Palm Sunday is the day when the church
remembers Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Riding on a donkey, He paraded into the city
as the crowd shouted “Hosanna” which
is Hebrew for “Lord, save us!” Waving
palm branches in the air and spreading their cloaks before Him, they welcomed
the Messiah and proclaimed Him as their King.
We view this situation as unique, yet it wasn’t the first time this
scenario had been played out. Welcoming
a hero into town was a well-known practice, and there was a right way to do it
that the people all knew about.
In
those days, when a conquering hero would return to the capital city, the people
would leave town and greet him on the road before he entered the gates. They would join in the procession and
re-enter the city with him, celebrating as they went. In this way, the people identified with their
hero, and he with them. He had gone out and
conquered in their name. His triumph was
theirs, and their joy was his. This is
what they did with Jesus, meeting Him on the road before He entered Jerusalem
and hailing Him as Messiah.
As they acted out the first Palm Sunday,
the people were simply doing what they had done before, as they welcomed other
dignitaries into town, with the exception of their declaration of Jesus as
their Savior. Little did they know that
they were also serving as a prototype for the second coming of Christ.
In our study through the book of
Revelation, we have used the word “Rapture” many times. Though the word itself never appears in the
Bible, neither do many other theological terms that we use. While some deny the Rapture, I believe that
the concept is found throughout the scriptures.
Among other passages, 1
Thessalonians 4:16-18[i] says:
For the Lord Himself will
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with
the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise
first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we
shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with
these words.
While some Bible scholars deny the
Rapture, others affirm it but disagree on when it will take place. Some believe in a pretribulation rapture,
while others believe that it will take place somewhere in the middle or the end
of Jacob’s Trouble. It is not my purpose
to figure out timelines, other than affirming the Bible’s teaching that
believers will be instantly translated to their glorified forms and will meet
Jesus in the air. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 says, “Behold,
I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet
will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we
will be changed.”
Whether it happens at the
beginning, middle, or end of the Tribulation, it is certain that when Jesus
returns, He will do so along with the dead in Christ who have risen, and with
those still alive who have met Him in the air.
In Revelation 19:11-16, John
writes about the Second Coming, which may be at the same time or some time
after the Rapture:
And I saw heaven opened, and
behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness
He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has
a name written on Him which
no one knows except Himself. He
is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is
called The Word of God. And the armies which
are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on
white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He
may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron;
and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the
Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF
KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Just as the residents of Jerusalem
welcomed Jesus as their victorious Hero by leaving the city and parading back
in with Him, so the raptured and resurrected
Church will be taken up, to return with Him along with the heavenly
host. No matter whether you believe in a
pre-trib, post-trib, or mid-trib Rapture, the fact is that we don’t really know
when it will happen, so why not live as if it’s today? Our
Daily Bread has a story about the need to be ready at any time:
While on a South Pole expedition,
British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton left a few men on Elephant Island,
promising that he would return. Later, when he tried to go back, huge icebergs
blocked the way. But suddenly, as if by a miracle, an avenue opened in the ice
and Shackleton was able to get through. His men, ready and waiting, quickly
scrambled aboard. No sooner had the ship cleared the island than the ice
crashed together behind them. Contemplating their narrow escape, the explorer
said to his men, "It was fortunate you were all packed and ready to
go!" They replied, "We never gave up hope. Whenever the sea was clear
of ice, we rolled up our sleeping bags and reminded each other, 'The boss may
come today.'"
In the same way, Christians need to
be ready for the Lord to return at any moment.
Since we don’t know when He will return, we should be found ready when
He does split the sky.
In Revelation 19, after the return of Christ,
we see the doom of the Beast and False Prophet, who are thrown into the Lake of
Fire. Their followers are destroyed with
the sword that proceeds from the Lord’s mouth.
Chapter 20 records the binding of Satan, and his imprisonment
in the Abyss for a thousand years. Just
as people debate the timing of the Rapture, they also disagree on the meaning
of the Millennium, or thousand-year reign of Christ. Verses 4-6 say:
Then I saw thrones, and they
sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had
been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the
word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and
had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came
to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The
rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This
is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the
one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death
has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign
with Him for a thousand years.
