Second Coming

From East to West: Why the Messiah Comes Like Sunrise, Not Thunderbolt

The saying of Jesus about his coming being like lightning seen from east to west has, for generations, been read through an imagination shaped more by spectacle than by substance, more by fear than by truth. The dominant image—of a vertical thunderbolt crashing down from the heavens, overwhelming the world in a single moment—may appear majestic, but it subtly reintroduces a theology of domination that stands at odds with both the language Jesus uses and the way he actually lived.

When the World Trembles

The Lord’s warning of wars, earthquakes, and famine was never a timetable of terror but a portrait of the human condition.
These things happen in every age because every age lives on the edge of revelation.
The world is always trembling, and in every tremor the Christ may already be near.
The “signs” are not alarms of His delay but invitations to notice His presence amid the shaking — the quakes of conscience, the hunger for mercy, the storms of fear.
Each collapse of certainty is another birth pain of the Kingdom, every moment of compassion a quiet arrival.

The Thief and the King in the Second Coming

Scripture Reading:
“Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches.” — Revelation 16:15
“They shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” — Matthew 24:30

1. Two Faces of One Coming

Brothers and sisters,
there is a mystery hidden within the words of Christ.

Like the Sunrise, Not the Thunderbolt

A sermon on Matthew 24:28

Brothers and sisters,

When people hear Jesus speak about his coming, many imagine something terrifying and spectacular: the sky split open, a bolt of lightning crashing down from above, a sudden shock that overwhelms the world in a single moment. It is dramatic. It is powerful. And yet—Jesus did not come to train our imagination in fear, but in truth.

Today I want to invite you to look again at the image Jesus uses, and to ask a simple question: what kind of light reveals God?

Matthew 24:28 Reconsidered: Horizontal Light, Not Vertical Descent

The common reading of Matthew 24—especially the imagery associated with lightning—has shaped a dramatic but deeply misleading imagination of the Messiah’s appearing. Many assume that Jesus describes a vertical descent: a thunderbolt-like apparition falling from the sky to the earth, momentary yet overwhelming, instantly recognizable by all humanity. Though outwardly impressive, this interpretation quietly imports a false theology of power, one that contradicts both the language of the text and the lived pattern of Jesus Christ himself.

Do Not Become the Carcass

When Jesus says, “Where the carcass is, there the vultures gather,” it sounds strange to modern ears. It sounds dark, even cruel. Many people hear it as a gloomy proverb about death being inevitable, or as a poetic way of saying that bad things attract bad things. But Jesus is not being poetic here, and he is not offering a riddle to be admired. He is warning people in the clearest language he can use.

Jesus is not talking about birds. He is talking about responsibility.

Where the Law Stands, the Vultures Are Not Judged

The persistent difficulty readers have with Jesus’ hardest sayings comes from a basic misplacement of who Jesus is in relation to language. He is almost universally treated as a sage who speaks in aphorisms, metaphors, and evocative moral imagery, when the Gospels present him first and foremost as a lawgiver. A wise teacher offers reflections meant to provoke thought; a lawgiver issues statements that assign responsibility and fix judgment. This distinction matters because aphorisms describe tendencies, while law establishes conditions.

Where the carcass is, there the vultures gather

Jesus as Lawgiver, Not Aphorist

The fundamental mistake of mainstream Christianity is assuming that Jesus speaks primarily as a wise teacher who occasionally issues commands. The Gospels present the opposite: Jesus speaks as law embodied, issuing judgments that constitute reality. This is why the Sermon on the Mount does not interpret Torah but replaces its adjudicative center: “But I say to you.” A lawgiver does not speak in aphorisms. Aphorisms invite reflection; law assigns responsibility.

Jesus Christ as the Sovereign Legislator in Matthew 5:17

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17, ESV)

Matthew 5:17: The Elephant Everyone Misses

Most interpreters—conservative or liberal—approach Matthew 5:17 with a very small question:

“Did Jesus abolish the Law or not?”

Second Coming