A rather odd title, I know.
Just in case you haven’t heard yet, there’s a fellow in California who would claim to be “one of us” and he is making a big splash in the media with a prediction of the return of Jesus this Saturday (May 21st) at 6:00 PM. The reason I am addressing it is because the media loves to get hold of these kinds of stories and milk them for all they’re worth. I heard him being interviewed on the stately BBC (of all places) this morning as I drove in to work. So if you are known as a follower of Jesus among your circle of friends (and I hope you are), you could conceivably be asked for your opinion on this issue.
The man in the spotlight is Harold Camping and he is the 89 year old founder of “Family Radio,” a program heard round the world. (I’ve never heard it, and don’t want to.) His organization has erected 1200 billboards around the U.S. and 2000 others in other countries around the world announcing the beginning of Judgement Day this coming Saturday. He claims to be “absolutely certain” of his prediction and that God has precisely revealed the date of Christ’s coming to him through a very complicated mathematical process based upon data from the Bible. The cheeky BBC reporter asked him, if he should happen to still be around this Sunday, if he might have a follow up interview to see what went wrong. Mr Camping replied that this simply would not be possible - he is so sure of what he is saying.
You can think it through on your own, but here is what I would tell my friends who might be curious about all this, or more tragically, will be mocking next week about another Christian nut case out there, further confirming their unbelief and scepticism.
1. Completely contrary to what Harold Camping is claiming, Jesus very explicitly said in the New Testament that no man knows “the hour or the day” of His return (Matthew 24:36). Camping claims to know both the day and even the hour (6:00 PM)! Either he or Jesus is wrong and I know where I’m putting my money!
2. This is not the first time Camping has made such a prediction. I remembered his name immediately when I heard all this because back in 1994 he was in the spotlight for making a similar prediction which (obviously) didn’t pan out. When asked about that one he simply said he got a few things wrong in his calculations but is absolutely certain he has it right this time.
3. These types of predictions are nothing new. A group called the Millerites (forerunners of the Seventh day Adventists) became famous for predicting the return of Jesus on March 21st, 1844. The Jehovah’s Witnesses have made at least two bungled predictions of this sort during the last century and there have, unfortunately, been many others. Our human capacity for foolishness, sensationalism and conspiracy theories seems to have no limit.
4. I would also tell my friends that I do believe in the return of Jesus. In fact, I long for it. He promised to return – at an hour that we would not expect. This is the hope of my life – to get called out of this insane asylum called planet earth and to enter the presence of perfect beauty, righteousness, love and truth forever, and to encounter it all in the person of Jesus Christ. I urge you, in light of all this current nonsense, don’t lose hope in the real thing!
5. These issues were even a problem in the early church. Read what Paul wrote to the Thessalonian church so long ago – “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way...” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3).
Personally, I hope the Lord comes back today or tomorrow or sooner than Saturday, and He could! Let’s live ready and alert as He has asked us to.
Maranatha!
John
