A British scholar recently interviewed 1,000 young women between the ages of 13 and 20. [i] She summarizes the result of those surveys with one word. Do you know what that word is? What one word describes young women in the U. S. and the U.K? It’s the word “anxious.”
The scholar, Noreena Hertz, says that this generation of young women has grown up with social media, recession and global conflict. They have followed the exploits of Edward Snowden, watched parents lose jobs, and seen the violence of Isis. And, as a result, she concludes, “This generation is profoundly anxious.”
Hertz dubs them “Generation Katniss.” She named the group after the “Hunger Games” heroine Katniss Everdeen, who grows up in a trouble-filled world in the series Hunger Games. Generation Katniss is profoundly anxious.
- 75% say they worry about terrorism.
- 66% are concerned about climate change.
- 70% fear accumulating debt.
- 85% reported anxiety about finding a job.
And what they’re really wrestling with is this question: How is this all going to end? That’s the question in the minds not only of Generation Katniss, but also in the minds of many of us. We’re not just concerned about how our lives will turn out. We’re also concerned about how this whole world will turn out. Because from the perspective of Generation Katniss and many of us, it doesn’t seem to be headed toward a “Happily Ever After.”
That question is the focus of something called “Eschatology.” In this series, we are exploring the Bible’s answers to six of the big questions of life:
1. Who is God? Theology
2. Who is Jesus? Christology
3. Who is the Holy Spirit? Pneumatology
4. What is the church? Ecclesiology
5. Who are we? Anthropology
6. What will happen at the end times? Eschatology.
Today we take up eschatology – how is this all going to end? And, as I’ve been doing, I’ll point us to John’s words in Rev. 1:
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Rev. 1:4-8 ESV)
Let’s focus on v. 7:
“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.” (Rev. 1:7 ESV)
This is how John talks about the end. This is John’s way of summarizing how this story ends.
He’s using language he learned from Jesus:
- Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Matt. 26:64 ESV)
- And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” (Mk. 14:62)
This is the language of eschatology. Jesus and John are talking about how all of this will end. As John sought to find words to succinctly summarize how all of this is going to end, he was drawn to the words of Jesus.
But John’s not only using language from Jesus. As is often the case in Revelation, John’s also using language from the Old Testament. Specifically, he’s quoting a text from a prophet named Zechariah:
8 On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord, going before them. 9 And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
1“On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.
(Zech. 12:8-10; 13:1 ESV)
John says that this language captures how things are going to end. As he sought a way to summarize the end of this story, he thought these lines from Zechariah were perfect.
And, in general, John’s simply saying that this will end with Jesus coming in the clouds. Clouds are not something we tend to like. When the weatherman gives the extended forecast, what we don’t want to see are clouds. We want to see sun. Clouds bring rain. Clouds bring severe weather.
But in the Bible, clouds are good. Clouds are a signal that God is present and active. Clouds symbolize the divine presence and divine blessing. Here are some examples from the Bible:
• The LORD guides his people in the wilderness with a cloud (Ex. 13:21).
• A cloud on Mt. Sinai signals that God is now here (Ex. 24:16).
• God’s presence fills the tabernacle with a cloud (Ex. 40:38).
• The temple is dedicated when God’s cloud fills it (1 Kings 8:10).
• God speaks from the cloud at the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:5).
• Jesus ascends to heaven in a cloud (Acts 1:9).
Clouds are a signal that God is present and active.
Thus, John is saying that the way this all ends is with Jesus coming in the clouds. Signaling his presence. Signaling that he’s on the move.
And there’s one thing about the clouds: they are visible to almost everyone. Clouds are high in the sky. And generally, what’s high in the sky is visible to many.
On a few occasions our family has been able to vacation on the beach in Florida. I remember watching airplanes high in the sky towing banners. The banners advertised businesses. Why did those businesses advertise that way? Because if you want to be seen by as many people as possible, you put something high in the sky.
