Death and Resurrection
Stephen Terry
Commentary for the September 20, 2014
Sabbath School Lesson
“Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead
will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the
Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in
himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. Do
not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves
will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to
live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.” John
5:25-29, NIV
As we begin
the fall season in North America, we also begin the annual round of holidays
that take us through the end of the year and into the next. The first of those
fall holidays, one that children particularly look forward to with greedy
delight is Hallowe’en. Coming on October 31, it coincides with the beginning of
the Day of the Dead celebrations in Hispanic countries. Several similarities
tie the celebrations together. While in the United States, Hallowe’en is primarily
a children’s festival where the little children dressed as various demonic or
cartoon characters go door-to-door begging treats, it is also focused on children
during the first of the Day of the Dead celebrations as that first day is dedicated
to remembrance of children (innocents) who have died.
In both
celebrations the first day is followed by All Saints Day. In the United States
and Canada, perhaps some see the second day as a time of penance for the excesses
of the “demonic” activities of the evening before. For those celebrating the
Day of the Dead, however, the festival often continues for one more day to
honor the adults who have died by placing flowers and tokens of remembrance on
their graves, similar to Memorial Day in the United States. However, the
interest that many have about death and the dead does not end there.
On October
third, fittingly the month of these other celebrations, the movie “Left Behind,”
starring Nicholas Cage, will be premiered in theatres across the United States.
This movie, based on an obscure interpretive gloss from the Scofield Bible,[i]
posits that instead of facing death, some will be spirited away in a “secret
rapture,” while others who are “left behind,” will have a second chance for
salvation. For those who fear death and that may be curious what lies beyond
death’s door, this may be a panacea for that fear. They may feel that there is
at least a hope that they can cheat Charon at the River Styx and thus avoid
paying the price of that infernal trip.
This idea of
a secret rapture is primarily limited to protestant, evangelical circles and
has been championed by Tim LaHaye, who wrote the fantasy “Left Behind” series
of books. How a gloss from an early twentieth century Bible made its way by
means of a fantasy series into the fundamental theology of so many is somewhat
astonishing. Nonetheless, it speaks to the populism of the protestant
perspective that at times eschews educational restraints in favor of a “spirit
derived” theology. Did the Bible leave us with nothing to say on the subject, or
can we glean from its pages a different story?
Our
scripture passage at the top of the page might help us start in the right
direction. It tells us that those who are in the graves will be resurrected in
response to the voice of God. That voice along with what is often referred to
as the “last trumpet” sounding will be at the Parousia.[ii]
While Christ is the “first fruit” to be resurrected, the rest appear to wait in
the graves until His return. While this may seem like a long wait, especially
in view of the many centuries since Christ’s resurrection, it may not
necessarily seem so. There are those, such as our Catholic friends, who believe
that immediately at death we travel to one of three places: heaven, hell, or purgatory,
which is sort of lingering way station between the other two.
Ironically,
those who believe in this immediate transition may at first not realize
anything different. This is because when we sleep, we are not aware of the
passing of time. We even speak of people while sleeping as being “dead to the
world.” When we wake up, for all we know, we just went to sleep moments ago. In
the same way, those who have died and are in the graves will not be aware of
the passage of time and may believe that they have immediately gone to Jesus when
they awake to see Him in the clouds.
There may be
clues to the passage of time when Jesus comes that will reveal that our first
impression of immediately ascending to Jesus at death may be wrong. When we wake up in the morning after
a night’s sleep, we know it is morning because we went to bed in the dark and
now the sun is shining and birds are singing. Time has obviously passed. However,
perhaps all by then will be focused not on what happened before they got there,
but instead on what it means to be with Jesus.
But let’s
return to the issue of the secret rapture in the movie that is about to hit the
theatres. Where does this idea even come from? Some would trace this to Jesus’
words in Matthew, chapter 24,[iii]
where He speaks of one person being taken and the other left at the second
coming, hence the “left behind” phrase. However, the first problem that immediately
comes to the fore is that nowhere does Jesus say that this event is secret.
A second
problem arises when we read in other places about Jesus’ return. When we read
about that return in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, it seems anything but secret
with the loud trumpet and Jesus crying out for the dead to come forth. In fact
it becomes so difficult to reconcile these two accounts of the Parousia when
one holds to the idea of a secret rapture that many of those who do have
created a third coming of Jesus to make it all work. Placing the events of
Matthew 24 at the second coming, they follow it with a period of tribulation,
when people purportedly have a second chance to be saved, and then follow that tribulation
with a third coming of Jesus.
This is
problematic because Jesus never spoke of two separate trips to gather the
righteous, only one. Paul also only wrote of one. We can find an inference of
two trips in Revelation. In chapter nineteen, He returns as a Conqueror, and in
chapter 20, He returns to dwell with His people in the Holy City, New
Jerusalem. But what about the intervening period? Is it the tribulation? It
does not seem so, for those who hold to that idea claim that the tribulation is
a seven year period.[iv]
The intervening period per the text in chapter twenty is one thousand years.[v]
Not a fit by any means.
There is
also no indication when the New Jerusalem descends that there is any one saved
by a “second chance” conversion at this coming. The idea of second chance
theology seems strange in the first place. If there is indeed a second chance,
then why the need for the warning Jesus gave about being ready for His return
in Matthew 24? It makes no sense without extrapolating that warning also to a
third coming. But if we do, then that removes the need for the second coming
altogether since the third coming is the one that really counts.
Some might
feel that the purpose of the warning is about avoiding the tribulation more
than about being ready for Jesus. But if our faith is based solely on avoiding
tribulation, we may be going down the wrong path. In Paul’s second letter to
Timothy, he said that “…all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution.”[vi]
That does not sound like escapism to me. But perhaps there is a reason they
call fantasy writing “escapist literature.” It allures us into a sense of
comfort while avoiding the reality that can often be more troubling.
Perhaps
instead of relying on fanciful interpretations of the future with escapes from
tribulation and second chances, we would do well to rest in God and trust in
His leading, knowing that when we die, we will one day rise to the call of His
voice, and if we are fortunate to be living at Jesus return, we may see again
those loved ones who are raised to meet Him.
