Jesus is come.
I think the semantics of that phrase is a nudge from God. Jesus is coming again on Tuesday. And Monday. And today. There is a collection of Jesus' parables in Matthew 25 about the Kingdom of God and when it will come. Jesus relates this parable:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’"
Parables are not meant to be read literally. Whenever someone is in need, our opportunity is to meet it, and to meet Jesus. I don't think the modern idea of the Rapture, which is partially based in these parables in Matthew 24-25 and mostly based on a literal reading of Revelation, is even in the ballpark of what Jesus meant would happen. Remember, he was speaking to the Jewish people of his time, who were in the mindset of waiting for the final liberation of their people. They were waiting for a Messiah: a warrior king who would free them from Roman oppression and the oppression of their own hard lives. And the Gospel writers, who were a product of this thinking, interpreted his words through their world view. I don't think this is what Jesus was saying. I think he wanted us practicing our faith now, not waiting for the end of the world. The modern idea of the Rapture is that there will be a cataclysmic tribulation, and all who are faithful will be sucked up to Heaven. There are age-old debates about if this will happen pre-tribulation or post-tribulation. How can we be so blind? How can we be so far from what's important? How can we be so far from what Jesus wanted? I am convinced he wanted us to focus on the here-and-now. I am convinced he wanted us to focus on caring for the sick and downtrodden and disadvantaged. And if everybody followed the teachings of Jesus and did this, we would be in Heaven. Heaven is as close as our next breath. Because God is as close as our next breath. Read this parable about the kingdom of heaven with this in mind:
In Matthew 24 Jesus says, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
What if Jesus is already here? What if his coming is now, and tomorrow, and yesterday. We were not prepared for him because we are not expecting him yet. He is here in the eyes of the needy. I believe that "the hour the master returns" is now. Jesus said even he didn't know the time or day. God, I believe, is above time and space but also in it. He is here now and we can meet God every day. And we can meet Jesus every day. "I will be with you always, to the very end of the age," Jesus says in Matthew 28:20.
Bill Johnson relates a story about the power of testimony and attending to the needs of others,
"One Sunday when I taught on the power of the testimony, we showed a video in our service of a little boy running around after his club feet had been healed. After seeing this video, some students from the School of Ministry were so excited that they went down to the mall the next day to pray for anyone they could find. They saw a woman walking with a leg brace and a cane, so they naturally assumed she was a target for a miracle. They began talking to her and shared the testimony about the boy whose feet had been healed. Moved by the story, she allowed them to pray for her knee, which had a tumor on it. The tumor disappeared, so she took off her brace. Then one of the young men who was praying for her said, “The fire of God is hitting your back right here,” and pointed to a particular spot. In surprise she felt the spot and found that another tumor, which she had kept to herself, had also disappeared! She walked out of the mall carrying her brace and cane on one arm, and her grandchild on the other, to whom the students heard her explain, “I don’t need these anymore.” This woman experienced the prophetic power of the testimony. Declaring the testimony created a divine moment for God to do it again! And the miracles that occur when testimonies are shared continue to multiply—not only in our community, but all over the world. There is perhaps no other revelation that I’ve seen so dramatically change how people “do church” in the places where I travel and teach than the power of the testimony because it is calling them back to their true identity and purpose in God. (Johnson, Bill. Strengthen Yourself in the Lord: How to Release the Hidden Power of God in Your Life (pp. 115-116). Destiny Image. Kindle Edition.)
