A DAY OF DELIVERANCE WHICH GOD’S PEOPLE EAGERLY AWAIT
Jesus promised, “I am coming soon” (Second Reading). But what does soon mean to the one who is the Alpha and Omega, the eternal God? We do not know. We want Christ to return quickly, because we know the Last Day will be a day of great deliverance for God’s people. But how long will we have to wait? Will it be in a few months or a few millennia? We cannot know. As we await Christ’s return, we want to avoid two extremes: impatience and indifference. Let us not despair if the deliverance of the Last Day does not come as quickly as we would like. But let us never doubt that that deliverance will indeed come. How do we avoid those extremes? How does Christ’s church remain ready and watchful? In this last week of the Church Year, our Savior does what he has done all year—point us to his Scriptures. The Scriptures record countless promises that have already been fulfilled in Christ. That assures us that the as-of-yet unfulfilled promises are as good as done. There is no doubting that the Last Day will come. There is no doubting it will be a day of blessed deliverance for God’s people.