Jesus is what happens next

Everyone loves the Christ in the cradle. The image of baby Jesus in the Bethlehem barn warms our hearts. Each December we recreate the moment on our lawns and beneath our Christmas trees. Stores sell plastic donkeys and wooden mangers. People collect hand-carved images of Mary, Joseph, and the newborn child.

We love the Christ in the cradle.

The Christ of the cradle is now the Christ with the crowns. He is coming soon.

We are fine with Christ the gentle Messiah. Children sitting on his lap. Sheep gathered around him. The apostle John reclining on his chest. Mary anointing his feet. No one has a problem with a pleasant rabbi who offers sage advice, feeds crowds, and replenishes wine at a wedding.

Christ in the cradle? Wonderful. Christ the kindhearted? Delightful. But Christ the coming king? On a stallion? Roaring out of heaven? Crowned with the crowns of his enemies? On a mission to destroy those who destroy his children?

The world is less familiar with this view of Jesus. Yet this is the Jesus the world will soon see.

Did you know that the second coming is mentioned more than 300 times in the Bible, an average of once every 25 verses?

Scripture gushes with the news of Christ’s return like water in full spate. Jesus assured the depressed disciples, “I will come again” (John 14:3 NKJV). When Jesus ascended, the angel told the witnesses, “[Jesus] will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11 NIV). Paul referred to “the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Tim. 6:14 NIV). Peter affirmed, “The day of the Lord will come” (2 Peter 3:10 NIV). Jude announced, “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones” (Jude 14 NIV).

We are in the season of Advent. Advent leads us to the beautiful culmination of Christmas, when we celebrate the incarnation of God.

Are we ready for the hope of what will come when Jesus, the very child born in Bethlehem, will once again come to reign for eternity?

We wait, but we must be ready.

Ready for the arrival of our coming king. Ready, waiting, vigilant, like the soldiers who guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. The men and women who stand guard there display an unparalleled level of fidelity. They devote eight hours to the preparation of their uniforms. Gloves are worn wet to improve the grip on the rifle. Shanks are attached to the inside of each shoe so the soldier can click his or her heels.

The sentinel repeats the same walk over and over: 21 steps, then a 21-second pause, the rifle is shifted to the other shoulder, then 21 more steps. He or she repeats this until being relieved at the changing of the guard.

During the summer months, the soldier is on duty for 30 minutes. During the winter, 60 minutes. The soldiers fulfill their task in the heat of August and the chill of January. The routine never varies, not even at night, when the cemetery is closed. When Hurricane Isabel moved through the area in 2003, the soldiers never stopped. Not once. Trees fell and the wind whipped, but they kept their post.

They have maintained this vigilance every day of every year since 1921.

Remarkable.

If they can display such allegiance rightly given to unknown, dead soldiers, can we not do the same for our living, coming, ruling king? If these sentries are willing to patrol in honor of those who sacrificed, can’t we do even more for our king, who gave the greatest sacrifice? We are members of his battalion. We are enlisted in his regiment. We are returning with him someday. Can we not serve him on this day?

What can you do today in honor of your king? What kindness can you perform? What offense can you forgive? What temptation can you resist? What gift can you offer? What discipline can you begin? What sacrifice can you make? What act of love can you show?

Let’s behave like the people we have been called to be: soldiers in the returning army of the King of kings.

The Christ of the cradle is now the Christ with the crowns. He is coming soon.