Think if events like these were commonplace. Think if all people were released from their chains and went out and did this sort of thing? And did even the less supernatural things that Christians do: soup kitchens, mission trips to build houses for the poor and digging wells in third world countries, help for the poor and aged. If everyone did this and every time they did, can you deny that we would be living in Heaven? These things are real. They do happen. Aren't these students of the School of Ministry living in the Kingdom? They have been taken and the others left in the field. They were at the grinding-stone, and the others left. But the "good news" (Gospel) is that the kingdom is here and anyone can get in on it. We all have to just break out of ourselves and turn our attention to the needs of others and follow Jesus' example. The more we quit waiting for the end times and focus on the here and now, the quicker Heaven will come. My old Vineyard church had this belief that the Kingdom of Heaven was already here - and not yet. But sometimes I wanted to shake the leaders and say it is only not yet, because we have chosen not to live in it. The radio is on and God has a talk show.. But we're tuned into the wrong station. We're watching news-tainment and seeing the end of the world all around us. Can we prepare ourselves by shutting off the talking heads and getting into scripture? There we will find the true purpose of Jesus. Practical and loving, he came to save us from ourselves. He came to save the Jewish people from their oppressive Pharisees and Sadducees, the "keepers of the law," who had engineered over the ages an exclusionary system to separate people from God. This is not the Jewish religion of today: the Jewish religion of Jesus' time was a political-religious system of sin and sacrifice to appease an angry God. This was so misguided. And aren't we misguided by the same sort of exclusionary thinking? We categorize people as "Sheep" or "goats" (people going to heaven and people not going to heaven) because some believe Jesus was born of a virgin and others do not. This is not the sort of thinking I think Jesus would appreciate. And he is coming back now. I think the Rapture is happening every day. The people in the process of being saved from themselves are reaching out in love to a hurting world. And the more everyone does this, the closer the Kingdom of God comes. We just have to listen for it.
Again Bill Johnson talks about listening to God's station - the testimonies of others. "listening. When we listen, we allow what we are hearing to gain our attention and focus, which in turn influences our beliefs and values. These beliefs and values set a standard for our ears that ultimately determines the voices that we pick up in our environment." (Johnson, Bill. Strengthen Yourself in the Lord: How to Release the Hidden Power of God in Your Life (p. 122). Destiny Image. Kindle Edition.")
Let's listen for God in the here and now. And go out and do his will. Then share our testimonies of healing (both physical and mental healing), provision for us and others, and loving acts done to us and others. It will strengthen other's faith as well as our own. And we and them will be prepared to put our hands to the plow everyday, carrying God with us all the time, in the Kingdom of Heaven - in the arms of Jesus - today.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’"
Parables are not meant to be read literally. Whenever someone is in need, our opportunity is to meet it, and to meet Jesus. I don't think the modern idea of the Rapture, which is partially based in these parables in Matthew 24-25 and mostly based on a literal reading of Revelation, is even in the ballpark of what Jesus meant would happen. Remember, he was speaking to the Jewish people of his time, who were in the mindset of waiting for the final liberation of their people. They were waiting for a Messiah: a warrior king who would free them from Roman oppression and the oppression of their own hard lives. And the Gospel writers, who were a product of this thinking, interpreted his words through their world view. I don't think this is what Jesus was saying. I think he wanted us practicing our faith now, not waiting for the end of the world. The modern idea of the Rapture is that there will be a cataclysmic tribulation, and all who are faithful will be sucked up to Heaven. There are age-old debates about if this will happen pre-tribulation or post-tribulation. How can we be so blind? How can we be so far from what's important? How can we be so far from what Jesus wanted? I am convinced he wanted us to focus on the here-and-now. I am convinced he wanted us to focus on caring for the sick and downtrodden and disadvantaged. And if everybody followed the teachings of Jesus and did this, we would be in Heaven. Heaven is as close as our next breath. Because God is as close as our next breath. Read this parable about the kingdom of heaven with this in mind:
In Matthew 24 Jesus says, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
What if Jesus is already here? What if his coming is now, and tomorrow, and yesterday. We were not prepared for him because we are not expecting him yet. He is here in the eyes of the needy. I believe that "the hour the master returns" is now. Jesus said even he didn't know the time or day. God, I believe, is above time and space but also in it. He is here now and we can meet God every day. And we can meet Jesus every day. "I will be with you always, to the very end of the age," Jesus says in Matthew 28:20.
