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The Lamb’s SupperWeek 19 The Real Presence & The Second Coming – Part 2

In part 1 of The Real Presence & The Second Coming we learned that the Greek word parousia has been taken out of context in our day, compared to the main usage of the word in the 1st century. Today our protestant brothers, at least many of them, center on the “coming” part of word. They have championed it to mean that parousia only speaks to the second coming of Christ. But the Book of Revelation adds the word “soon” to that phrase creating a good deal of confusion, especially since over 2000 years has passed since the writing down of this book of the Bible. His second coming has not happened yet, throwing great suspicion on the understanding of “soon”. Scott pointed out the 1st century Greek speakers centered on the “real presence” understanding of parousia, and that the early Christians understood this to mean the “soon coming real presence” of Jesus in the Eucharist. As a Catholic, this makes perfect sense. Jesus did come soon, very soon, in fact the very day He was resurrected, He came to the two on the road to Emmaus when He shared the Eucharist with them. They were the first two to experience the “real presence” of Jesus in the blessed bread and wine. Cardinal Ratzinger, before he became Pope Benedict XVI, made this statement in his book A New Song for the Lord, “liturgy is anticipated parousia, the already entering our not yet”. Quick quiz Catholics, what is the “already” entering into our “not yet”?

Even in our creed that we say at every Sunday Mass, we are actually proclaiming the three “comings of the Lord”. We are really saying Christ had died, Christ is risen, Christ will come

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again. Christ has died, tells the whole world that the second person of the Trinity came to earth, first coming to us as a babe in the manger. Christ has risen speaks to the ascension of the resurrected Christ seated at the right hand of the Father, now coming to us through His real presence in the Eucharist. Finally, we end two of the memorial acclamations with “until you come again” declaring Jesus will come again at the end of the age: “We proclaim your death oh Lord, and profess

your resurrection, until you come again”; “When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death oh Lord, until you come again.” Even one of the words we used during the Charismatic movement was “maranatha”, with the understanding that it meant “come soon Lord

Jesus”. Ironically, much like the misunderstanding of parousia, maranatha can also mean, “Christ has come”. He came to us as a babe in the manger, through the miracle of transubstantiation, and He is coming a final time at the end of the age.

The ancient Jewish rabbis drew a parallel between the creation account in Genesis and the building of Solomon’s Temple. God completed creation, His cosmic temple filling the earth with His glory, with Eden as the Holy of Holies in 7 days. Solomon with divine wisdom and divine speed, completed his temple in seven years, dedicated in the 7th month, during the Feast of Tabernacles which lasted exactly seven days, to teach Israel that this Holy Temple was a microcosm of the creation of the world. Just as the cosmos was transformed in the creation of the universe, and the magnificent Temple transformed the worship of people of Israel, the temple of the earth and our bodies as the temple of the Lord will be once again be transformed at the end of the age, with a creation of the new heaven and new earth. The Book of Revelation also deals with multiple comings of the Lord, with several passages describing the destruction of Jerusalem, several more about the heavenly liturgy that we partake of at every Mass, and many passages speaking about the end of the world.

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Both the prophets of the Old and New Testament’s, and John’s prophecies in the Apocalypse describe political events that surround the coming of the Lord. The Old Testament speaks continuously of the rise and fall of kingdom after kingdom, and the tiny town of Bethlehem was prophesied to be the birth place of the Christ. The gospel of Luke tells us of the birth of Christ, and a census that is underway by the authority of Caesar Augustus forcing everyone to register in the city of their ancestors’ birth. Luke 2:1–5 (RSV2CE) 1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. 2 This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be enrolled with Mary his betrothed, who was with child.

The first coming of Jesus took place in a specific time and place in our history, with political leaders named and events of that generation that really happened. The same can be said as Jesus prepared for His coming to His followers in the Eucharist, with His coming veiled in the bread and wine. That coming of Jesus was every bit as real as when He was born in Bethlehem. Toward the end of His ministry on the earth He warned Jerusalem of another event that was about to take place, her pending destruction. Luke 21:10–24 (RSV2CE) 10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11 there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. 13 This will be a time for you to bear testimony. 14 Settle it therefore in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer; 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will

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be delivered up even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death; 17 you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives. 20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it; 22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfil all that is written. 23 Alas for those who are with child and for those who are nursing in those days! For great distress shall be upon the earth and wrath upon this people; 24 they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led captive among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

We now know exactly when that took place in time, space and history…70 AD. Jesus said, that generation would not pass away until those things would happen. A generation is about 40 years, and the time between the moment Jesus prophesied this event, followed by His death and resurrection, and the destruction of Jerusalem is…right at 40 years. Looking at the history of the Temple going all the way back, an obvious pattern emerges. It is a pattern of obedience, then open rebellion, judgement followed by restoration. In 586BC the Babylonians destroyed Solomon’s Temple, completing on cycle, only to see the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by Titus and the Roman army in 70AD completing another cycle of obedience, rebellion, judgement and restoration. Not long after that John in the Apocalypse sees a harlot city being destroyed, echoing all the prophesies by Jerimiah and Ezekiel as each prophet proclaimed Jerusalem as a harlot, turning her back on her true husband. God would say over and over

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that He had been a husband to His bride, Israel and Jerusalem, only to see her play the harlot. It seems very clear that we are talking about Jerusalem and not Rome by this verse, Revelation 21:2 (RSV2CE) 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; If John is seeing the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven as a bride adorned for her

husband, that very strongly implies that the Old Jerusalem was the harlot spoken of in chapter 17…not Rome. And as we start this new 2019 Church year, we not only celebrate the first coming of Jesus as the babe in the manger, but also the coming of Jesus in the Eucharist at this first Sunday Mass of Advent. That coming of Jesus is coming sooner than most of the Christian world ever imagined. We are also looking forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus at the end of the age, in all His glory. His angels declared His glory in the manger, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to people everywhere.” His glory in His coming in the Eucharist was veiled by the appearance of bread and wine, hidden manna come down from heaven. And He is coming one more time in all His glory at the end of time.

