In View of Meatfare Sunday, a Sermon on the Second Coming of the Lord
By Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Mani
By Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Mani
We confess and say in the seventh article of the Symbol of Faith:
“And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.”
This concerns the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ — a subject exceedingly important, primary, and of interest to every human being.
Let us recall, for consolation and spiritual edification, a few things about the Second Coming of the Lord.
First of all, the Second Coming of the Lord is called in Holy Scripture a “day” (1 Cor. 3:13), and indeed “that day” (Matt. 7:22; Luke 6:23; John 14:20), “the last day” (John 6:39), “the day of the Lord” (1 Cor. 5:5), “the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6), “the coming” (Matt. 24:3), “the appearing of glory” (Tit. 2:13), and “the revelation of His glory” (1 Pet. 4:13). The hymnography calls it “a dreadful day,” “a fearful day,” “the day of judgment.”
A second element of that last day is the unknown time of its arrival and, at the same time, its suddenness:
“Of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (Matt. 24:36).
The Apostle Paul writes that “the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:2).
This day remains unknown, just as the day of our death is unknown. Yet we should notice something: the Holy Gospel says, “when the Son of Man comes” (Matt. 25:31). It does not say if He comes or perhaps He comes, but when He comes — meaning the certainty that He will indeed come.
A third element is certain signs that will precede the Second Coming of the Lord: the preaching of the gospel to all nations, the appearance of false prophets, moral corruption, and general disorder in our world. Holy Scripture points these out in the 24th chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew.
Another element of that day is the general resurrection of the dead and the snatching up of the living “in the clouds to meet the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17). All — both living and dead — will stand before the dread judgment seat of the Lord, before the impartial Judge of the universe, at the fearful tribunal and court. In the “Gospel of the Judgment,” as it is called, we read that “all nations shall be gathered before Him” (Matt. 25:32): the entire human race, “all human nature,” will be judged and no one will be able to escape.
The Hymnographer of the Church writes:
“Then the trumpet shall sound loudly, the foundations of the earth shall be shaken, the dead shall rise from the tombs, all shall become of one age, and all shall be examined.”
The supreme event of that day will of course be the glorious presence of Christ. Christ will come this time “in His glory” (Matt. 25:31), accompanied by thousands of archangels and myriads of angels, for “all the holy angels” will be “with Him.” The first time He came into the world humble, obscure, poor, and weak in the cave of Bethlehem. Then, at His Second Coming, He will come from the heavens, glorified with His own glory. Coming, Christ will sit “on the throne of His glory” (Matt. 19:28) as the Righteous Judge. His glory will be supremely divine. At His first coming Christ came as Teacher and Savior; at the second He will come as Judge — then “to save the world,” now “to judge the world” and “to render to each according to his works.”
Immediately with the glorious Second Coming of Christ will take place the Great Judgment — the separation of the righteous and the ungodly, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Then the Lord will set the sheep at His right hand and the goats at His left (Matt. 25:33). By the sheep He signifies the righteous for their meekness and orderliness; by the goats the sinners for their wildness and disorder. The pious will inherit eternal life, while the impious will depart “into eternal punishment.” At this tribunal, the divine court, as the Sacred Hymnographer says, “books are opened, deeds are examined, and the hidden things of darkness are made public.” This judgment will indeed be terrible for the guilty, but joyful for the righteous.
The measure of judgment will be love, for love is the law and the prophets and the gospel. Love is God. And the justice of God — perfect justice — is love. With this perfect justice in love, known only to Him, the Lord will judge human beings. Therefore He will justify His decision and say to those on His right: I deem you worthy to inherit the Kingdom of My Father because “I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, naked and you clothed Me, sick and you visited Me, in prison and you came to Me.” That is, you applied the supreme commandment of love in practice, and in the person of “the least of My brethren” you saw My own face. But you who are on My left did nothing — you did not love your suffering neighbor and showed no love. For these reasons depart from My kingdom and go into the eternal punishment awaiting you. You had no relationship with Me in your earthly life; therefore you have no place now in My heavenly kingdom.
At the end of the Gospel passage stands the fearful phrase — one might say the execution of the divine decision:
“And these shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
That is, the impious, the sinners, those who never repented will depart into eternal hell with the devil, while the righteous and pious into eternal life with God.
“Depart from Me,” the Just Judge will say, “into the eternal fire prepared from the beginning for the devil.” We observe here that, while regarding the Kingdom of the righteous He added the phrase “prepared from the foundation of the world,” concerning the eternal fire of sinners He added nothing of the sort, but simply said: “prepared for the devil and his angels.” For the eternal kingdom existed in the will of God from the foundation of the world, but the eternal fire did not exist from the beginning in His will; the eternal fire came into being afterward.
The eternal life of the righteous consists in union with God — the vision of God by the righteous — unending blessedness. Indeed they will have communion with one another and with the angels. Eternal punishment, however, consists in separation from God and continual misery. In eternal punishment sinners will be deprived of the divine light and will dwell in the deepest darkness.
This is the future and great Judgment which will take place at the Second Coming of the Lord.
But for all these truths the loving Church takes care that they not fall into forgetfulness. Many people truly forget the future Judgment, the Second Coming of the Lord; some perhaps even disregard it. Yet His glorious Second Coming is a reality. The Lord — who is the Truth, the All-Truth — said it. His unfailing mouth assured us that the final Judgment is inevitable and will occur at His Second Coming:
“Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give each according to his work… Blessed are those who do His commandments” (Rev. 22:12,14).
The Sunday of Meatfare has been established as the Sunday on which “we make remembrance of the Second and impartial Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Sacred Hymnographer exhorts us to “gain awareness of that day” and reminds us: “we have sinned, transgressed, acted unjustly, neither kept nor done [the commandments]; therefore let us hasten, weep, and be reconciled to God before the end.” Likewise the Midnight Office refers entirely to the theme of the future Judgment.
Therefore, “let us not sleep, but let us watch and be sober,” as the Apostle Paul counsels, “putting on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of the hope of salvation” (1 Thess. 5:6,8).
And may our wish and prayer be “a good defense before the Dread Judgment seat of Christ.”
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
