Son of Man

The Son of Man is returning. Now, before you go all "here goes the crazy Christian" on me, hear me out. Because this is not that.

But have you read some of the descriptions in the Gospel of Matthew, the words Jesus says about His return? He says things like, "Many will come saying they are the Messiah, but don't believe them" and "They will say, 'There He is! I saw Him over there!' but it will not be Me, so don't bother going to look."

Think about this for a second. If the Messiah won't be able to tell you who He is when He returns because He already told you not to listen to anyone who says he is the returned Messiah, and if other people can't tell you the Messiah has returned because Jesus Himself told you not to listen to them...then how are you going to know the Messiah has returned?

And if you ever figure it out, how are you supposed to tell anyone else? They've been told not to believe you.

Nobody in the world, not even the Messiah, can talk about the return of the Messiah when it happens. In our current paradigm, doesn't that strike you as odd? His entire ministry was word-of-mouth. It was rumors and reputation. It was stars in the sky and tearing of the curtains. His work today is heart-to-heart, hand-to-hand. In that day, none of that will work.

It's hard to imagine.

It's also really cool and awesome to imagine. Because it means that when He comes back, He's going to show you what Messiah means.

Oh, we think we know what Messiah means. It's steadfastness, but tenderness. It's the heart of a servant. It's this quiet presence, except, of course, when it needs to be loud. It's unassuming and kind of quiet but completely irresistible. It is healing and merciful and glorious and giving. Above all, it is love. And it is sacrifice. That's a nice Messiah.

I'm not sure that's what we will see on that day, though. Maybe it is, but I don't imagine that. In the life of the Messiah, there was strife. There was conflict. There was backbiting and conniving. There was a certain sect who stood against Him because they didn't know who He was, didn't believe He could be who He said He was. But that was Jesus talking.

When He returns, it will be undeniably so. And it's hard for my feeble brain to wrap about what it will mean when He no longer tells you, "I am the One," but shows you, "This is the Truth." I can't imagine what it's going to be like when everyone knows - they'll have to know. They will see with their eyes, hear with their eyes, feel with the very deepest parts of their presence because it's not going to be rumors and reputation. It's not going to be stars in the sky and tearing of the curtains. It's going to be tangible, able to be experienced with the senses and the heart, not processed in the mind.

It's going to be the full glory of God.

I imagine it will still be gentleness, the way your spirit gets in just the right place and hears just the right word to break the last little bit of resistance you're holding onto. I imagine it will be overwhelming, where you'll look around and wonder if you even are who you thought you were because all of a sudden, He is (whether you thought He was or didn't). I imagine it will still be a quiet presence, a sense of peace, except of course in the places in which it must be loud. I imagine it will be unassuming, but definitive. Not cocky, but confident. It won't be a moment in which we hear, "I told you so." It will be a time when He will say, "I promised." And we will know that is true.

I'm not really going anywhere with this, more like rambling. It's just that I was reading those passages in Matthew that warn not to listen to anyone who says they are the Son of Man returning or anyone who claims to have seen Him in one place or another, and I couldn't help but imagine what it might be like, knowing even He won't be able to tell us.

He's got to show us.

What do you dream of on that day?