Bill Johnson relates a story about the power of testimony and attending to the needs of others,
"One Sunday when I taught on the power of the testimony, we showed a video in our service of a little boy running around after his club feet had been healed. After seeing this video, some students from the School of Ministry were so excited that they went down to the mall the next day to pray for anyone they could find. They saw a woman walking with a leg brace and a cane, so they naturally assumed she was a target for a miracle. They began talking to her and shared the testimony about the boy whose feet had been healed. Moved by the story, she allowed them to pray for her knee, which had a tumor on it. The tumor disappeared, so she took off her brace. Then one of the young men who was praying for her said, “The fire of God is hitting your back right here,” and pointed to a particular spot. In surprise she felt the spot and found that another tumor, which she had kept to herself, had also disappeared! She walked out of the mall carrying her brace and cane on one arm, and her grandchild on the other, to whom the students heard her explain, “I don’t need these anymore.” This woman experienced the prophetic power of the testimony. Declaring the testimony created a divine moment for God to do it again! And the miracles that occur when testimonies are shared continue to multiply—not only in our community, but all over the world. There is perhaps no other revelation that I’ve seen so dramatically change how people “do church” in the places where I travel and teach than the power of the testimony because it is calling them back to their true identity and purpose in God. (Johnson, Bill. Strengthen Yourself in the Lord: How to Release the Hidden Power of God in Your Life (pp. 115-116). Destiny Image. Kindle Edition.)
Think if events like these were commonplace. Think if all people were released from their chains and went out and did this sort of thing? And did even the less supernatural things that Christians do: soup kitchens, mission trips to build houses for the poor and digging wells in third world countries, help for the poor and aged. If everyone did this and every time they did, can you deny that we would be living in Heaven? These things are real. They do happen. Aren't these students of the School of Ministry living in the Kingdom? They have been taken and the others left in the field. They were at the grinding-stone, and the others left. But the "good news" (Gospel) is that the kingdom is here and anyone can get in on it. We all have to just break out of ourselves and turn our attention to the needs of others and follow Jesus' example. The more we quit waiting for the end times and focus on the here and now, the quicker Heaven will come. My old Vineyard church had this belief that the Kingdom of Heaven was already here - and not yet. But sometimes I wanted to shake the leaders and say it is only not yet, because we have chosen not to live in it. The radio is on and God has a talk show.. But we're tuned into the wrong station. We're watching news-tainment and seeing the end of the world all around us. Can we prepare ourselves by shutting off the talking heads and getting into scripture? There we will find the true purpose of Jesus. Practical and loving, he came to save us from ourselves. He came to save the Jewish people from their oppressive Pharisees and Sadducees, the "keepers of the law," who had engineered over the ages an exclusionary system to separate people from God. This is not the Jewish religion of today: the Jewish religion of Jesus' time was a political-religious system of sin and sacrifice to appease an angry God. This was so misguided. And aren't we misguided by the same sort of exclusionary thinking? We categorize people as "Sheep" or "goats" (people going to heaven and people not going to heaven) because some believe Jesus was born of a virgin and others do not. This is not the sort of thinking I think Jesus would appreciate. And he is coming back now. I think the Rapture is happening every day. The people in the process of being saved from themselves are reaching out in love to a hurting world. And the more everyone does this, the closer the Kingdom of God comes. We just have to listen for it.
Again Bill Johnson talks about listening to God's station - the testimonies of others. "listening. When we listen, we allow what we are hearing to gain our attention and focus, which in turn influences our beliefs and values. These beliefs and values set a standard for our ears that ultimately determines the voices that we pick up in our environment." (Johnson, Bill. Strengthen Yourself in the Lord: How to Release the Hidden Power of God in Your Life (p. 122). Destiny Image. Kindle Edition.")
Let's listen for God in the here and now. And go out and do his will. Then share our testimonies of healing (both physical and mental healing), provision for us and others, and loving acts done to us and others. It will strengthen other's faith as well as our own. And we and them will be prepared to put our hands to the plow everyday, carrying God with us all the time, in the Kingdom of Heaven - in the arms of Jesus - today.
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