Clouds of Glory

 

"Then everyone will see the Son of Man arrive on the clouds with great power and glory.  And he will send forth his angels to gather together his chosen ones from all over the world - from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven. " Mark 13:26-27 (NLT).

 

Literally verse 26 begins, "And then"  Jesus is now transitioning to a quick mention of his second coming.  His words carry the meaning of "And then" later on "everyone will see the Son of Man arrive on the clouds."

 

But even his disciples misunderstood this.  They knew that all the signs of catastrophe that Jesus was giving them were associated with the siege of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple.  But because Jesus mentions his second coming at the end of his prediction regarding the city, many early Christians thought Jesus would return not long after Temple was destroyed.

 

So strong was this belief that early Christians literally believed Jesus would come back before they died.  Peter, writing between 64-66 a.d. just a few years before Jerusalem’s destruction, saw some of the events of his time as pointing to the fact that he was living in the last days (See 2 Peter 3:3).  The expectation was so great that Peter felt compelled to write, "The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think.  No, he is being patient for your sake.  He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent." 2 Peter 3:9 (NLT).  Peter clearly believed that Jesus could come back before he died, but he also knew that God might tarry, giving people a chance to turn from sin and find salvation.

 

Twenty years after Jerusalem fell, John wrote, "Dear children, the last hour is here.  You have heard that the antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared.  From this we know that the end of the world has come." 1 John 2:18 (NLT).  Literally the phrase "the end of the world" is "the last hour."  In John's mind, the last hour had arrived.  Now it is possible he meant the last hour of his life, or the last hour of some local situation.  But it is more likely, I believe, that John felt that Jesus would come back very soon.  After all, Jerusalem had fallen and he had no doubt been patiently waiting ever since.

 

Do you eagerly wait for Jesus to return?  Do you rise each day from bed thinking "Today might be the day"?  Is there an earnest expectation in your heart of Jesus coming on the clouds with power and great glory?  Do you long to see him face to face?  Or is the second coming just a nice theological concept for you?

 

For some people Jesus' second coming is their only hope.  The apostles wrote about it continually because they lived in a world of persecution and pain.  Many of them were being harassed, imprisoned, tortured and killed just for being a Christian.  For them, eagerly hoping and watching for the second coming of Jesus was how they made it through the day.

 

Perhaps we are too economically fat and comfortable in America to need Jesus' second coming?  Or perhaps we are too busy and preoccupied with our own pursuits to think much about it?  But true followers of Christ should long for his return.

 

Sometimes I look around me at all the sin and moral filth and degradation that exist in our world and I long for a world wherein righteousness dwells.  I groan within myself because of the pain and struggle of so many that I encounter due to the presence of sin among us.  A yearning deep within me begins to rise to the top as I ponder and increasingly desire to live in a place where people love instead of use each other; give instead of take; laugh instead of cry; enjoy instead of hurt; rest instead of toil; know calm instead of chaos and life instead of death.

 

I don't want to die and I don't want anyone I love to die.  The thought of losing my father or mother or sisters or brothers is depressing.  The thought of losing my wife is unbearable.  The thought of losing one of my children is unthinkable.  I hate death.  I hate coffins and graves and urns.  I hate to see the tears or feel the pain or endure the unimaginable loss and loneliness that death brings to survivors.

 

I long for my Master to return.  Then death will be no more.  Pain will be gone.  Loss will stop.  Sin will cease.  Worry will end.  Anxiety will die.  Burdens will lift.  Darkness will depart.  Joy will return.  Peace will reign.  Happiness will come.  Love will prevail.  Hate will lose.  Satan will die.  Life will erupt!  Jesus will rule!

 

He will appear in the clouds with power and great glory!  No one can stop him!  No one can fight him and win.  No one can come against him and prevail!  The sky will split with the voice of the archangel and the deafening blast of the trumpet announcing the King!  Every eye will look up and see Jesus coming on clouds of glory with all his angels.  What a sight that will be!

 

He will find his children no matter where they are.  In the work place or at home; in the forest or ocean; in cars or planes; at land or sea; in dungeons or torture chambers; in chains or caskets or graves or prisons; in bed or awake - he will gather them.  It does not matter if they have been hidden or lost or in the farthest dark cracks or crevices of the world - he will find them and gather them home.  Nor does it matter if they are dead or alive - he will find them.  Even if their bodies have disintegrated Jesus will know them and put them back together to rise with him in the air!  In China, in Sudan, in Saudi Arabia, in Pakistan and India and Africa and Mexico and Canada and Israel and America and in every country on earth - from jungle to city - he will find them, and he will gather them home.  From the four corners of the earth he will whisk them off to heaven even as he opens the graves of all who have died to meet him in the air!

 

Hallelujah to our returning King!  May his praise rise in our hearts, erupt from our lips, and burst from our mouths!  He is returning in clouds of glory!  It could be today.

 

As John wrote, "Amen!  Come, Lord Jesus!"