Trinity 22
Our readings at the end of the Church Year turn our attention to Jesus and His return on the Last Day. The return of Jesus is part and parcel of the Christian message; we confess it each week in the creed: from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead and He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead. Of course, Jesus’ return on the Last Day in judgment, has that great hope and promise for the Christian of the resurrection of the body and spending all eternity—soul and glorified body—in the glories of heaven.
The thing is, this is not some pie-in-the-sky type thinking; this is not just some pious wish that may or may not happen. It is something that should be front and center of our thoughts and influence us in our lives as to what is important and what isn’t. We dare never lose sight of it and dare never relegate it to some back corner of our mind. May we always greet each day with “Are you the one?” That is, are you the day the Jesus will return again? That will set the right focus for our life that day. St. Paul writes elsewhere [Ph. 3.20]: For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body. In other words, the blessed hope of heaven shapes our life into the right form.
The fact that it seems like, from our perspective, that Jesus is delaying His return—after all it’s been almost 2000 years now—that should make us all the more vigilant in longing for and looking for His return and living our lives in that sure and certain hope. Right before today’s Gospel, leading into it, Jesus says [24.45 ff.]: Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes will find him [faithful] Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And then Jesus begins the parable that is today’s Gospel: The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom… Remember that general rule we met before when it comes to these parables—that the kingdom of heaven refers to the Church, the outward, visible Church. So what is Jesus saying in this parable? –There will be some in the outward visible Church who are ready for Jesus when He returns again and there will be some who will not be ready for Jesus when He returns. This parable is a real call for each of us to examine our own heart and life: Am I ready for Jesus’ return? In this parable, we see that the foolish virgins are the lazy Christians who are satisfied that they have come to the knowledge of the truth but then become neglectful and forgetful about the word and so let their faith die out. Other things become more important than the word and faith; and so Jesus, His word, faithfulness to the word and sacrament get pushed to the back burner and soon faith slowly, perhaps imperceptibly, dies out.
The wise virgins are those Christians who are faithful and want to see to it that their faith endures to the end and so they are faithfully in church receiving our Lord’s gifts in word and sacrament; they read and ponder God’s holy word throughout the week; they regularly spend time in prayer; they exercise their faith in fighting sin and striving to do good works.
This doctrine of the Last Day and Jesus’ return in Judgment serves a very practical purpose as it reminds us to set our lives/ live our lives with the right priorities and perspectives—to see there are eternal consequences for all we believe and do. It is a reminder and call to live lives of repentance and faith. So, yes, most definitely—the doctrine of Jesus’ return helps set our lives in proper order.
Jesus’ return on the Last Day is a theme throughout St. Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians, especially in today’s epistle. Although the thought of Jesus’ return and the Judgment is a call to repent and to set/ keep our house in order, Jesus’ return on the Last Day as Judge of the living and the dead is also a tremendous encouragement to us.
It is a tremendous encouragement to us because on that Day Jesus will return in power and glory. St. Paul writes: For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. Look at that language! There is no doubt about it—Jesus will return. Jesus’ return will be the opposite of His ascension—just as Jesus went up, so will He return: visibly for all to see, and bodily, as Jesus is still both true God and true man. The angels said when Jesus ascended into heaven [Ac 1.11]: This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven. There is no doubt about it—Jesus will return visibly and bodily. And shortly after today’s Gospel, Jesus says of Himself [25.31]: When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on His throne of glory... Not only will all people see Jesus physically coming but His coming will be in glory and power. There will be no missing it.
What great comfort and encouragement this gives us! When we see all sorts of sin and evil triumphing in the world; when we begin to have doubts—is God really there; will there not be any stopping sin, evil, corruption? Answer: Yes! Jesus is returning! When we think everything is pointless, that there is no rhyme or reason, that there is nothing but chaos—we remember Jesus is returning! There is a plan, purpose. Things are not random chaos. Although we may not be able to understand all the how’s and why’s, God does and the times and events are in His hand. And at the right time, Jesus is returning and all will be set right! Sin, death, injustice do not have the final word. Jesus, the true God, does!
