The Sunday gospel lectionary reading for Advent 1 in Year C is Luke 21.25–36, from this gospel’s version of what is often called the ‘Little Apocalypse’. As usual, we need to read on to put this text in its context to understand both the text itself and how it compares with its parallels in Mark and Matthew.
Rather than offering a plan for the end of the world, Jesus deploys his pastoral wisdom, to enable us to live well in the in-between times, ‘between the lightning bolt and the thunderclap’.
Come and join Ian and James as they explore these questions!
Full written commentary behind the discussion can be found on the blog.
“Between the lightning and the thunderclap” Great! May I suggest what lies between these two is “Rumblings/sounds/voices” Rev.4:5/8:5/11:19/16:18 . This could be the power of the Gospel preached.
Lightning precedes the thunderclap only because the speed of light is so much faster that the speed of sound is it not? We used to calculate how far away the storm was by the number of seconds elapsing between the two occurrences…
That is correct. The point is that the second follows for sure from the first, and is inevitable.
Jesus’ return as king is guaranteed and follows from his ascension and enthronement as king at God’s right hand.
Ray, If lighning and thunder are symbolic, I believe, “rumblings, noises, voices” must also be symbolic of something too. What is it I was wondering.
But talking of counting the seconds… so far there has been 2000+ years between the lightning and the thunderous earthquake.