So, where are we now, right here and right now. Mike pointed out that much of the world believes that this earth may be in her last days of existence, with climate change, hurricanes, earthquakes, and all the wars and rumors of war going on around the globe. The science community is banking on mankind starting all over on the planet Mars, hoping to avoid the mistakes that we have made on planet earth. I think we all know who their god is. What kind of world will our children and grandchildren have to live in as our generation passes away? Mike also talked about a lot of Catholics in our time that

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no longer, or perhaps never did, believe in the “real presence” of Jesus in the Eucharist…up to 60 and 70% coming to Mass. Where do we go from here? If you don’t believe in Jesus coming to us through the bread and the wine, as His body and blood, soul and divinity, then it is likely that you don’t believe in the first coming of Jesus in the manger, or Jesus coming again at the end of the age. It seems probable that you will either believe all of it, or none of it.

In God We Trust used to mean something to this culture of ours, you and I have witnessed the Un-Goding of our schools, public places, and most of our society. We need to pray for our country, that America would repent, and return to the God who founded this country in the very beginning. We could give up on that idea, because things seems impossible to turn around. But please remember God is in the business of impossibilities. I am sure Rome

looked impossible to conquer when St. Peter and St. Paul greeted every morning. You and I can still have a strong impact on all the environments that we are a part of, our work environment, school, Church, and even our bowling team, the Holy Rollers. We can take courage from those earliest followers of Christ, living under the boot of Rome. They changed their world one person at a time, sharing Jesus with friends and family. Why can’t we do the same? We need to be single minded, and in agreement, James 1:5–8 (RSV2CE) 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that

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a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord. As we become single minded, the wisdom of God will show us that Jesus is not only coming to the Church through the Eucharist, He is coming to you and me, each of us individually. The Church becomes stronger and more effective when each of us and our families continue to grow and become stronger in our faith.

Spiritual bodies need spiritual food, and the hidden manna come down from heaven is the key. We can and will be strengthened by partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ. Every Mass we attend feeds us with the strength of Jesus, that is a whole lot better than protein bars. The irony of becoming strong in the Lord is that we must become weak in ourselves, depending our own abilities, our own righteousness, our own power. We need to keep the image of the young shepherd boy David standing before Goliath swinging that sling around and around, and by the grace of God bringing that giant down. David had no business even going out there that day, but he did, and the tide turned on the faith of that boy in His God. We need the courage to face our giants, and the grace to start swinging that sling and let God guide the rock that will bring down our giants. Time spent in the Perpetual

Adoration Chapel will strengthen our faith and help us to see the battle that is raging all around us. Study of the Bible and the Catechism will build our faith.

Ephesians 6:10–17 (RSV2CE) 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities,

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against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened the belt of truth around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; 16 besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the Evil One. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Scott finished this teaching with an encouragement to all of us to share the power of the parousia coming to us in the Eucharist, inviting our separated brethren to Mass, and at the very least sharing what the Eucharist means to you and me. If we do not come away from every Mass with a renewed strength and vision, empowered by the very Body and Blood of our Lord, we missed a huge blessing. It is as if we might walk into the house of the Lord with the table lavishly set for each and every one of us…and we sit down…but we don’t eat, or we eat but then we don’t get up from there and go out into our everyday life and work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

Philippians 2:12–13 (RSV2CE) 12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence (parousia) but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Here are Scotts notes on this passage, listen carefully.

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Philippians 2:12 work out your own salvation: I.e., make continued efforts at living the gospel and pursuing your heavenly reward. The statement assumes that while our initial salvation had nothing to do with our works (Eph 2:8–9), our final salvation depends on a lifetime of keeping the faith (2 Tim 4:7–8), following the commandments (Mt 19:17), persevering in good works (Rom 2:7), striving for holiness (Heb 12:14), praying in earnest (1 Thess 5:17), and fighting against the forces of evil (Eph 6:11) and the selfish demands of the flesh, which drag us down (Rom 8:13; 1 Cor 9:24–27). This obligation is so serious that we pursue it with fear and trembling, i.e., with a sense of awe at serving the living God and a sense of dread at the prospect of sinning against him (Ex 20:18–20; Ps 2:11–12). Encouragement comes in the next verse, where Paul reminds readers that God’s grace is working actively within them both to desire (intention) and do (act) what pleases him (Heb 13:20–21. ● When Paul commands them to “work”, he addresses their free will. When he adds “with fear and trembling”, he cautions them against boasting as if their good deeds were their own. If you fear and tremble, you will not boast of your good works, since it is God who works them within you (St. Augustine, On Grace and Free Will 21). The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The New Testament. (2010). (p. 359). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.