David felt nauseous. He had grown up in a Christian household, minored in religious studies in university, read his Bible almost daily, and read through a few commentaries and books of theology. If this man claiming to be Jesus was telling the truth it would be quite different from everything he had been taught or read on his own. David learned the various theories about the end times in his classes and was never fully set on any one interpretation but this didn’t seem to line up with any of them. Jesus, by himself, simply walking through the dust of a city obliterated by an explosion and then asking for a press conference felt so surreal David kept thinking he was having an odd dream.
The next few minutes were a flurry of activity. More police arrived and soon barricades were erected around the church. The robed man stood calmly watching as people scurried before him. News crews began to arrive outside of the barriers but were stopped by the police. There seemed to be some arguments between the police who had first arrived to confront the robed man and those who had arrived more recently. After a few moments of shouting and gesturing wildly at the dust-covered ground, themselves, and the still-burning stone cross atop the church the initial four officers seemed to prevail. News vans were allowed past the barricades and soon cameras were in place before the steps as a makeshift podium was erected and microphones were placed.
David’s screen switched to the feed from one of the cameras on the ground. The robed man stepped up to the podium and began to speak.
“I am the firstborn of all creation.” He said, his voice confident and assured. “I am he for whom the world and all therein was created. All things in heaven and on earth and under the earth belong to me. Throughout the ages humanity has followed my will as best they were able, following precepts and laws that were recorded, passed down, and interpreted by frail men and women. But now I am here to call all the nations, tribes, and tongues of the earth to submit to me as their rightful king. In ages past my father was patient and longsuffering, knowing well the weakness of flesh and blood. I have come to teach everyone how they ought to live and make clear my will and the will of my father. No more shall your teachers say ‘The lord says yes’ while others say ‘the lord says no’ but I myself shall speak plainly and clearly. My father has long overlooked the disobedience of them who were ignored of their ways, lead astray by teachers who were themselves deceived. Now, you will be without excuse. The father’s will stands before you, manifested in human form, to command you in perfect truth.”
The robed man paused and looked at the crowd before him. “I know your hearts. Many doubt my words. Many of you even now harden your hearts. Oh stiff-necked people, why do you scorn the words which are spoken to give you life? I would come to you as a loving father, arms outstretched to invite a wayward child into his embrace, pleading with tears of anguish to turn from your wicked ways and choose the path of righteousness.” The robed man paused and lowered his head for a moment. When he looked up his face was stern. “I do not wish to bear the rod of discipline against you, yet even know it is in my hands. A father whose child will not submit to kind encouragement, anguished pleading, and stern lectures will indeed resort to the road of discipline to save their child from a worse fate than mere striking of the flesh.” The robed man gestured around him. “See, this city. The buildings here had been built up over many years and at great expense yet were turned to dust in the twinkling of an eye. You yourselves have felt the earth quake at my command. The lightning stood at attention and when it heard my command it leapt to heed my voice. Even now, the stone symbol of my obedience to the father’s will burns with the same fire that burns within my chest for you.”
The robed man pointed up at the flames leaping and dancing on the stone cross above him and remained silent for a moment. “Allow my fire to illuminate you, to warm you, to purify you that you may be perfect. If you will not humbly sit at my fire and let it be the light by which you see the world and warm your bodies and cook your food then it will surely rage and consume you utterly. I wish you to be warmed, but if you remain cold you shall be burned by it.”
David still felt as if he were in a dream. He kept expecting to wake up, wonder for a time about what his imagination can come up with when left to its own devices, and go about his day. Yet he did not wake up from this dream. The robed man claiming to be Jesus continued to speak, commanding everyone to obey him. When the man fell silent a few minutes a reporter worked up the courage to ask what had happened to the people in the city when the explosion happened. The robed man’s face softened, a weak smile on his lips.
“They are dead.” He spoke softly. “Even then, the father’s mercy is made manifest. They did not suffer but perished before they could even blink.” The man’s face hardened again. “But do not mourn much for the dead. As in Sodom and Gomorrah, if there were even ten righteous people living in the heart of this city, it would have been spared. The voices of priests and pastors and teachers and evangelists, flawed as they may be, still called them to repentance. They perished to demonstrate my might, that all who saw their end might escape such an end themselves. Better that a few should perish so many might live, than for many to perish by my wrath because they did not have a sign to convince them.”
Another reported spoke up. “What do you want us to do?” she asked. The reporter was trying to speak confidently but David could hear the hesitation, the fear, in her voice.
“Live. Go to your jobs and work and earn money there. Purchase the goods necessary for life at the markets. Not only the necessities but the good and enjoyable things the father has put upon his earth for humankind to enjoy. Play and sing and dance and make merry with one another. Rule according to the governments currently in place. Worship as you are accustomed. Only keep your ears open to hear my voice when it speaks. I am merciful and kind, I too know the frailty of flesh. I have taken on the form and appearance of a man and know your weakness. A newborn boy does not grow into a man in a day, nor does a single suckle from his mother’s breast nourish him to maturity. I shall feed you as I believe you can eat and will help you grow into the full stature of adulthood in steps. Some of you expect me to change the whole world in the twinkling of an eye, to cast aside all who have not yet called upon my name and exalt those who have. Have I not said I am merciful? I show you patience that I mean win many more of you to life. Go, live and work and play and govern and worship, but be ever vigilant for the sound of my voice to tell you the path you ought to take to remain with me and not fall into a deep and gloomy pit, from which there is no escape.”
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