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| PREPARING FOR THE END |
| Obsessed with Jesus' second coming. |
| Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you. 5:1 |
| You see them occasionally on the street corners of modern cities: strange, bearded men with hand-lettered wooden signs draped over their bodies. "Jesus is coming again!" they proclaim. "Prepare to meet thy doom!" Similar messages are scrawled on rocks or on highway overpasses. Archaeologists have yet to unearth Thessalonican graffiti, but this letter makes clear that 19 centuries ago people were already awaiting Jesus' promised return to earth. In fact, they were worried. What about people who died before Jesus returned? they wondered. Would they somehow miss out on life after death? Paul gives a direct and encouraging answer. A Mixture of Fear and Hope The Thessalonians had good reason to concern themselves with the future: they lived in constant danger of persecution by the authorities. On any night a knock on the door or the scrape of footsteps outside could mean imprisonment or death. Understandably, the young church looked to Jesus' second coming with longing and hope. Paul assured them that hope in the future was well-founded, whether or not they lived to see Jesus' return. But he warned against an undue fixation on the future. He urged the Thessalonians to get back to work, indicating that some enthusiasts had quit their jobs to prepare for Jesus' return. Lead a quiet life and mind your own business, Paul advised (4:11). Waiting for Jesus' Return The Thessalonians were merely the first in a long line of Christians obsessed with future events. Whole generations since have been caught up in frenzied speculations on the exact time and place of the second coming, only to watch |