Lent readings: First reading: Isaiah 2:1-5

Psalm: Psalm 122

Second reading: Romans 13:11-14

Gospel: Matthew 24:36-44

“This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.”

Isaiah 2:1-2

When are the “last days”? This phrase occurs in the prophets and New Testament letters. It refers to a time of justice, judgement, salvation. A time where God makes the world right. Isaiah prophesies about the ‘last days’, in Isaiah 2:1-5. This will be a time when justice will be given, and wars will cease. This is because the nations flock to Jerusalem in worship and obedience to the true God, the God of Jacob. Worship, God’s law, and people’s obedience will mean people live justly, and at peace with one another.

For anyone enduring injustice, or war “the last day’s” sound like a dream and impossibly far off. People in the time of Jesus’ birth hoped for the “the last days”. The disciples asked Jesus in Matthew 24, when and how this would happen. They felt like they were living in the last days, and Jesus would bring it to pass. The early church wondered about “the last days”. We see this in 2 Thessalonians 2, as Paul addresses Christians concerns regarding how and when it would happen. Again, the early Christians believed Jesus would bring it to pass. In difficult times of social instability, war, or the threat of war, Christians still wonder when and how the last days will happen. Christians still believe Jesus would bring it to pass.

How would you respond to discovering we are in the last days, now? This is not something that will happen, it is happening. Since the birth of Jesus until his return at the end of the age, the cosmos is counting down. The first disciples saw it, the early church saw it, Christians through the ages have seen it. I wonder, can you see it? See not just the wars, instability, persecution, suffering. See how through the good news about Jesus, people

from all nations are trusting God in worship and obedience. These are signs our God is returning to make all things right. King Jesus is coming, and then finally all the world will know true worship, obedience, justice, and peace.

In Him,

Jason

Photo Title: Swords Are Beaten into Plowshares  https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/