I just googled it and found that people are predicting that Jesus will return in 2024, 2030, and 2033. Yes, I mentioned 2024. Yes, I know that was last year. Did Jesus return last year, and I missed it? Remember the hype of Y2K, or the end of the Mayan Calendar, or 2012? Remember rapture-bombing? Here are a few examples:
As you can see in the photos, rapture-bombing was a rather hilarious (in my opinion) social media trend where people set out clothing to make it look like the rapture happened. Just to be clear, the rapture didn’t happen last year.
When I was a kid, the thought of the rapture scared me. The rapture is the belief that Jesus’ return will be in two stages, the first of which is only in the air to “rapture” or cause all true Christians around the world to suddenly and simultaneously disappear in an instant, leaving every else behind. What really freaked me out was the thought that maybe I wasn’t a true Christian, and I would be one of the left behind.
Forty years later, I think about the rapture very differently. Yet, I must admit that there are passages in Scripture that still have me wondering about the rapture. This week in our blog series through 1st Thessalonians, we are looking at one of those passages. Take a look for yourself. It’s 1st Thessalonians 4:13–5:4. In fact this passage is considered by some bible scholars to be the clearest teaching about a rapture. Is it, though? And are there dangers to rapture theology? I think there might be.
We’ll talk about it more this coming week!
Engaging Scripture 