The solution to ‘What’s the problem?’

It is the birth of Christ on the first Christmas Day and His second coming

By Deacon Bob Hunt

Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. Advent is a season of preparation for the celebration of Christmas, the Nativity of the Lord. It is also a season of preparation for the second coming of our Lord. It is the faith of the Church that Christ will return in glory. When He does, He will come to gather all those faithful to Him.

The Gospel according to Matthew (24:15-31) tells us that an abomination will stand “in the holy place.” This is a reference to an image of a false god sitting in the Temple in Jerusalem. Not to be taken literally, it refers to the loss of faith of so many of God’s people, or the assimilation of the true faith with that of false religions to confuse many. Matthew warns that, when such a thing happens, then those in Judea are to flee to the mountains, those on their rooftops (a common place for relaxation in ancient Palestinian homes) were not to run inside to gather their things, and those working in the fields were not to take the time to gather their cloaks. In other words, make haste! The time is at hand! When Jesus returns, do not waste your time gathering your possessions, which at this point will mean nothing. Instead, run to Him!

The Gospel according to Luke (21:7-36) informs us that there will be false messiahs and false prophets. Do not follow them. There will be wars, insurrections, earthquakes, plagues, famines. Do not be terrified.

There will also be a great tribulation. Indeed, the Church expects that there will be a great persecution before the second coming and the falling away of many who once believed:

Before Christ’s second coming, the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers (Luke 18:8, Matthew 24:12). The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the “mystery of iniquity” in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of His Messiah come in the flesh (2 Thessalonians 2:4-12; 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3; 1 John 2:18-22) (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 675).

“A religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth.” This, of course, is a temptation of every age, but the Catechism indicates it will be an especially difficult trial before the second coming. People will be attracted to this “religious deception” in hope that their problems will be solved. Who doesn’t desire that? Who wouldn’t be attracted to that? It is the temptation to deny the truth of Christ, even to deny reality, in the hope that our problems will be solved. But it is a false promise, a false hope. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus is the only truth, the only way to salvation. Do not deny Jesus for anything or anyone.

“The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and His Messiah come in the flesh.” This, again, is the deception of every age. Not necessarily a particular person, the Antichrist is anything or anyone that takes God off the throne of a person’s heart and replaces God with him or her self, or of human powers of any type. It is the false premise that we can answer for ourselves, solve our own problems, master any conundrums with the wit of our own brain power and the muscle of our own physical strength. Again, it is a false promise, a false hope.

I once wore a button to my high school class that read, “Jesus is the answer.” A teacher asked me, “What’s the problem?” “What’s the problem?” You don’t know? The problem is broken humanity caught up in sin. The problem is our hopes dashed by the false promises of deceitful men. The problem is multitudes trapped in poverty, in despair, in mindsets not based on reality, in oppression by others who keep them down for their own profit, and in themselves looking for freedom in the chains of addiction, drugs, sex, money, or the ideologies of a world seemingly set on destroying itself. “What’s the problem?” Do you really have to ask?

What’s the solution? Jesus! The coming of Jesus on that first Christmas Day and the second coming of Jesus on the last day. Luke writes, “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.” This is simply to paint the picture that the second coming will be obvious to all who witness it and a dread to the nations who opposed our Lord through history. “People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” Those who have placed their hope in things other than in “God and of His Messiah come in the flesh” will falter in the face of God’s judgment on the world. Their powers will be nothing in the face of Christ coming in the clouds.

Luke continues: “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” This is the moment of truth, the moment of judgment. Christ came the first time in humility and poverty. When Christ returns, He will come in glory and power. Then Luke extols us: “But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.” See to it that when the Lord returns you do not hide or cower. No! Those of us who are faithful to Him, who have taken up our crosses and followed Him, who have united our sufferings with His, who have placed our faith in the resurrection—we are to stand erect and raise our heads. This is the day of our redemption!

When will that day come? We do not know. Jesus says not even the angels and the Son, but only the Father knows (Matthew 24:36). Now, St. Athanasius tells us that Jesus as fully human does not know the day, but Jesus as fully divine knows everything. In any case, the point is that we do not know when the day will come, so we must always be prepared. Luke again: “Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Be ever faithful, ever true to the Son of Man, and He will be faithful and true to you when He comes again. “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.

Deacon Bob Hunt is a husband, father, grandfather, and parishioner at All Saints Church in Knoxville. He is author of the book “Thy Word: An Introduction to the Bible for People in the Pews.”