I recently had a long Internet conversation with a dear friend of mine, Dr. Uwe Siemon-Netto, a renowned Lutheran theologian and journalist. We talked at length about the deplorable situation in Afghanistan and he suggested that we might be entering the Apocalypse. While this term might conjure images of the sky falling and the Earth being bombarded by comets, from a historical point of view, he is correct. You see, we have been living in the apocalyptic age ever since New Testament times, and certainly from the Book of Revelation on, in which John the Evangelist writes, “The revelation [Greek: apokalypsis] of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place” (Rev 1:1,2, ESV). What things does John mean? Indeed, all kinds of physical disasters that will destroy this transient planet, but also—and more importantly—the eternal new heaven and new earth, where the Gospel message will have been shared with all and everyone will recognize Jesus Christ as the Savior—the Victor over sin, death, and the devil. “Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people” (Rev 14:6, ESV). In our lifetime we are witnessing the spread of the Gospel to every tribe and nation—particularly in Muslim countries, where many, many people are embracing Jesus Christ—a fact largely hidden from our eyes, but of which we know anecdotally from countless conversions in those countries. I believe that the disastrous events in Afghanistan might well drive many people there, as well, to Jesus Christ. I was privileged to experience the tip of the iceberg of these apocalyptic events last night as I conducted Evening Prayer over Zoom (with beautiful pre-recorded organ music by my former parishioner Hunter Remington), as 25 students of our online seminary, Riga Luther Academy—hailing from 12 different countries across four continents—together confessed that, indeed, Jesus *is* the Light of the World, the light no darkness—whether wars, comets, or the Taliban– can overcome. Halleluiah!
tiewsfamily.org 