The Second Coming of Christ and the Final Judgment
The Christian message proclaimed by the Church announces the coming of a moment in the history of the world when Christ will come "in the glory of the Father", will judge man and the cosmos and complete the saving work. If God created the world and history with it, there must be a day when history will end.
Theologians call this the "last day," "the day of Christ's second coming," or "Parousia." The last word comes from Greek and means "coming", "presence". In the secular language, it was used only in those situations when someone significant, the ruler or a person from his close circle arrived.
Many times, the Apostles announced the coming of the "day of visitation" (1 Pt 2:12), "wrath" (Rom 2: 5), "judgment" (2 Pt 2: 9), or the "day of the Lord" (1 Thes 5: 2; 2 Thes 2: 2; 1Cor 5: 5). According to the New Testament, it will be "the day of Christ" (Phil 1: 6:10), "the day of the Son of man" (Lk 17:24; Mk 13:26; 14:62; Mt 10:23; 16:27; 24:44; 25:31), "the day of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 1: 8). The Apostle Paul calls it "the day of the revelation” (2 Thes 1: 7; 1 Pt. 1: 7-13), the "appearances" (1 Tim 6:14; Tit 2:13) and the "presence" (Mt 24: 3, 27) of Jesus.
The angel in the Acts of the Apostles assures the Apostles that "Jesus ... will come just as you saw him ascending to heaven" (Acts 1:11). The time of his arrival is unknown (Mt 24:42). All we know is that with the coming of the Lord, the end of the world will come (Mt 24: 3:27, 37, 39; 1 Thes 2:19; 3:13; 2 Thes 2: 1,8; 2 Peter 3: 4,12). Christ will call all the dead to a resurrection (1 Thes 4:15; 1 Cor 15:23) and will judge the living and the dead (1 Thes 5:23; Jas 5: 7,8; 1 Jn 2:28). Christ's coming will take place in power, and this day will be the day of the revelation of his triumph (Lk 17:24). Christians should joyfully await this moment (2 Cor 1:14; Rom 13:12; Heb 10:25).
New Testament authors describe the Parousia of Jesus as the act of entering the history of Him who is the true Ruler of the universe. Only He can dethrone and end the rule of " the elemental powers of the world" (Gal 4:3,9; Col 2:8,20). The New Testament not only describes the very fact of the Second Coming, but also presents the signs that will precede it. Many false messiahs will appear (Mk 13: 21-23), faith will begin to fade among people (Lk 18:8), Israel will be converted (Rom 11:25), there will be a strong persecution of Christians (Mk 13:9-13). The Apostle of the Nations writes about the "trumpet of the archangel" (1 Thes 4:16) and reminds that this day will come as "a thief in the night" causing terrible suffering (1 Thes 5: 3). Above all, in these days there will be the antichrist, who Paul called "the wicked one" (2 Thes 2: 3-10).
According to New Testament theology, Christ's second coming to earth is associated with an event we call the final judgment. It is puzzling that the Holy Scriptures express inconsistently on this subject. Once God is to be the judge over the world (2 Thes 1:5; 1 Cor 5:13; Rom 2: 3; 3: 6; 14:10), another time Jesus Christ (Mt 25:31-46; 7:22; 13:36-43; Luke 13: 25-27; 1 Thes 4: 6; 1 Cor 4: 4; 11:32; 2 Cor 5:10). In the Gospel according to St. Matthew we find the statement that the Apostles will be the judges (Mt 19:28).
What will happen at Christ's second coming, and what will be the final judgment? The Bible repeatedly emphasizes that this moment will become the moment of man's salvation. Christ will come to free us from the bondage of sin, death and Satan. It will not be a day of judgment of the universe, but a revelation of God's power and victory over hostile powers (1 Cor 15: 24-28; Mt 25:31; Lk 10:18; 2 Thes 2: 2.8).
St. John beautifully expressed it in his Letter: " God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment” (cf. 1 Jn 4: 16-17). For Christians it will be a time of glory and triumph, therefore all believers should repeat with conviction the words of the Holy Mass: " We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again.".
At the end of the Eucharist, the first Christians strengthened each other with the joyful cry of "Maranatha", that is, "come Lord Jesus!". For them, believing in Christ's resurrection meant the same as waiting for his imminent coming. One could not, they said, believe in the resurrection without waiting for the coming of the Lord.
This idea was well expressed by the German theologian J. Moltmann: "faith in the resurrection begins with the expectation of the second coming of Christ, which will be the fulfillment of the promises made by him."
In the later centuries of Christianity, probably under the influence of legal legislation throughout the Roman Empire, the Church began to emphasize a different dimension of the final judgment. The Lord's Day was no longer presented as a moment of liberation but of absolute judgment. God, it was said, he would judge everyone according to his deeds, he would finally pronounce a pardoning or condemning of man.
A very vivid vision of such a judgment was presented by Michelangelo in a beautiful fresco located in the Sistine Chapel. There you can see Christ the Judge separating the good from the bad with his clenched hand. It is not surprising then that the joyful "maranatha" from the liturgy of the early Christians was replaced with the call "dies irae", proclaiming "the day of the Lord's wrath." Here is a fragment of a medieval sequence from the Holy Mass. for the dead: " The day of wrath, that day will dissolve the world in ashes, David being witness along with the Sibyl. Oh, what fear man's bosom rendeth, When from heaven the Judge descendeth, On whose sentence all dependeth. [...] The written book will be brought forth, in which all is contained, from which the world shall be judged” (translation by A. Kamieńska).
Contemporary biblical studies postulate that the Church should show the proper sense of the announcement of Christ's second coming and the final judgment. It will be the day when the glory of the Risen and Exalted, Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of God, will be revealed. At the same time, it will be a moment of salvation for all believers, a manifestation of God's love for man. His coming also signifies the coming of the New Year of the Lord, the eternal banquet which Christ has prepared for his own. Christ will bring no one condemnation, because He alone is salvation. Whoever stands by him, stands in the circle of salvation. It is not He who condemns man. It is always there where man stays away from Christ and closes himself off from him.
J. Ratzinger expressed the perfect biblical idea of the final judgment. He wrote: “Through death, man enters reality unshielded, he enters the truth. The masquerade, fictions and appearances are over. [...] The judgment consists in throwing off all the masks in the moment of death. The judgment is the truth itself, the revelation of the truth. But the truth is not some one indifferent neutral. God is the truth. [...] Only God's truth can be the judging and final truth. God is the Judge just as He is Truth. [...] And this Truth first comes out to man to save him "(J. Ratzinger," Death and Eternal Life ", Warsaw 2000, p. 188).
Until Tomorrow,
fr. george