Come, Lord Jesus

“He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20). “Come, Lord Jesus” is the prayer of Jesus’s beloved disciple John, located at the very end of the Bible. Every December, as the world rejoices the Saviour’s birth, the celebrations bring our thoughts back to that moment more than 2,000 years ago. The night when Jesus was born, everyone was asleep and nobody realized that their Saviour had arrived in this world, let alone be prepared for the occasion.

But wait! There was one person who was ready – the just and devout Simeon in Jerusalem! He had long hoped to meet the Messiah, and the Holy Spirit was upon him, revealing to him that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord Christ. He would meet the infant Jesus in the temple slightly more than a month after He was born, and he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: “Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation...”

Each year, countless thousands of people attend Christmas plays and cantatas, yet most of them would still fail to see Jesus. The renowned Hellen Keller, who was deaf and blind, said: “The greatest tragedy to befall a person is to have sight but lack vision.” How sad it is that many live their entire lives without realizing that they were the protagonists in the biggest tragedy of all!

Time flies and we are now awaiting the Lord’s Second Coming with eager anticipation. Natural and manmade disasters have laid waste to many parts of the world, society is degenerating by the day, and the Middle East in particular is caught up in a stormy situation. All these, together with the meteoric rise of false prophets around the world, signal the impending return of Jesus Christ. One does not even have to refer back to the Bible for verses that point to the signs of His return – there are enough news every day which remind us that the day is not too far away. Yet, how many of us are truly ready to meet Him? John, the beloved disciple of the Lord, suffered for His sake all his life. The thought that Jesus would be returning surely fills his heart with joy, for he knows the time for him to receive his heavenly reward has come, and he is all ready to meet his Lord and Saviour again.

The first time Jesus came to our world was to be the Saviour of non-believers, but in His Second Coming, He would be returning as the judge of those who still reject Him. All who refused His saving grace will have to bear the burden of their own sins. Even the minute details in every line of gossip would be revealed for all to see and judged like the Watergate scandal. What a terrifying thought indeed!

When the Lord first came, many of the Jews missed the blessing of welcoming Him. In His Second Coming, even more people would be unprepared and thus have no escape from eternal suffering. As we remember our Saviour’s birth, let us not forget that He is returning soon and ask ourselves: “Am I ready to meet Him?”