That’s what Jesus is doing. By coming on the clouds, at the end of this story, he’s becoming visible to as many as possible. That’s why John says that when Jesus does this at the end, he will suddenly be seen by every eye, by all tribes of the earth.
And by coming in the clouds this way, Jesus does two things at the end. First, by coming in the clouds Jesus ends this story turning faith to fact. [PP By coming in the clouds Jesus ends this story turning faith to fact.] John wrote the Gospel of John. And John ends his Gospel with a story of a doubter named Thomas. Like many of us Thomas wanted to believe. Like many of us he struggled to believe. It was hard for Thomas to have faith. In fact, at one time, he struggled even to believe in one of the core beliefs of Christianity—the resurrection. In the end, Thomas only comes to believe when he sees the risen Jesus with the holes from the crucifixion still in Jesus’ hands and side. And Jesus responds to Thomas in this way: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (Jn. 20:29 ESV). Most of us are not like Thomas. We don’t get the opportunity to see and then believe. We have to believe without seeing. But the way this story ends is with all of us, the entire world, finally seeing. By coming in the clouds, Jesus will be visible to every human alive. And when he becomes visible to every human alive, faith suddenly becomes fact. What a few of us have accepted by faith all will now have to accept as fact.
Today, many in our culture assume there are two kinds of beliefs. There are beliefs that are facts. These are publicly known. These are indisputable. These are based on visible criteria.
“I believe ice cream is cold.”
“I believe I weigh 170.”
“I believe every action has an equal and opposite reaction.”
These are facts. Indisputable.
But then there is faith. And many in our culture say that nothing related to faith can be considered a fact. Faith is not publicly accepted. These are considered to be personal preferences. To say “I believe Jesus is the Son of God” is the same as saying “I believe chocolate ice cream is best.” It’s a preference.
Because of this, many in our society want to dismiss spiritual beliefs. They are just faith, not fact. They aren’t something that can be seen and verified. Therefore they don’t have to be accepted.
But the way this story ends is with faith becoming fact. Suddenly, Jesus is no longer just a personal preference. No longer just our opinion. He’s public fact. He becomes visible. To every eye. To every person. In every continent. Because at the very end of this story, Jesus comes on the clouds.
Maybe that gave John’s readers some comfort. Especially when things are tough, it’s hard keep believing in a Jesus you can’t see in the face of challenges you can see. And maybe John wants them, and us, to understand that eventually, we’ll all get what Thomas got. We’ll get to see. To touch. To feel. Everything we’ve accepted by faith will become fact. We’ve believed without seeing. But in the end we’ll see in ways that validate and affirm what we’ve believed. Because Jesus will come on the clouds.
I’m reading a book by Rachel Held Evans entitled Searching for Sunday. In one section, she writes about how she struggled with doubt. It was hard for her to believe. She writes this:
“On Sunday mornings, my doubt came to church like a third member of the family, toddling along behind me with clenched fists and disheveled hair, throwing wild tantrums… Rachel Held Evans Searching for Sunday
I wonder if that describes you. You come to church with doubt toddling behind you like an unruly child. And it’s something you rarely even name. It’s something you are afraid we’ll shame you for. But I wonder if John didn’t realize there’d be a lot of us just like Thomas. A lot of us who, at some point, would need to see in order to fully believe. So John tells us that this story will end with just that—Jesus coming on the clouds in a way that turns faith to fact. You will not have to struggle with doubts forever. In the end, all doubts will be erased when he comes on the clouds.
But there’s a second consequence of the fact that Jesus comes on the clouds. By coming in the clouds Jesus ends this story turning rebellion to repentance.
It’s easy to misread v. 7 and the text from which it comes in Zechariah. It’s easy to read this and imagine the following scenario for the end of the story: Jesus appears in the clouds. He’s angry. There is smoke and thunder. Bolts of lightning come out of his hands. And Jesus begins to zap people left and right. And as the world begins to realize that judgment has finally fallen upon them, they weep and wail.
