I Shall Return
Mark 13:24-31
In March of 1942, just months into the war in the South Pacific, the
news
from the
forces are
putting intense pressure on these heavily populated and
strategic
islands. On orders of President
Roosevelt, General
Douglas MacArthur evacuates his Philippine
command post and
flees for
safety to
That sounds vaguely familiar...
While their world is collapsing around them, Jesus has been warning
the disciples
that the situation is only going to get worse
-He tells them to expect wars,
earthquakes, famines, persecution,
betrayal,
and the destruction of the Jewish Temple in
--if the disciples have been
holding out hope that Jesus is going to
bring
universal peace, well, that hope has just been crushed by,
of
all people, the One they thought would be their Savior
-Jesus then finishes His series of warnings by commanding them, in
Mark
ahead of time.
Now, I don’t care how much you love Jesus, when you hear or read
those words, your first response is, “That’s it? Uh, Jesus, no, You
have not told us everything in advance! You’re surely not going to
leave us hanging like this. You can’t just tell us the bad news and
then basically say, ‘OK, well, good luck with that. ‘Hope the whole
end-of-the-world thing works out for you.’”
But you know what? That’s precisely what Jesus appears to do...and
He ends up sounding like General MacArthur. “I’d like to stay and
help, but this whole war thing is getting too dangerous. It’s just too
bad you don’t have an escape boat like I do. Oh, and hey, good luck
fighting the Japanese! I’m sure you can fend off their army, navy,
and air force. Keep your machetes nice and sharp.”
It’s amazing, though, how powerful words can be...
On
ended his
remarks with these simple, but memorable words, “I came
out of
To the people of the
receiving
end of a vicious onslaught of Japanese bombing raids, the
General’s words galvanized their
resolve and restored in them an
unimaginable hope during the long, dark days still to come.
It is amazing, isn’t it, how powerful words can be...
After Jesus stunned them with His foreboding prophecy, He lets them
know that no matter how terrible the future may be, He is still in
control...and He, and He alone, will prove to be the ultimate Savior
Read Mark 13:24-27
Jesus is able to trump MacArthur’s promise à I came
out of the
tomb, I will ascend
into heaven, and I shall return.
-the certainty of the return of Christ is taught throughout Scripture
--listen to just a few examples
*After Jesus ascended into heaven, the Bible tells us in Acts 1:10 à
They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when
suddenly two men
dressed in white stood beside them. “Men
of
This same Jesus, who has been taken from you
into heaven, will
come back in the
same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
*Revelation 1:7 à Look,
He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who
pierced Him...
Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Read John 14:1-3
When Jesus returns, it won’t be a private, secretive event
-in fact, it will be more than public, it will be universal...and no one
will wonder if it really is the Second Coming of Christ, it will be
unmistakable...there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind He is Lord
We don’t know all that we’d probably like to know about His return,
but Jesus has told us everything we need to know
-in Mark 13:23, He told us we need to be
“on our guard”
On
patrol
in the
-Stark was equipped
with radar to detect those missiles in the air
-the ship's EWO (electronic warfare operator) had the responsibility
to
monitor the sophisticated warning systems
--if a missile were launched against it, 2
alarms would be triggered
---an audible warning and a visual symbol
on radar screen
-despite this technology, the missiles slammed into the side of the
Stark just above waterline, tearing 10' hole in her side and killing
37
--to learn what went wrong, House Armed Services Committee
launched an official investigation
---they discovered several contributing factors, but the most
glaring was the EWO...who testified that he had turned off
the audible alarm because it was blaring so frequently he
was distracted from his other duties
--investigators concluded that with the audible alarm off, the EWO
never noticed the visual signals on the radar screen
-warnings, especially if we hear them often, can seem like irritating
interruptions, but
we put lives at risk if we silence them
--Hebrews 2:3 asks the question à
How shall we escape if we
ignore so
great a salvation?
---the
answer, of course, is that we won’t...we can’t
We also know God doesn’t intend for us to sit silently while
others die
-we could repeat the EWO’s error...we could get distracted and miss
the
warning...and we would admit to dereliction of duty
-but imagine the EWO knowing about the missiles but then not
doing
anything with the information
--what if he
thought, “I’m safe. The missiles can’t
penetrate the
armor of the ship’s command center and that’s all that
matters.”?
--what if he
thought, “I have no responsibility to my fellow sailors.
It’s every man
and woman for themselves. Is it my fault if
they’re not
prepared for a missile attack?”?
---now that’s
more than a mistake...that’s a gross, almost
unforgivable attitude—“I’m saved...that’s all that matters.”
Not surprisingly, the Bible addresses that very problem in
one of my
least favorite passages à Read Ezekiel 33:2a-6
A 2005 New York Times
article titled, “How to Get Out Alive” focuses
on what researchers have
learned from the attacks on the World
One lesson was that, in spite of a previous attack on the
towers, and
various efforts to
make evacuation effective, less than half the
survivors knew there
were three stairwells in the building, and less
than half had ever
entered a stairwell. One investigator
said, “I found
the lack of
preparedness shocking.”
One woman, Elia Zedeno, who was on the 73rd floor of Tower One,
“heard a booming
explosion and felt the building literally lurch to the
south, as if it might
topple.” The article stated: You might
expect that
her next instinct was
to flee. But she had the opposite
reaction.
