When Jesus Appears

 

Matthew 24:30 … then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

I was struck by the description of how people will respond to Jesus’ second coming.  

I always think of that event with great anticipation and had never considered it in any other way.  After all, this is the culmination of my faith and I look forward to the inexpressible joy it will bring as I see my Savior and Lord face-to-face.   

But as I thought about this verse, I realized in a new way that for those who do not know Jesus as their loving Savior, this event will be quite different.

His appearance will bring sadness and suffering to those who have not followed Christ.  

They will mourn at His appearance.  

For some, it will even represent a big bite of humility as they are forced to acknowledge His power and glory that they have ignored or even mocked in their lifetime.   

Philippians 2:10 says that "every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord."

Some will bow with joy and delight, while others will bow in mourning and trepidation.  

It is sobering to realize that not everyone will have the same pleasure that I will have when Jesus appears.

The Level Playing Field

Matthew 19:25-26 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

This conversation between Jesus and His disciples came because of the interaction of Jesus with the wealthy young man who appeared unable to give up his wealth to follow Jesus.

I think the disciples were like most of us – we feel like the possession of money must surely have some value in life. Surely it should be able to give one success and happiness, if nothing else.

This rich man had everything we would think you need to succeed. 

He was young.

He was religious.

He was wealthy.

How could that combination not be a successful one? 

What Jesus reminds us, however, is that salvation is totally a work of God. 

There is nothing that we can bring to the table, so to speak, as a bargaining chip towards salvation and eternal life in heaven. 

Even what we think ought to be, or could be, leverage for us, has no real value because God is the source of our salvation. 

It certainly levels the playing field of salvation for all of mankind because no one has an advantage over others when it comes to who can have salvation.

It all depends on our decision to let God have all we are and all we have.

It all depends on our decision to put aside our youth, or health, or wealth, or religiosity, as secondary to God's request for our heart, our devotion, our repentance.

 

Is Jesus in Your Boat?

 

John 6:19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened.

Matthew, Mark, and John all wrote about their experience of Jesus walking on the water. You remember that account of the disciples all in the boat during a bad storm and seeing Jesus walking toward them on the water.

Although they all told about the same experience, what stood out in that experience was different for each person.

For example, only Matthew talks about Peter joining Jesus on the water. That has always been the emphasis in the story when I have heard it taught or preached about.

Neither Mark nor John saw that as the most important part of the story. Neither one mentions Peter getting out of the boat, walking on the water toward Jesus, then looking at the waves and starting to sink!

What is the same in all the accounts is that they were all afraid.

They were all glad to have the presence of Jesus in their boat when He got there. His presence gave them comfort. It took away their fear.

All three men recount that Jesus calmed the storm as soon as He entered their boat.

And this is a key truth we can learn from Matthew's, Mark's, and John's accounts of their experience in that boat.

The most important thing in any experience we have is not what miraculous things happen or what we can do (even with God’s help). 

No, what is important is whether we have invited Jesus into our boat. 

That is when He will bring calm in us no matter what storm we are going through.

Is Jesus in your boat?