A Reflection for Thursday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Find today’s readings here.
For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. (Lk 17:25)
Christianity is an end-times faith. We believe that the world will end, and the Gospels even instruct us to look for it. This may feel a bit awkward, as though we’re all fellow travelers with the crazy guy on the corner holding his “End is Near” sign. It’s also unsettling to note that Jesus spoke quite regularly about the end times, as though this were a matter of considerable urgency, but two millennia later we’re still here. What should we make of this?
Today’s Gospel reading offers a bit of helpful perspective. In this passage, the Pharisees are asking Jesus when his “Kingdom of Heaven” will finally come. Most likely it is a mocking question. They want to present Jesus as a kook or a charlatan. In response, he tells them three things.
First, stop looking for razzle-dazzle signs of God’s presence, because “the Kingdom of God is among you.” It’s happening now, people. Jesus’ conversation with the Pharisees is full of irony: standing face to face with God Incarnate, they could only complain that they were unimpressed with what they’d seen so far. We of course recognize that they were right in the thick of one of history’s most transformative moments, and Jesus did in fact work many miracles in public, but there’s no satisfying a determined skeptic. Don’t be like that. Grace is continually at work in the world, and we don’t need to see the full picture to help build the kingdom of God from wherever we are.
Second, Jesus predicts that many people in the future will be anxious to seethe end of days. He doesn’t explain the reasons, but we can see them in the world around us. When people are desperate and fearful, unable to see around the next bend, they are often inclined to give up. One way of doing that is by confidently predicting that we are at the end of days.
Though their postures are quite different, the mocking Pharisee and the “End is Nigh” man on the corner have one important thing in common. Neither wants to put his hand to the plow. Both prefer to let God plan the party, without bothering asking if they should bring anything. They are passive, but not in a teachable way. And Jesus’ warning is clear. Don’t trust those people.
That leads him to his third point. The end will come. It might happen tomorrow or in ten thousand years, but when it happens, there will be no need to surf the web trying to sift the fake news from the real. You’ll know. Everyone will know.
Jesus’ instructions do help clarify what Christians are meant to do about the end of days, but the picture they paint is still unsettling and strange. It may prompt further questions. Why did Jesus talk so much about the end times, when they were at least two millennia away? Wasn’t this a recipe for misunderstanding? These are deep and mysterious matters, but I sometimes wonder whether the answer, or part of it, can be seen in the Alleluia. “I am the vine, you are the branches, says the Lord: whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.”
An end-times mentality can be fruitful. We’re supposed to pitch our tents here on the doorstep of eternity, fixing our eyes on a further horizon, but keeping our hands busy wherever we happen to be. We are meant to be impatient for the Lord’s return, but also willing to keep soldiering on for as long as God wills it. The “now” and “not yet” of Christianity gives us hope while discouraging complacency. Jesus could come at any time, so we should be ready. Then again, stay hydrated, because it might be awhile.
Either way, stay close to Jesus, and you will bear much fruit.