“What I really wanted
was for someone to scream back, ‘Everything
is okay! Don’t worry. It’s in your head.’” Fortunately, at least one of
Zedeno’s
colleagues responded differently. “[Someone]...was...
screaming, ‘Get out
of the building!’” Almost four years
later, she still
thinks about that
command and she asks herself, “What would I have
done if the person
had said nothing?”
The answer to that question is more than disturbing
-we know what she likely
would have done...and we know exactly
what would have
happened to her
So we sit here on this beautiful morning on our padded pews,
in our
air-conditioned
sanctuary
-and we think,
“Sure, the
and sure,
vacation this
week—I don’t have time to deal with any of this “end-
of-the-world”
stuff right now...it can wait...after all, I’m sure we have
plenty of time...and
I sure don’t want to be some fanatic and carry
around a sign that
reads, “The End is Near”
--and almost
unconsciously we drift away from a sense of true
urgency...and
one day we find ourselves snuggled up all safe
and warm...all
comfortable in our complacency...lulled to sleep
by our own
false hope in humanity’s basic goodness
That’s a major part of our problem
-we’ve somehow, somewhere bought
into the idea that the evolution
of technology and humanity will
ultimately be able to produce a
better world, a “heaven on
earth”
--we are telling ourselves the
same thing Elia Zedeno
wanted to
hear in the
OK. Don’t worry.”
-but that’s all a lie
The truth is that we are incapable of solving the world’s problems
-despite billions of dollars,
science has not
-despite billions of followers,
religion has not
-despite billions of laws,
treaties, and promises, government has not
It’s not that they haven’t tried
with great passion
-but the problem is that because
we are sinners we are the
problem
-the problem is that because we
are part of every attempted solution,
all of our attempts are
inherently doomed from conception
--look at a few examples
---the
---Saul, the first king of
through political
strength
---the science of genetic
engineering à a futile effort to
manufacture “the
fountain of youth” in the laboratory
Since creation, we have been chasing after what we don’t have and
what we can never get: heaven, peace, and eternal life
-it’s like performing surgery
with dirty hands
--we might manage some
short-term benefits, but we will always
contaminate what we do
because of sin
--we cannot create good
because we ourselves aren’t good
--we cannot eradicate the
world of evil because we ourselves are
evil...we cannot forgive
our own sin because we ourselves are
full of sin
Our only hope is for Someone to come from outside our sinful world
-someone who is good, who is
sinless, who is greater than death,
and who is able to take us to
heaven
--that Someone is Jesus—the
Christ, the Messiah, the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords,
the One who is returning someday
When He returns, it will not be as a wandering Jewish rabbi
-Read Revelation 19:11-16
Which is why Jesus tells His disciples in Mark 13:26 à At that
time
men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds
with great power and
glory.
-for those who have trusted Him,
who have surrendered their lives to
following Him, who have
proclaimed Him as Lord, it will be a day of
incomparable joy
David Peterson, former pastor at the First Presbyterian
Church in
She said, "Okay, when you're finished, Daddy, I am
going to give you a great big hug." She went to the door, but then did a U-turn,
came back, and gave him the tightest,
most loving hugs ever. He said to her,
"You said you were going
to give me a hug after I finished."
She answered, "Daddy, I just wanted you to know what
you have to look forward to!"
During His time on earth, Jesus has given us a brief, but absolutely
incredible glimpse of what we
have to look forward to
-Philip Yancey puts it this way à When
Jesus lived on earth He
made the blind to see and the lame to walk;
He will return to rule
over a kingdom that has no disease or
disability. On earth He died
and was resurrected; at His return, death
will be no more. On
earth He cast out demons; at His return, He
will destroy the Evil
One.
On earth He came as a baby born in a manger; He will return
as the blazing figure described in the book
of Revelation. The
kingdom He set in motion on earth was not
the end, only the
beginning of the end.
--in the meantime we wait...but
---we don’t wait
silently—our message is too urgent
---we don’t wait
passively—our responsibilities are too great
---we don’t wait and
worry—our Savior will be and is victorious
---we don’t wait and
wonder—God is completely trustworthy
In 1942, General MacArthur reluctantly obeyed orders to leave the
islands that were his second home
-his absence produced untold
hardship for the people he loved...
there were, no doubt, times
when they were unsure if they would
survive...when they were
unsure if he would ever come back
--but on October 20, 1944, he
made good on his promise to return
by leading the Allied army
that turned back Japanese forces and
gave freedom to the
Philippine people
Then, on September 2, 1945 the documents of surrender officially
ending World War II in the Pacific
were signed by the Japanese and
designated representatives of
allied nations. General Douglas
MacArthur officiated the ceremony
aboard the USS Missouri and
was the last to sign on behalf of
the
Flanked by his military colleagues, General MacArthur took his Parker
fountain pen and simply signed his first name "
This was General MacArthur's way of honoring two
generals who had suffered severe
persecution as prisoners of war.
They had persevered, and now they
were allowed to share in the
glory of victory.
As significant as the ceremony on the USS Missouri was, it pales in
comparison to what lies ahead for
those who belong to Jesus
-it is difficult for me even to
begin to grasp the true meaning of
Romans 8:16-17 à The
Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that
we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—
heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if
indeed we share in His
sufferings in order that we may also share
in His glory.