This passage draws from stock...
Illustration
This passage draws from stock-in-trade apocalyptic language: wars, earthquakes, famines, and portents. These graphic and haunting warnings are vague, so vague that numerous generations have decided that the end of the world was imminent. Back in the '50s an evangelist in a remote area of Kentucky predicted that the world would end at 3:00 a.m. on a certain day the next month. An old farmer and his two rather dull sons were the only folk who believed the preacher. On the predicted night the three climbed atop a haystack to await the Lord's coming, but soon fell asleep. Some pranksters arrived just before dawn and set the haystack on fire. The farmer, awakened by the smell of smoke, jumped up, shook his sleeping sons, and yelled, "Wake up, you good-for-
nothings! The end has come and we've just been thrown into hell, just like I expected!"
Jesus, however, was not vague concerning the disciples. They would be arrested and persecuted, he told them, but that would become an opportunity for them to testify.
Some optimistic and cheery Christians try to apply the same principle to every difficulty of life. A woman who had checked in at a Baptist conference center returned to the registration desk. "I have a problem," she told the attendant.
"Ma'am," he responded, "here we don't have problems. We only have opportunities."
"Well, I don't know if this is a problem or an opportunity," the woman admitted, "but there's been a man assigned to my room."
-- Bristow
nothings! The end has come and we've just been thrown into hell, just like I expected!"
Jesus, however, was not vague concerning the disciples. They would be arrested and persecuted, he told them, but that would become an opportunity for them to testify.
Some optimistic and cheery Christians try to apply the same principle to every difficulty of life. A woman who had checked in at a Baptist conference center returned to the registration desk. "I have a problem," she told the attendant.
"Ma'am," he responded, "here we don't have problems. We only have opportunities."
"Well, I don't know if this is a problem or an opportunity," the woman admitted, "but there's been a man assigned to my room."
-- Bristow
