This second-coming of Christ isn\u2019t something new. In fact, Christ Himself proclaimed it during His earthly life. But where many have gotten the words of Jesus wrong is when He will return. There have been countless second-coming prophecies of Jesus\u2019 return, so-called raptures where Christ will gather all His believers and leave the non-believers behind. All these share one thing in common \u2013 they got Jesus\u2019 return date wrong! They all must have failed to read this part of Mark\u2019s letter: \u201cBut concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s been 2000 years since Christ first appeared in such lowly estate to lowly parents. As Christ grew in His stature as the God-man, He proclaimed many things about His death and His resurrection, but He didn\u2019t stop there. He also proclaimed that He would come again, though He never put a date or time on it; see His words previously. Our focus is on Christ\u2019s return and not so much when, though it is.<\/p>\n \u201c[Jesus said:] \u201cIn those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.\u201d\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Now when you hear that, it doesn\u2019t sound like Judgment Day that we \u201cknow,\u201d that is, the fictional judgment day. The end of the world represents dramatic action and a cataclysmic battle between good and evil that simply must be seen to be believed. It\u2019s been popularized into a series of books and movies, albeit fictional. It is scary for the non-believer, as it should be. But for the believer, Judgment Day and the end of the world are the fulfillment of the promises of God centered in Jesus, the joyful end when we finally fall into the arms of a waiting Savior who won the victory of sin, death, and the devil.<\/p>\n We know the focus on today, the Last Sunday of the Church Year; it\u2019s the same focus as it is every day \u2013 be ready for Christ\u2019s return. How do we prepare for Christ\u2019s return? Jesus tells us as much: the short answer is \u201cStay awake.\u201d<\/em><\/span>Be alert. Know that Jesus is returning and live in His forgiveness and grace. Know that the cross was about making us ready to stand before Jesus. Know that God draws close to keep our hearts ready for that great and awesome day that is coming. Know that God has more at stake in us being ready for the end of time than we have. He sacrificed His one and only Son on the Cross to make us ready!<\/p>\n Jesus wants us to be alert, on guard, to keep watching for Him to come at any time. This is underscored with the illustration of a man who leaves home and places his servants in charge while he\u2019s away. Jesus is the \u201cman,\u201d the Church is the \u201chouse\u201d and we believers are the \u201cservants.\u201d The first point Jesus makes with this picture is that we in the Church are to \u201cbe on guard,\u201d as He says, for His return is any moment. Those in the first century believed Jesus would return during their lifetime, thus they lived in that hope and expectation, waiting and watching and longing for His return.<\/p>\n The message for us is the same today in twenty-first century as it was in the first. You don\u2019t know when Christ will return, so always keep ready. Jesus tells us to be ready because one day He will return. This time He will not be the humble Savior who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, only to be killed on a cross. He came then to be our Savior, to give up His life on the Cross. When Jesus returns next, He will come to judge. He will come to destroy the present world and to establish the eternal Kingdom where all believers are to live for eternity. You have a place in that Kingdom as God washes you clean through the forgiveness that Jesus won on the cross.<\/p>\n As this Church Year ends and we look to the coming of a new Church Year, we watch expectantly. We keep watch because we do not know when Jesus will come back. Regardless of His return, we do not want Him to find us sleeping. We stay awake and watch vigilantly by coming to church so we hear the Word of God and receive the gifts which He has given to us in His sacraments.<\/p>\n The Day of the Lord is coming. The signs are all around us. We\u2019re living in the last days. It won\u2019t be easy for you as a believer. But don\u2019t be afraid. Christ will soon come again in righteous judgment to take you and all believers in Him to be with Him at His side. Until then, He\u2019s at your side. His coming may be sudden, but its certainty calls us to a life of joyful expectation. Be assured by His coming! Live as believers who long for the day of His appearing. Pray that day will be here sooner rather than later, the day when there will be no more headaches and heartaches, fears and tears, troubles or trials, strife and sorrow, just God\u2019s grace in fullest measure, eternal life. The Lord\u2019s desire for you is that His return would not be a day of terror for you, but triumph in Him.<\/p>\n The One who is coming has come so that we might live. The Babe of Bethlehem became the Good Friday Savior and the Easter hope for the whole world. As Christians, we live in Him now by faith, and on that Last Day we will be with Him forever in His kingdom! That\u2019s good news for us and for all who believe. With faith in Christ, there is forgiveness for all of our sins. There is hope when things seem hopeless. There is life after death. There is eternity. With Jesus, we are more than conquerors. That\u2019s why Jesus lived, died, and rose for you.<\/p>\n It is not important to know the date of the Last Day.\u00a0In fact, Jesus says that we can’t know that time. It is not important to know anything about the details of our eternal existence.\u00a0The important thing is the trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins that makes us constantly ready for the day when He will show Himself and raise the dead.\u00a0Jesus urges us to be awake and on guard so that we will receive Him in joy \u2013 the joy that anticipates life forever with Him and the Father and the Holy Spirit.\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Text: Mark 13:24-37 Today on this Last Sunday of the Church Year, we are reminded that Judgment Day is approaching, when we will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. The Bible makes clear that Jesus Christ is coming again to gather His elect from the four winds, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[234192,26096,9016],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-year","category-pentecost","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3569"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3572,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3569\/revisions\/3572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}