Some say that the Millennium has been
taking place since the beginning of Christian history. Others who look to a future unfolding of the
Millennium see it as a literal thousand year period. Still other futurists look toward an actual
future reign of Christ, but maintain that this is a symbolic number. Personally, I don’t think it matters
much. The important thing is that not
only will Jesus be reigning, but that His followers will rule with Him. The afterlife isn’t a time for believers to
placidly play their harps on clouds, but a time to get to work serving the
Lord. When the Millennium is complete, Satan
will be unbound for a time, to make one last-ditch effort at deception. This will cleanse the earth of any who might
possibly reject the Lord’s rule before Satan’s followers are destroyed and he
is thrown for the last time in the lake of fire (verses 7-10). The Millennium
will have ended, but now the eternal reign of Christ begins—it is interrupted
by so short an interlude that it doesn’t matter whether the 1,000 years are
literal or symbolic. In reality, Jesus
will reign forever and ever.
Verses
11-15 describe the Great White Throne judgment, where the
dead are judged, and those whose names are not found written in the Book of
Life are thrown into the lake of fire.
Chapter
21
tells of a new beginning. People who
talk about the “end of the world” should read this chapter, because in it they
will see that instead of an ending, God is bringing about a new beginning:
Then I saw a new heaven and a
new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there
is no longer any sea.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down
out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the
tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they
shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe
away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no
longer be any mourning,
or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He
who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new (verses 1-5a).”
Heaven is a place where believers go now
when they die, but there’s coming a time when the raptured, resurrected, and
redeemed will reside on a renewed earth, with a restored Jerusalem at its
center. Here, both the holy city and the
garden of God are united in one perfect harmony. The city is bedecked with bejeweled walls,
pearly gates, and streets of gold. The
garden is resplendent with a river of life flowing from the throne of God. Trees grow along it, bearing fruit which
heals the nations (chapter 22).
These final chapters of John’s
Apocalypse clearly say that there are those who are admitted to this new
kingdom, and those who are on the outside.
Not everyone is saved. Some have
been thrown into the lake of fire, and some are simply left out because of
their immorality and idolatry. John
warns his readers to “wash their robes,” meaning that they should put on the
purity of Christ.
Jesus says, “Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the
words of the prophecy of this book…Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to
every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the
Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (v. 7, 12-13).” This is echoed in verse 17, “The Spirit
and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let
the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life
without cost.” In verse 20, Jesus says, “‘Yes, I am coming quickly.” Then John replies, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”
These
final words, “Come, Lord Jesus,” or “Lord Jesus is coming” were a common
greeting used by first-century Christians.
Revelation 22:20 is rendered
in Greek as “Erchou Kyrie Iesou,” but
the common expression “Come, Lord” was in Aramaic: “Maranatha.” This term came
to replace the typical Jewish greeting of “Shalom” (Peace), because Jesus had
said that there would be no earthly peace.
Instead, in their greeting they encouraged one another to wait for His
coming. Believers of past, present, and
future generations can hang their hats on this one word, “Maranatha,” and trust
that the Lord will come, just as He said He would. [ii]
Today, as we come to the close of our
study on Revelation, we move from “Hosanna,”
which is a cry asking salvation, to “Maranatha,”
a cry of expectation. Only those who
have truthfully pleaded the former can say the latter with any hope. The truth is that the Lord is coming—but only
those who are saved have anything to shout about. If you haven’t received the Lord as your Savior,
God’s Word gives a vivid picture of your eternity apart from Him. But if you ask the Lord to save you, He will
give you an eternal home and hope for each day.
I pray that you will trust the Lord for your future, and ask Him to save
you today.
[i] All scriptures are taken from the ESV.
[ii] Paul uses “Maranatha” in 1 Corinthians 16:22—the only
time it appears in Aramaic in the NT.
Read more at http://www.gotquestions.org/maranatha.html
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