The Crucified Messiah

The return of Jesus at the “ end of the age ” is portrayed as a singular event of great finality. His “ arrival ” or ‘ Parousia ’ will be accompanied by celestial and terrestrial upheaval, the appearance of the New Creation, the resurrection of the righteous dead, the judgment and punishment of the ungodly, the “gathering of his elect,” and the cessation of Death. Mortality will be replaced by immortality, and nothing will ever be the same again!

Paul raises the subject ot the resurrection of believers in 2 Timothy  when dealing with false teachers who denied this essential truth. As he wrote, “ God did not give us a spirit of fear but of a sound mind .” The theme of “ sound teaching ” is prominent, and the future resurrection was a basic element of the Church’s forward-looking hope since Jesus “ abolished death ” when God raised him from the dead.

In his letter to the Laodiceans, the “ Son of Man ” is called the “ Beginning of the Creation of God ,” and the “ Amen, the faithful and true witness .” In his Death and Resurrection, the long-promised “ New Heavens and New Earth ” had commenced. Jesus is called the “ faithful witness ” in the Book’s opening paragraph, a reference to his faithfulness in death on the Roman cross.

When certain members of the Corinthian congregation denied the future resurrection of the righteous, Paul appealed to the past resurrection of Jesus as the precedent and grounds for this coming resurrection. His faithful disciples will be raised bodily from the dead when he “ arrives ” at the end of the age, and Death itself will be terminated.

The priesthood of Jesus is a key subject of Hebrews . He is the “ merciful and faithful High Priest ” who intercedes for us. The topic is anticipated in the Letter’s opening paragraph by its declaration that the Son “ achieved the purification of sins ,” and therefore he “ sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high ” as the “ High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek ” for his people.