The placards proclaim, ‘The end of the world is nigh!’ Despite the majority of people carrying on as though this world will continue as it is for ever, there is a general interest in topics like the ‘end times’ or the apocalypse. Humans are curious creatures; we like to know as much about the future as possible, with some turning to clairvoyants and others to try to see into the future. Prophecies about the end times have been circulating for years, with many of the dates for the end of the world already having been exceeded!
The early disciples were no different to us. In that 40-day period between the resurrection and the ascension, Jesus’s disciples asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ (Acts 1:6) They had been told about the gift of the Holy Spirit promised by the Father and were curious to know what this restoration of the kingdom would look like and when it would be.
Jesus was unequivocal in His response: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.’ (Acts 1:7) This is a consistent theme in the Bible. (1 Thess 5:1-6, 2 Pet 3:1-10) We are urged to live in the light of the Second Coming of Jesus and given many pointers to what will happen when He returns (see also Acts 1:10-11), but at the same time, we do not know when this will happen. All the prophecies giving specific times and dates can be safely ignored in light of these facts, though this should not cause us to become complacent or apathetic (see Matt 25:1-13, Matt 24:1-51). God wants us to live in constant readiness. As Paul says, ‘since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.’ (1 Thess 5:8) We have just learnt a new children’s song which touches on this theme:
‘Awake or asleep,
How’re you gonna be, when Jesus comes back from heaven?
Are you gonna be ready for Him,
When Jesus comes back to earth?’ (‘Awake or Asleep,’ Garry Turner)
We are called to be awake, alert, ready. We might not know the date or the times, but we know the facts. Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again!
