UNDERSTANDING The Second Coming by Pawson, David

of the second coming (1 Thessalonians 4:16) has been described as the “noisiest verse in the Bible”. God is speaking, the archangel is shouting, the trumpet is sounding – and it is difficult to imagine the millions who watch remaining silent when for the first time they see the one whom they have loved for so long. All this is in sharp contrast to his first coming. For Jesus’ first nine months on earth he was completely invisible, hidden in the darkness of Mary’s womb. Only a few close relatives knew of his presence. His birth was relatively unnoticed, except by a few shepherds, until wise men from the east alerted Herod to a potential rival. There were, of course, angels to announce his first advent as they would his second, and there was the star, one bright pinpoint of light in the sky, whose significance was only realised by those looking for it. The “king of the Jews” was only born in David’s royal city, Bethlehem, because a distant emperor introduced a new poll tax. Even then, his cradle was an animal feeding trough. It is obvious that the world was almost totally unaware of what was happening or who had come. It was as if God himself wanted as little publicity as possible for his Son’s intervention in history. This was to be a hidden visit to humankind, seen only by the eye of faith. Jesus’ second coming could not be more different; no longer as a helpless baby, but as a mature man; not with a single star in the sky, but with lightning from the eastern horizon to the w