But that’s not the picture John paints. That’s not the picture painted by Zechariah. Let’s return to this text in Zechariah that informs v. 7:
8 On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord, going before them. 9 And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
1“On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.
(Zech. 12:8-10; 13:1 ESV)
Let’s follow the sequence in this text:
- First, God pours out on his grace and mercy. Even though they have pierced God (wounded him by their rebellion), God responds with grace and mercy. God pours this out on them.
- The result is that when these formerly rebellious people see the God whom they’ve pierced, and see how he responds with grace and mercy, they mourn. Now, the mourning here is not the mourning of one who is being punished. It’s the grief of one who is being loved, though he deserves to be punished. Sometimes we can be so moved by the way another person loves us though they should hate us, that it causes us to weep. You can be loved so deeply it causes you to cry.
- This, in turn, leads to a fountain of cleansing. A fountain of forgiveness. A fountain of healing and redemption.
That’s what Zechariah describes. And that’s what John quotes when he wants to tell us how this story ends. John even takes it further. In Zechariah it’s only the people of God who see the one they’ve pierced and who weep and who are cleansed. John changes that to “every eye” and “all the tribes.” All tribes will see Jesus coming on the clouds. And, presumably, all tribes may thus experience grace and mercy when he comes.
This is, in fact, how John pictures “the tribes” later in Revelation. He shows that “the tribes” have indeed gone from rebellion to repentance and have received grace and mercy:
- 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God (Rev. 5:9 ESV).
- 9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev. 7:9-10 ESV)
At the end of our story, John pictures people from every tribe ransomed by Jesus and standing in heaven worshipping God. Those are the same tribes in Rev. 1 who see Jesus on the clouds and who are so moved by what they see that they mourn.
So, if we believe Zechariah’s context and the rest of Revelation, this return of Jesus on the clouds leads at least some of the tribes to believe. Some who have been rebellious are led to repentance by the sight of Jesus coming on the clouds. And what they end up receiving from this one in the clouds is not hatred but love; not judgment but grace; not meanness but mercy.
To be clear, Jesus does indicate that when he returns at the end of this story, there will be a judgment. “Sheep and goats,” Jesus puts it. But there’s something that happens before that. As Jesus appears in the clouds and faith becomes fact and people from every tribe realize that in Jesus God’s response to our rebellion is not revenge but redemption, not us on a cross but Jesus on a cross, they will be moved in their hearts. So moved they will mourn. Mourn the way that a person who should be hated but is loved mourns. That mourning will lead to repentance. And as a result, they will become part of that great multitude in heaven crying out with a loud voice “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Can you see that hopeful picture? Even to the very end, God holds out for the world. Even to the very end, God gives the world one more chance to see and to believe. God pours out grace and mercy and forgiveness all the way to the very end. Just hoping that when people see Jesus in the clouds, and realize the love he represents, they’ll fall to their knees and fall in love with him.
And what a hopeful picture that is! For those of us who doubt. For those of us who love those who doubt. For those of us who rebel. For those of us who love those who rebel. Like Thomas, we’ll have one brief opportunity to touch. To feel. To see. And then, to believe. And so will every tribe on earth.
So, here’s what I want you to do this week: Every time you see a cloud this week, consider one thing you can think of related to how this story ends. Clouds remain a visible symbol of how all of this is going to end. Knowing that, let each cloud you see this week prompt some faith-building, faith-affirming thought in your mind. Take some time today to consider a word or phrase you’ll think of each time you see a cloud this week. Here are some possibilities:
Jesus is present.
Jesus is active.
Faith will become fact.
I won’t doubt forever.
The world’s got one more shot.
Consider one thing you can think this week each time you see a cloud.
[i] [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/04/27/were-beginning-to-learn-what-the-generation-katniss-really-cares-about/?tid=sm_tw]
