What will it be like when Jesus returns? What will we see when we gaze up into the sky? (“why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” -Acts 1:11)
I remember reading the book Joshua when I was in High School. The story, if you’re not familiar, is about Jesus returning as a nondescript carpenter named Joshua. Basically, Jesus blends in and few recognize him as the come-again savior.
Differences in end-times theology, the rapture, and eschatology aside, I wonder: would we really notice when Jesus returns? Currently the Southern Hemisphere can see Comet Wainscoat (or Pans-STARRS or C/2011-L4 if you want to get really technical) but the same comet won’t be visible in the Northern Hemisphere for another week. Even the brightest object in the sky can only be seen by half the Earth at a time.
When the meteor exploded over Russia a couple of weeks ago, a friend was eager to tell me about it (me being a space-nerd after all). “No, the asteroid doesn’t pass by until tonight,” I insisted. Without cable, and not having yet logged on to the Internet, I hadn’t seen the news. Despite my ignorance, videos of the blast soon went viral, news services scrambled to explain what happened, and science committees stood up to warn of the dangers of something larger colliding with the Earth.
But to the people there, who saw it firsthand, how did they respond? Check out the fascinating video below taken from cell phones, security cameras, and dash cams. The reactions are what you’d expect. Is this real? Are we under attack? What is that? Now imagine the scene as Revelation describes above and ask yourself, when Jesus comes back will anyone believe it?