for Jesus’ second coming, whenever that may be, so that as in Luke’s passage we can “stand erect and raise (our) heads because (our) redemption is at hand.” (Luke 21: 28)
Eileen Miller