End Times
11 Soon afterward he went to a city called Na'in, and
his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As
he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man
who had died was being carried out, the only son of
his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd
from the city was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw
her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not
weep." 14 And he came and touched the bier, and the
bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to
you, arise." 15 And the dead man sat up, and began to
speak. And he gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized
them all; and they glorified God, saying, "A great
prophet has arisen among us!" and "God has visited his
people!" 17 And this report concerning him spread
through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding
country. (Luke 7:11-17)
How does this passage relate to eschatology (end
times)? There are a couple of connections that can be
made. If we call the city of Nain heaven,
(figuratively speaking), then all those who follow
Christ are on their way in to enjoy eternal life.
Those who are not following Christ are doomed to
follow eternal death and the grave. Notice also that
those following death are a LARGE crowd, showing the
significance of a world of sin and the fact that being
a Christian means taking up your cross versus being
popular to the world. Similar to Jesus going to the
dead man and touching the coffin, He comes to us out
of compassion and touches us with his body and blood.
Similar to Jesus giving the raised man back to his
mother, His victory over death gives us back to our
Heavenly Father. And an interesting note that they
meet at (or near) the city gate where kings
traditionally would meet with their people and hand
out judgments, blessings, etc., making the city gate
the metaphor for judgment day.
The Old Testament predicts 7 areas of eschatology:
the coming of a future Redeemer, the coming of the
Kingdom of God, a New Covenant, the restoring of
Israel, an outpouring of the spirit, the bringing of
God’s wrath to the wicked and salvation to the
believers, and finally a New heaven and a New Earth.
Jesus is the center of fulfillment for all of these.
He is the Redeemer who has rescued his people from
sin, death, and Satan. The kingdom of God has
appeared to man in the life, death, and resurrection
of Christ. The Old Covenant of “I will be your God
and you shall be my people” which was erased when sin
entered into the world through Adam is replaced by the
New Covenant of believing in Jesus as the Son of God
who died for the sins of the world. The New Israel is
those who believe in Christ. The outpouring of the
spirit began in Acts 2 with Pentecost. Christ took on
the judgment and wrath of God on our behalf, and it is
in Him that we are a new creation. After the
ascension of Jesus into heaven, all Christians await
His second coming when all believers will go to heaven
and all non-believers will be sent to hell, and heaven
and earth will be restored.
William Hiskey
DCE, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Bowling Green, KY
Updated: 07/29/03
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