Tribulations are always imminent

By John Pearring

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112820.cfm
Revelation 22:1-7
Luke 21:34-36

The end times approach us once again. As always it should, actually. Our current national and global state of affairs seem more stressful than other years. Yet, the end times approaches at the same steady still unknown pace. Our view of impending doom remains a recurring, almost annual assessment of this struggling world.

Luke helps us grasp Jesus’ view of the properly enduring angst that Christians find both remarkable and distasteful to ponder. Jesus predicted a horrible and unimagined destruction of Jerusalem; and with that the dispersion of both Messianic and Orthodox Jews — those who believed Jesus was the Messiah, and those who did not. His advice? Be vigilant. Look to God and pray. Be strong. He's coming back. 

Luke is appropriate for us in this chaotic time. Our time mirrors that of Luke.

Jesus ascended into heaven somewhere between 31-33 AD. Luke’s gospel was written about 30 years later. Jerusalem had not yet been destroyed, and the discussion about “end times” in Luke’s gospel more directly referred to Jesus’ warning that Jerusalem and the Temple would be utterly demolished. God was with the new-foundling Christian community in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and yet the community was frightened. They awaited Jesus’ return, but trouble brewed. They waited with both fear and expectation.

Our bothersome condition of waiting is actually no different from the gospel writer’s time. We, too, suffer from the conflict that, “God is with us” and, “God will soon be with us.” Luke provides us with a way to look at Jesus’ sense of the present Kingdom, already here, and his impending return. He does so with an emphasis upon vigilance in the face of present angst, followed by his personal assurance.

“When you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.”
(Luke 21:31)

Consider that before Jesus’ incarnation the Hebrew people suffered from a very similar conundrum. “God is with us,” was evidenced in the Temple where God spoke to the priests on behalf of the Chosen People of Israel. And, the nation of Israel waited in expectation for the Messiah, “Who will soon be with us.” 

A whole lot changed when Jesus showed up, conquered death, and left for the Holy Spirit to be the indwelling of God. Our future isn’t really any different. We too are filled with expectation while watching the world crumble and rebuild around us. 

We should not be embarrassed to speak in the same sentence of the Kingdom as here already (the Holy Spirit nurturing the Church) while we wait for Jesus’ expected return (the Parousia). It’s a most appropriate recognition of how the end of this age and every moment before that should be viewed. 

The Holy Spirit is here, working out the plan of the Father within the constraints of sin’s awful presence. Jesus is coming at a time we do not know. Even Jesus does not know. Yeah, weird, but an important thing to remember. We only know how much time has gone by — not how much time until Jesus takes up his kingship in person.

The pattern of God is familiar. When he built the universe, God waited before finally creating the human being as the apex of creation. After many years of sinful abandonment, God waited for the remnant of Noah’s family to start the process all over again. Following further dismay, God waited upon Abraham, and he waited upon Moses. He then waited upon the proper time to arrive as an incarnated Son of both God and Man to join his land-borne, law-bound, Covenant-promised Chosen People. 

So, here we are again. God waits upon the end of this age and the beginning of yet another new age where Jesus rules the world.

We know that the Father doesn’t really wait. He operates outside of time and space. We’re the ones who wait. He sees all time as one. Not a subject to cover in a short reflection, certainly. This notion of us waiting and God being God does help explain our conflict, however. God is really here. And, he's really coming back. Time does not control him. It's the other way around.

Luke sets up today’s verses from 34-36 in Chapter 21 back in verses 20-33. Jesus tells them of Jerusalem’s destruction. 

“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its desolation is at hand. Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. Let those within the city escape from it, and let those in the countryside not enter the city, for these days are the time of punishment when all the scriptures are fulfilled.”
(Luke 21:20-22)

Jesus said the ruin of Jerusalem would take place during the generation of people who lived in Jesus’ time. A generation of people isn’t every single person. It includes, though, those born and living during Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension. 

“Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.”
(Luke 21:32)

By the year 72 when Jerusalem fell many of those who heard Jesus say those words watched the scene finally unfold in all of its agonizing obliteration. Some argue that the reference by Jesus portends an as yet future, the final end times, not just the ruination of Jerusalem. That’s fine. Not here to argue that. Since we’re talking here about the Lucan urgency for each person to beware of complacency, though, I’m visiting the scriptures from a localized point of view. Jesus spoke certainly of the destruction of Jerusalem in these same terms. That was the tribulation for that time.

Being afraid of our individual end times — a mix of God with us and God yet coming — is never the whole story. The challenges we face to “both” remain living in the world and to see God here with us, that is the whole story. We’re not just afraid. We’re also expectant. 

What did Jesus say to Peter later in Luke, Chapter 22?

“Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.” 
(Luke 22:31-33)

See that phrase? “… and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.” That’s not accidental, or a thrown off phrase. This is about us and our assured failings in life. “… and once you have turned back …” Jesus knows what we will go through, but we will come back to him.

Peter then says to Jesus,“Lord, I am prepared to go to prison and to die with you.” Jesus knows this is not true, and he chastises Peter for not listening to him. He does not “condemn” Peter. He awakens him. He also does this with us.

“Be vigilant at all times
and pray that you have the strength
to escape the tribulations that are imminent
and to stand before the Son of Man.”
(Luke 21:36)

Tribulations are always imminent. That’s my reading, anyway. Pray for strength to escape them. Be vigilant. Why? To be able to stand before the Son of Man.

Peter didn’t pull that off, but even as a sniveling loser God picked him up and he stood before us all — a giant of our faith. I’m not gonna predict what happens to me. We’re each very different. God, however, picking me up and straightening me out is a thankful thing to rely upon.