The Christmas song Joy to the World offers a glimpse of how Jesus will reign when he returns. The last stanza goes: “He rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness…” It says we will be amazed and wonder as we witness his love.
This time, we hope Jesus will come in power that worldly leaders will be unable to resist. In his first appearance, the disciples of Jesus expected him to lead an army against the Romans. He was supposed to be a charismatic leader, like David had been. Instead, Jesus demonstrated that anyone aspiring to greatness must be the servant of all. He let worldly power put him to death.
For his second coming, we expect the fulfillment of his kingdom. We could be mistaken, so we will have to hold our hopes lightly. However, the contrast between Jesus and today’s world leaders is stark. Trump and Putin do not rule with truth and grace. Human leaders wield earthly power. But Jesus will not need an army, nor tanks, drones, or nuclear weapons.
Let’s imagine for a few minutes. We now know much more about the character of Jesus. If you don’t believe in miracles, you may be suddenly convinced. Jesus coming back at all would be a miracle. But of course, we may not immediately recognize him. As he rules with truth and grace, we might get the picture. I suspect that earthly powers will become impotent, but perhaps this will depend on the intended use of a given power by a particular human.
For example, suppose a person aims a semi-automatic rifle at someone else and pulls the trigger. Jesus is here, so the result is unexpected. The bullets dissolve as they exit the barrel, and instantaneously, the shooter receives a bullet wound at the place he was aiming for the other person.
Suppose an army sends a drone to a city and tries to destroy an apartment building. The drone operator guides the weapon into place and releases the bomb. Perhaps, he watches it fall toward the target. Suddenly, the building where he sits explodes. Or suppose the operator did not want to hurt innocent people, but was only following orders. Justice knows. The explosion will find the power source. Generals have always sent others into harm’s way, but if they don’t care about Jesus, justice will find them in whatever bunker they may hide.
By definition, a miracle is a supernatural intervention that causes events to behave in ways that would not be possible if left to the normal Laws of Nature. With Jesus in the house, water can suddenly be wine. He does not need to wave his hand like a magician. He does not need to interrupt Nature at some preliminary point so that it can proceed (in an accelerated timeframe) to use natural processes and make water into wine. He speaks the wine into existence (so to speak).
He does not need an army of humans or an army of angels. His power is so complete that every atom obeys him.
An angry thug tries to stab another person on the street and thrusts his knife forward. The gut of the other person seems to be air, and the attacker feels a sudden, sharp stab. The blood spilt turns out to be his own.
A man tries to grab a woman, intending to force her to the ground and rape her. Strangely, his strong arms find nothing to hold onto. He is thrust to the ground by some invisible force, and the weapon he had intended to use goes missing.
How might white collar crime lose power? Perhaps, money will no longer be needed. Poor people will find food in their refrigerators. So will everyone else. (Give us this day our daily bread.) Putting food on the table will not be a primary purpose of work. Activities that advance the will of God will be fulfilling. Those who work against it will suddenly be impotent.
Teaching young children and entertaining very old people may be among the most rewarding activities. Serving others will not be a low-wage job.
Non-Christians may scoff and say, “What a dreamer!” It has, after all, been two thousand years. Yet, we are only as far past the time of Jesus as Abraham was before. If nothing else, imagining Jesus ruling with truth and grace might help us see how bad some of our leadership has been. The opposite of truth is bullshit. The opposite of grace is vindictiveness.
Will Jesus go around giving entry passes to Christians and rejection notices to everyone else? We may be surprised. Remember, the first shall be last and the last first. And Jesus taught that the shepherd would often leave the herd to rescue a single lost sheep. Claiming to be Christian and attending church every Sunday will not necessarily grant a free pass. Things kept in the dark may be subject to the light of day. Our only chance will be to admit our shortcomings and rely on God’s mercy.
It will be interesting to watch how long it takes for the worldly powerful to realize that things have drastically changed. Perhaps the humble will recognize it immediately, but the proud will struggle for a while until they begin to accept that some foundational shift has occurred. How long will they try this or that to maintain their power? Will they run away or wall themselves off in the compounds of mansions? Order their bodyguards and security personnel? Will they have no idea that such a person as Jesus could exist?
Perhaps even Christian leaders, accustomed to respect and the obedience of their congregations, will be hesitant to bow down to Jesus. Will they instead be tempted to retain their power, fail to recognize the second coming, and distrust the Jesus they supposedly called others to follow? It may be difficult for the first to become last. They may have felt so sure in their understanding of God that seeing something completely different would be hard to accept.
By now, almost everybody knows that power tends to corrupt, and the greater the earthly power, the greater the chance of corruption.
Jesus uses unexpected methods. All this imagining may be wildly off base. His first disciples had the privilege of witnessing many miracles, yet still failed to understand power that rose far above the earthbound. We have biblical references to little anti-christs and names written in the Book of Life (or not). We may discover that these metaphors lose relevance and become woefully inadequate.
The Creator has given us fertile imaginations, which we can use to our heart’s content, providing more or less valuable insight. The most profitable intellectual posture is probably to remain comfortable with uncertainty. But we can strongly suspect that Isaac Watts, the writer of Joy to the World, was onto something. Truth and grace are heavenly gifts. Those who have never read about Jesus may be indifferent to truth and grace, which could be why they will not recognize him when he returns.