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. Look at that scene—Jesus returns as Victor: He comes from heaven with a cry of command, that is just like a commander commanding his troops going out to destroy the enemy—so, too, does Jesus come on the Last Day to destroy the final enemy—death, as He will undo death and raise all the dead. Jesus comes with the voice of an archangel, as He summons the great host of heavenly angels who will come with Him for the judgment. And as He comes with the sound of the trumpet of God, there we see His great majesty and with that majestic note He signals that fundamental change that He is bringing with His return.
The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. So what will happen when Jesus returns in power and great glory? --St. Paul continues: And the dead in Christ will rise first. Remember: Jesus is returning as Victor! He died. He endured and suffered death/ the worst that death could throw at Him and He rose from the dead as its conqueror. Our text: We believe that Jesus died and rose again. And now He comes and undoes all that death has done as He raises all the dead. Had Jesus been defeated by death, that would mean that He could not return on the Last Day—and certainly not as Victor. But He does return on the Last Day.
Because Jesus defeated death with His death and resurrection, death only has to wait for its complete undoing when Jesus comes on the Last Day to raise all the dead. And especially for the Christian is this a day of great joy and triumph. We know that our death will be undone; we know that the death of our dear fellow Christians will be undone. It will be the time that our Lord brings all His dear Christians into heaven—soul and glorified body. The Last Day, the day of Jesus’ return in glory, is our greatest comfort—especially as we mourn the death of our fellow Christians. Our text: But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. Just think if this life were all that there is! How dreadful and pointless it all would be. And then death ends it all—and that’s it! That is a cause for grieving! But what? Jesus—the crucified and risen One—returns with power and great glory so that St. Paul can call those Christians who have died, those who are asleep. This is not a euphemism to describe death, but for the Christian, in light of the Jesus’ resurrection and return on the Last Day, death really has become just a sleep; just like when you are asleep the body is unaware of what’s going on but then awakes to its abilities and senses. Calling death a “sleep” is a reminder and points forward to the resurrection of the body on the Last Day.
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. Jesus truly died. He bore the full horror of death as on the cross He endured the agonies of hell as He was forsaken by the Father. But what did He do? He rose again. And notice what St. Paul says here: through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. Notice: we are united with Jesus; His death and our death are one sleep/ death and one resurrection. That is what our baptism does. It unites us with Jesus and His death and resurrection. Because we are united with Jesus through baptism, we can be certain that we and our fellow Christians will be raised to new life in heaven on the Last Day. Jesus tells us [Jn 14.19]: Because I live, you will live also. Jesus’ return is a great comfort and encouragement to us.
The problem with the Thessalonian Christians is that they worried about their fellow Christians who died. They thought that their fellow Christians who died would miss their place in the events of our Lord’s coming, so St. Paul comforts them: For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. Instead, what will happen on the Last Day when Jesus returns: And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. St. Paul gives the comforting account of the events of the Last Day. When Jesus comes in power and great glory, the dead will be raised first. Think of that scene: the ground will agitate, dust will shift and mingle, bodies will be rising everywhere. The dead will rise first; and then will be the ascension of the believers who are still alive. The bodies of the Christians will be changed—they will be the same bodies but made perfect and holy and glorified and fit for an eternity in heaven. For those who have died, their souls which have been in heaven since death will be reunited with their glorified body. What a glorious picture of the Church—all Christians both those still alive and those resurrected, together will meet the Lord in the air at His coming in power and glory and be brought with Him into the glorious eternity of heaven: and so we will always be with the Lord. To be with our Lord, beholding Him in His majesty and holiness, seeing Him who is pure love, our God and Savior—that’s what God created us for; there we find our perfect happiness and what we as human beings truly long for; there all emptiness we feel will be gone; there we rest in the Lord. That’s why we live our lives now with our attention focused on heaven; we live now for heaven. This is why Jesus’ return on the Last Day in power and glory is such an encouragement to us now. INJ Amen.