Jesus Will Come Again.

Each year, the Oxford English Dictionary identifies a word as its ‘word of the year.’ But this year, the Oxford English Dictionary was unable to. There were just too many new words in this ‘unprecedented’ year to be able to pick one.

The word ‘unprecedented’ would be my word of the year. When the pandemic started, I thought we were hearing the word ‘unprecedented’ a lot. On Google search you can look at how often words have been used over a particular period. I thought we’d been using the word ‘unprecedented’ a lot more over the past year but it turns out that we’ve been using it a lot more for the past five years. It isn’t just Covid-19 that’s resulting in things being ‘unprecedented.’ There’s been Brexit, global warming and Donald Trump!

Everything seems uncertain. At our church leaders’ meetings, I used to set out plans for the coming year. I’ve given up on that!

In these unsettling times, does our faith help us? Are there certainties we can hold onto? Absolutely! Christmas itself gives us cause for confidence. The fact that Jesus came once gives us confidence that he will come again. God spoke through his prophets and told the people of Israel that he would send a messiah – and he did. Jesus, who is God, said that he would come again – and he will.

The fact that Jesus will come a second time has been part of the church’s Christmas message for a long time. For perhaps a thousand years the Catholic church and later, the Church of England, have had particular readings for Christmas. The first Sunday of Advent was always the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey. It's in Matthew 21. Matthew tells us that Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey to fulfil the word of the prophet:

“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey…’” [Matthew 21:5]

We may think that this is a very surprising passage to choose for Christmas. It has nothing to do with Jesus’ birth! I don’t know what prompted these people of long ago to choose this passage. But I think they wanted to set Jesus’ birth into a larger context. Christmas is not only about recognizing the arrival of a baby into a stable. It is about recognizing the arrival of Jesus as king.

Then, a little under 40 years ago, various churches got their heads together and decided to change the reading for the first Sunday of Advent. Instead of the passage in Matthew 21 they chose a passage in Matthew 24 that reminds us that Jesus will come again. This will be the time when Jesus comes to establish his kingdom. The point is that when we recognize that Jesus came 2000 years ago, it should prompt us to think of his coming again as king.

That isn’t just the message of the church. Two days ago, on Christmas Day, we took a look at Gabriel’s message to Mary. Gabriel tells Mary, ‘He will REIGN over the house of Jacob forever, and of his KINGDOM there will be no end.’ Gabriel uses the words ‘reign’ and ‘kingdom.’ Gabriel continues, ‘…and the Lord God will give to him the THRONE of his ancestor David.’ Gabriel uses the word ‘throne.’ REIGN, KINGDOM, THRONE? Gabriel’s message was almost entirely about Jesus as king rather than Jesus as saviour. Of course, Jesus did come to save us. But saving us is just a part of what Jesus came to do. The bigger picture is that Jesus came as king to establish a completely new kingdom, a kingdom that will last for ever.

Today, we’re going to explore this subject a little. What will that kingdom look like? Is it really something to look forward to? Is it something we can hold onto, in uncertain times?

To begin with, let’s take a look at two prophecies in the book of Daniel. Here’s the first. It’s Daniel 7:13-14.

13 “I saw in the night visions,

and behold, with the clouds of heaven

there came one like a son of man,

and he came to the Ancient of Days

and was presented before him.

14 And to him was given dominion

and glory and a kingdom,

that all peoples, nations, and languages

should serve him;

his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

which shall not pass away,

and his kingdom one

that shall not be destroyed.”

You probably know that Jesus often described himself as ‘son of man.’ He may well have taken that phrase from this passage in Daniel. In the thirty or so years that Jesus lived among us he was mocked and rejected and eventually put to death on a cross. His death on the cross is hugely important for us. But I would dare to suggest that there's an even bigger picture. That is that Jesus will receive dominion and glory and a kingdom that will never be destroyed.