At the end of each Martyrs (Coptic) year the Church reminds us about what will happen at the end of days, so that we prepared at the time for the Second Coming, for this the Gospel of this Sunday and the following Sunday talks to us about the Second Coming of the LORD JESUS. Today’s Gospel is from the Gospel according to St Mark chapter 13. The second coming of the LORD JESUS CHRIST was mentioned in the 3 Gospels of St Matthew, Mark and Luke, as for Saint John, he was unique alone in the Book of Revelation with the events of the Second Coming. The Second Coming needs us to listen to the advice said by the LOTD JESUS (Mar 13:37) “ And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” Staying awake and watching is important because the time when the LORD JESUS will come is unknown. HE shall be coming suddenly, suddenly, as a thief. And the word “watch,” which the LORD JESUS CHRIST demands of us, meaning to be prepared, means that you should be ready for the Second Coming. “And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.”
The Coptic Church believes, according to the teachings of the Bible, that there are two comings for the LORD JESUS. The first coming was the one which had that strange sign. (Luke 2:12) “ And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” This same sign is an image of humility which was necessary for the First Coming in which the LORD JESUS came to save sinners, announcing the joy of heaven over one sinner who repents, and the first coming did not include judgment or judgments.
As for the second coming, it is very different, because it is fearful and full of glory, In it, GOD rewards each one according to his deeds, it is the boundary between this life and the afterlife, and with the Second Coming, a new life begins, on a new earth and a new sky, in which righteousness dwells, and we will be with the LORD GOD at all times.
Saint Paul the Apostle raised many slogans about the Second Coming, among them:
Maranatha: it means (come, LORD) this slogan was with which St Paul ended his first letter for the Corinthians when he wrote “1Co 16:22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.” Anathema means to be forbidden. This slogan was also the same slogan with which St John ended his Revelation (Rev 22:20) “ He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” The phrase “Maranatha” bears strong evidence of the church’s recognition from the start about the Second Coming of the LORD JESUS.
The second slogan is: the LORD GOD is at hand. The first men of the church believed that the LORD is at hand. This faith caused the Thessalonians to go up the mountains, looking to the east, until the LORD JESUS would come. They took with them enough supplies until the LORD comes, and they ran out of supplies, St Paul learned about this and wrote the letter to the Thessalonians, which focuses on the element of surprise. In the Book of Revelation there is talk about the approaching time, and this is what the angel of the vision said (Rev 22:10) “Then he told me, Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near.”
The nearness of time for a person means the time to leave this world, when the believer waits with the redeemed after it. We are all waiting for the Second Coming, watching all the events and being comforted by them and looking forward to the Second Coming that will come from the East, and we pray towards the East and we sleep towards the east and bury our dead ones towards the east and say with the Apostle Paul: Maranatha, come, LORD JESUS, and hear the LORD JESUS saying(Rev 22:12) “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” We wait for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come. Amen. Good News