Apocalypse is Finally About Good News

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, November 14, 2021

As we come to the end of the liturgical year, it is most fitting that we meditate upon the apocalypse, the end-time, for that is what today’s Gospel is about. Jesus and his disciples are in the Temple of Jerusalem. For anyone of Jesus’ time, coming to the capital city from the countryside of Nazareth and seeing the Temple would definitely be an overwhelming experience. Undoubtedly, the Temple was the most beautiful and impressive thing any of the disciples of Jesus had ever seen. So, as they watch and admire the Temple’s glory and splendor, Jesus announces that the day is coming when no stone will be left upon another, that all will be torn down. Could you imagine what the reaction of his disciples would be? It’s like standing in front of the White House or St. Peter’s Square in Rome and announcing that a day will come when it will be torn down. To make matter worse, Jesus adds that the world as you know it is going to be destroyed: “In those days after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and stars will be falling from the sky, and the heavenly host will be shaken.” Could you imagine the impact of this language on the disciples? The person speaking is not any random person, but Jesus himself, and he is saying that the whole world of meaning is ending and falling apart. This kind of language is fascinating. And up and down the centuries, people are fascinated by apocalyptic language, about the end of time, when will it happen and what is it going to be like. This fascination about the end-time persists till this day. Walk into any bookstore and you will find lots of books  about the end-time. Go to your search engine like google, you will find thousands of references on the web about the end-time. Yes, we are fascinated by apocalyptic languages just as the disciples were when Jesus first uttered the apocalyptic words. 

The question then is, what do we make of Jesus’ apocalyptic words and how do we understand it? If we take his language as an actual description of cosmological events, we Christians are going to be on a very unpredictable ground. Check this out! Right after Jesus made those apocalyptic comments, he says, “Amen I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.” This generation? The generation that he was talking to? The first century Palestine? Is Jesus predicting that the space and time will end before the generation he was addressing passes away? If Jesus means it strictly, that means he is as wrong as he can be; and his prophetic credentials are really in trouble. So, beware of taking this language literally or else we undermine our Lord’s credibility. So, what does it mean? 

First, apocalyptic language is a kind of literary genre. The Book of Daniel in the OT is the best example of the apocalyptic literature. The Book of Revelation in the NT is another beautiful example of it. The word “apocalypse” is from the Greek word “apokalypsis” which means “unveiling,” taking the veil away, revelation. It does not mean the end of the world. But what’s being unveiled here? What’s being revealed? Let’s return to what Jesus says: In those days… the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, stars will fall from the sky…” 

Sisters and brothers, that’s a code language. For ancient people, the sun, the stars, the moon were means of navigation. People used them to find their way and to know the time of the day. Today, if we want to know the time of the day, we look at our watch. Back then, people look at the sun and the shadow of the sun. They believed that these cosmic principles guided their lives and governed the world. So, what Jesus is talking about here is that the temple which has served its purpose relatively well, would now give way to a new and definitive temple, his own body. He is saying that his own body, his own person, will become the place where humanity and divinity meet, and hence  the place of right praise. He is also saying that the cosmic principles of the sun, moon and the stars that are guiding, governing and ordering people’s lives will change. Something new is going to be unveiled (apocalypsis in Greek). And this change is going to happen in this generation. What change? His death and resurrection from the dead. After being rejected by everybody, Jesus was put to death by the religious and political establishment of his time. He was put to death by the Jewish and Roman authorities— keepers of the right order. The Lord of life came, and they killed him. What does that say about them? What does that say about the sun, the moon, the stars and the cosmic principles by which their political, cultural and social life are being governed? It means something is wrong with them because they killed the Lord of life. But then, Jesus whom they killed rises from the dead on the third day. 

If there is one thing we are certain of, it is the fact of death, the finality of death. People change their lifestyles due to the fact of death. But Jesus’ resurrection from dead means that the way we are governing and ordering our life has to change. Why? Because death does not have the final word. Death has been disempowered and it does not set the parameters of our life. Because I am afraid of dying, I cave in on myself. Because I am afraid of dying, I live an epicurean life. I trumpet my accomplishment. Because I am afraid of dying, I become violent. I can’t forgive another. Because I am afraid of dying, I fill my life up with material things. Because I am afraid of dying, I distract myself with all kinds of physical and sensual pleasures. The point is this, all sin comes ultimately from the fear of death. Every tyranny, every system of domination, every governmental brutality over the centuries is predicated upon fear. Because tyrants can make you afraid of death, he can oppress you. He can manipulate you, dominate you. But Jesus rising from the dead means God’s love is more powerful than death. That means the ways of sin are broken. That means I don’t have to live in pride, envy, avarice, fear, violence. I can now live in the freedom of God’s children. I can now live as God wants me to live. More to it, I don’t have to accept the tyranny of oppressive leaders for they have now been unmasked because something has been unveiled. The thing they were relying upon, the fear of death has been broken. The apocalypse, the unveiling of this new way of seeing and thinking and imagining has been revealed to us. Apocalyptic is not a depressing language after all; it is not a language that should frighten us. It’s quite the contrary. It’s meant to show us the way out. The old order is passing away, and a new order is being unveiled, revealed. That’s a great good news. As St. Paul says, it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me. It means the old self predicated upon the fear of death, guided by the sun, moon and stars of the old order is falling out of the sky. They are gone. Now, I can govern my life by the power and life of Jesus Christ who is risen from the dead. That is why this apocalyptic language is finally the language of life, the language of hope.