Rev. Michael Piazza in Liberating Word says about Luke 21:20-36 “So what do good liberals do with these passages about the second coming? Personally, I like to ignore them if I can. I managed to do that in our journey through Matthew and Mark. Luke is the most educated and sophisticated of the synoptic gospels, and that almost makes you hope that he will ignore these teachings, too, but he does not. In fact, it is what makes up the last set of teachings by Jesus before his arrest. Luke doesn’t shorten or soften this teaching either. In fact, though he follows Mark’s outline pretty fastidiously, the changes Luke does make are interesting and not what we’d hope to see. For example, Luke omits Mark’s statement that the Lord will cut short the days of suffering and inserts again a warning about false prophets who deny the coming apocalypse. In the ways Luke frames these signs as precursors to the coming of the Human One, he is imitating the First Testament oracles. When the world falls apart, Luke says “Stand up, raise up your head, for your redemption is drawing near.” He also warns against letting our lives get so entangled with worry and fear that this day of redemption takes us by surprise. Frankly, having studied passages like this and the book of Revelation, I find myself struggling for a cogent explanation. What I do not believe is the kind of second coming apocalyptic theology that sold millions of copies in the “Left Behind” series. Trying to make these verses predictive of future historical events is crazy and crazy-making. The religion that results is alien to the person and personality of Jesus. However, if we understand that all apocalyptic literature is by definition symbolic, and begin to think about our own apocalypses, then we can hear a work of promise. Into every life comes times that are overwhelmingly destructive when it seems everything is falling apart. To those times, Jesus says, “Don’t let your fear and anxiety blind you to the possibilities that even in times like this God will send you a redeemer.” If that is not what the “Second Coming” means, then I’m not sure I want to know what it does. “
Rev. Michael Piazza in Liberating Word says about Luke 21:20-36 “So what do good liberals do with these passages about the second coming? Personally, I like to ignore them if I can. I managed to do that in our journey through Matthew and Mark. Luke is the most educated and sophisticated of the synoptic gospels, and that almost makes you hope that he will ignore these teachings, too, but he does not. In fact, it is what makes up the last set of teachings by Jesus before his arrest.
ReplyDeleteLuke doesn’t shorten or soften this teaching either. In fact, though he follows Mark’s outline pretty fastidiously, the changes Luke does make are interesting and not what we’d hope to see. For example, Luke omits Mark’s statement that the Lord will cut short the days of suffering and inserts again a warning about false prophets who deny the coming apocalypse.
In the ways Luke frames these signs as precursors to the coming of the Human One, he is imitating the First Testament oracles. When the world falls apart, Luke says “Stand up, raise up your head, for your redemption is drawing near.” He also warns against letting our lives get so entangled with worry and fear that this day of redemption takes us by surprise.
Frankly, having studied passages like this and the book of Revelation, I find myself struggling for a cogent explanation. What I do not believe is the kind of second coming apocalyptic theology that sold millions of copies in the “Left Behind” series. Trying to make these verses predictive of future historical events is crazy and crazy-making. The religion that results is alien to the person and personality of Jesus.
However, if we understand that all apocalyptic literature is by definition symbolic, and begin to think about our own apocalypses, then we can hear a work of promise. Into every life comes times that are overwhelmingly destructive when it seems everything is falling apart. To those times, Jesus says, “Don’t let your fear and anxiety blind you to the possibilities that even in times like this God will send you a redeemer.” If that is not what the “Second Coming” means, then I’m not sure I want to know what it does. “