THE SECOND COMING The very popular Christian idea known as the Second Coming is so bogus that it's hard to believe that anyone takes it seriously. Then again, maybe I shouldn't be too harsh, because it took me a number of years before I discovered its fatal flaw. Anyone who has ever read the gospels, and read them carefully, can't help but sense Jesus' utter passion for the kingdom of God. At one point he had a virtual breakdown over it:
Then He began to upbraid the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the Day of Judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell; for if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the Day of Judgment than for thee. ( Matthew 11:21-24)
He had commissioned his disciples to spread the word about God's kingdom. He placed the importance of that kingdom above family, his own and everyone else's. It is clearly evident that whoever started the Second Coming nonsense did not know Jesus, the Jesus of the gospels, that is. If Jesus truly did want God's kingdom to come to the earth, which he most certainly did, considering that he admonished his disciples to pray for such an event to transpire, and to do so on a daily basis,
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
then his departure from the earth, in the form of a so-called ascension, apparently clothed (if not virtually radiating) the power of God, makes no sense whatsoever. If he truly wanted God's kingdom to be established on the earth, as it had once been under Moses, why did he not stay and finish the job once he had safely conquered the problem of death? If you can overcome death, what else is there? Can you think of a more formidable enemy? So why did he leave? If he had the power to conquer death, he certainly had the power to set up the precious gem of a kingdom he literally ranted about. Did he change his mind for some reason? Why the hell did he leave? Why did he make a so-called second coming even necessary in the first place? If he was so eager to regenerate God's kingdom, when he was given the power he was surely given upon his resurrection, why did he not go ahead at that time and do the thing? Is there any conceivable reason that he would hesitate? Did something come up that he wasn't aware of? Something completely out of the blue? Somehow, I don't think so. Paul the Apostle is primarily responsible for starting the religious movement we know of as Christianity, and he relied heavily on the Second Coming drama to support his platform. It is obvious that he never walked with Jesus and listened to the passionate (and downright fanatical) promotion of the kingdom of God. Yes, it is all too obvious that Paul never heard such. If he had, he would have surely thought twice about endorsing and hard-selling the rumor about him coming back to finish his unfinished business. Unfinished business. What crap. Can you even begin to imagine a god having unfinished business? Doesn't a god have the power to do whatever the hell he wants to do, whenever the hell he wants to do it? Like I said, the Second Coming is bogus beyond belief.
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