Q & R: Second Coming from Sweden

Here’s the Q:

Hello Brian! I hope you’re having a fantastic day!
I’m from Sweden where i’m involved in youth ministry, i first came across your books some years back with your trilogy and has since then been really fascinated by your work.
I have read a lot of your latest books (mostly in English since not so many get translated to Swedish, or i’m just not patient enough to wait)
Your writings about the Kingdom of God in particular has really stuck with me, also your view of the future feels so fresh and exciting, even though i fully can’t grasp it yet. (can we ever)
You’re saying (if i understood correctly) that the term “the second coming of Christ” doesn’t exist in the bible, or better put that Jesus has already returned as of the Pentecost, and also that a lot of (or all) Jesus prophesies of the future had to do with the destruction of the temple in year 70 and with that the end of that era. Also you’re saying (i think) that Jesus didn’t come just to evacuate us from earth to a future heaven but to show us how to live and make this world more and more beautiful by following Jesus example which would eventually lead to God’s “…kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven” as Jesus taught us to pray.
this is really mind-blowing but on the same time so enriching and i love it!
(i apologize if i have misunderstood you)
but here is my question then, if Jesus isn’t coming back (in the way we expect) what about judgement, or the resurrection, for me in the past those three things have always been connected, like when Jesus comes back we will all be judged and those who died before us will resurrect and we will all live in a new creation together with God forever and ever.
the bible is clear on that we will be judged and i love the pieces you’ve written on that as well, but do you not think there is a particular day that we will all be judged, or will that happen individually when we die. For example Luk 11:31 seems to say that it’s a certain day. But on the other hand people already seems to have resurrected (like Moses and Elijah in Matt 17) and thus already should have been judged, but maybe it’s not related?
I’m sorry for not being very clear, i guess this is all a big mess in my head. I would love it if you one day had the time to make things a bit clearer!
Thanks for all your work, you’re a true inspiration and also a great role-model in the way you reply to critics!

Here’s the R:

Thanks so much for your note, your encouragement, and your excellent question. I have great memories of my visit to your beautiful country several years ago.
First of all, it’s clear you really have read my work and are trying to put a lot of pieces together from various books. I’ve never attempted a thorough eschatology … perhaps someday I will, but I hope someone else will take that project on first. You can see in my footnotes whose work has influenced me.
I’ll respond to some specifics below:

You’re saying (if i understood correctly) that the term “the second coming of Christ” doesn’t exist in the bible,

Right. Jesus does say, “I will come again,” and he talks about “When the Son of Man returns,” but I think it’s a mistake to assume that when he says those things, he means what we mean when we say “Second Coming of Christ,” with all of our dispensationalist, premilennialist, amilennialist, postmilennialist, or whatever categories.

or better put that Jesus has already returned as of the Pentecost,

I wouldn’t make an equation “return of Christ = Pentecost.” But I would point out that the resurrection and the sending of the Spirit are significant … and together they mean that Christ is actually, really present upon the earth, with us right now.

and also that a lot of (or all) Jesus prophesies of the future had to do with the destruction of the temple in year 70 and with that the end of that era.

Yes. I think Jesus could foresee that if his message of peace and reconciliation were rejected, people would choose violent revolution, and that revolution would invite a crushing, cataclysmic response by the Romans. (I think we can see similar scenarios today on many fronts …) As N. T. Wright, Craig Hill, and others have made abundantly clear, the hyperbolic imagery of the NT (moon turning to blood, stars falling from the sky, etc.) is political language, signaling the fall of powerful political luminaries, etc.

Also you’re saying (i think) that Jesus didn’t come just to evacuate us from earth to a future heaven but to show us how to live and make this world more and more beautiful by following Jesus example which would eventually lead to God’s “…kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven” as Jesus taught us to pray.

Well put. He has an incarnation and transformation plan, not an evacuation plan.
Then you ask …

if Jesus isn’t coming back (in the way we expect) what about judgement, or the resurrection, for me in the past those three things have always been connected, like when Jesus comes back we will all be judged and those who died before us will resurrect and we will all live in a new creation together with God forever and ever.
the bible is clear on that we will be judged and i love the pieces you’ve written on that as well, but do you not think there is a particular day that we will all be judged, or will that happen individually when we die. For example Luk 11:31 seems to say that it’s a certain day. But on the other hand people already seems to have resurrected (like Moses and Elijah in Matt 17) and thus already should have been judged, but maybe it’s not related?

I don’t have all this figured out, and frankly, I’m a little suspicious of anyone who claims to have every verse neatly tucked into an airtight system. As you already know from reading my books, I do believe in judgment – which means all things being set right or restored to justice. But when and how it occurs, what the afterlife looks like, and so on – I don’t really see that being the point of the biblical writers. They generally want their original hearers to have a sense of hope (don’t give up) and accountability (don’t be proud, stubborn, hard-hearted, or complacent), but beyond that, again, I’m suspicious if we try to use their words to create a “map of the future.”
(You’ve probably seen the article I wrote on this subject … “Making Eschatology Personal” – here: http://brianmclaren.net/archives/books/brians-books/a-new-kind-of-christianity-1.html)
A helpful term at this point might be “rhetorical” (not sure how that will translate into Swedish). When a mother says, “If you don’t stop fighting with your brother, I’ll stop this car and make you walk home,” she is – literally – making a threat that would probably qualify her for arrest for child neglect. But nobody takes her literally. Her rhetorical purpose is to urge her children to stop fighting and to let her children know that she’s very angry and frustrated. Her rhetorical purpose is not to predict the future or to make a promise or to see her children walking along a highway … it is to restore peace in the back seat of the car.
Before we try to use biblical texts to set out a road map of the future, I think it’s wise for us to try to discern the writers’ rhetorical purposes. Usually, they end up here: to motivate us to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.
If we maintain that focus, there will be the best possible outcomes in the future. At least, that’s how I see it at this point in my journey. I hope that helps!