Second and third generation Christians had trouble with this teaching because they thought that Jesus was talking about the end of physical creation. Some felt in awkward positions because many first century Christians believed and taught that the end was coming. Today, the debates continue to rage. There are some opportunists who say they can predict when the world will end. Some Christians take no comfort in the Bible because someone told them the world will end because the Mayan calendar ends in 2012 and they choose to believe it. When will the second coming occur? No one knows. In fact, many Bible scholars believe that the second coming is not something to watch for, as it will not be a return from the resurrection, but that the second coming was the resurrection itself (Jesus came to earth when he was born. Taught while he was living that he would come again. Died on a cross. Then came again when he was resurrected.) Point is, people are all over the map when speaking of the end of reality as we know it. The truth is, we don't know. Not one of us. What we do know is that life is filled with beginnings and ends. Every end for us is a new beginning and what we think we know now is nothing compared to what we'll know in another age. Paul said it well in 1 Corinthians 13: "Now I see in a mirror dimly, then I will see face to face." Your life, as you know it, will come to an end. Live in the way God intends while you have this life.
Readings: Judges 1:1-2:9; Luke 21:29-22:13; Psalms 90:91:16; Proverbs 13:24-25
