Hermeneutics

When and from where is Jesus ‘coming on the clouds’?

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The phrase ‘coming on the clouds’ is commonly misread as referring to Jesus’ return at the end of the age—when reading it in context and noticing its source in Daniel 7 paints a very different picture.

I have spent the week at Lee Abbey in Devon (if you have not been, you should go!), teaching on Hope and the End of the World.

In my teaching and reflection on issues around eschatology and the ‘second coming’ of Jesus, there is one phrase that keeps coming up, and to which people thinking about these things keep returning: the language of the Son of Man ‘coming with the clouds.’ When I have offered an alternative reading to the key passages in Matthew 24 and Mark 13, this is one of the main things that people get stuck on. I think the reason for this is that people assume that the key questions have obvious answers—so we don’t even need to ask them. But it is important to reflect on: in this phrase, where is Jesus coming from, and where is he coming to? When will this happen? And what is the origin of the phrase?

What does Jesus have against us?

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Each year, during November, the Morning Prayer weekday lectionary takes us through the first few chapters of the Book of Revelation. In chapters 2 and 3, we have messages to the ekklesiae in seven cities of Roman Asia, the west end of what we now know as Turkey—and I happen to be sitting in one of those cities as I write, having just led a study tour around the seven. There are some important and challenging things to note about these messages.

First, these are not ‘letters’ as they are commonly called, since they do not have the features of first-century letter-writing. In fact, the whole of Revelation is a letter, with part of the introduction looking very similar to Pauline letters elsewhere in the NT. There is some debate in scholarship about how best to characterise this section, but the most persuasive suggestion is that these are royal proclamations from the risen Jesus who, having been raised, ascended and vindicated, exercises royal power from the throne he shares with the One seated there. And they are not written to ‘churches’ in the way we often think—institutions with buildings and leadership structures. They are addressed to the collective (and occasionally gathered) new Israel of God in Jesus.

Secondly, as is easy to see, the seven messages are striking in their consistent structure of seven main elements, including opening and closing phrases which are repeated word for word:

Holey Exegesis: Schreiner versus Sprinkle on women and authority in Scripture

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Andrew Bartlett, author of Men and Women in Christ: Fresh Light from the Biblical Texts (IVP Books, 2019) writes: New Testament scholar Preston Sprinkle has created quite a stir with his new book, From Genesis to Junia: An Honest Search for What the Bible Really Says About Women in Leadership. Formerly ‘complementarian’, Sprinkle has changed … Continue Reading

What is ‘transfigured’ in Matthew 17?

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The lectionary gospel reading for the last Sunday before Lent in Year A, is Matt 17.1–9, Matthew’s account of the Transfiguration. You can find video discussion of this commentary here and posted at the end. The epistle is Peter’s account in 2 Peter 1.16–21; you can find the video discussion of that passage here and … Continue Reading