In my previous post, I tried to show that a radical and absolute eschatological character was given to each stage of the entire history of Jesus - not just to part of it, or even to one event within it. His birth, earthly life, death, resurrection, outpoured Spirit and return are all described in equally final terms - and each in some way reflecting the idea of a fulfilled and complete eschatological event in itself.
The terms with which I introduced the post (last days, end of the age, last hour, etc), which direct our attention to the subject of eschata, or last things, also bear out this observation - that they may be applied to various stages of Jesus’s history - a history which is still active and in process of completion. In fact, the imprecision of such terms is a feature of their use. The phrase "end of the age" in Matthew’s gospel illustrates this point. It could have a variety of meanings - including, as I have tried to argue in previous posts, the Jewish idea of "this evil age".
The use of the terms has a direct connection with similar uses in the OT. König points out, from Moffatt, that the phrase "in these last days" from Hebrews 1:1-2, ep’ eschatou tōn hemerōn toutōn, literally the end of these days, is a Hebraism, occuring in texts such as Isaiah 2:2 (Hebrew be’ harît hayyāmîn, meaning in the end time.
Not only does this indicate that the days of Jesus’s life in earth, from his incarnation onwards, were the period so described, but were part of a period which went beyond his crucifixion through his resurrection, ascension, outpoured Spirit and return.
A decisive contrast is suggested in 1 Peter 1:20 - "He had been chosen by God before the creation of the world, and has now been revealed in these last days (ep’ eschatōu tōn chronōn) for your sake". As in similar contrasting pairs in Hebrews 9:26, Colossians 1:26-27, Romans 16:25-26, Ephesians 3:5, the contrast is between the period before very beginning of time and the period at the very end of time. Christ introduces that period in his earthly life. The force of emphasis is not even on the inception of a period of time - but that this is that end of the age.
The use of the phrase day of the Lord has a range which includes Jesus’s entire earthly ministry, as well as extending to events beyond it. Mark 1:2 reflects the day of the Lord as depicted by Malachi being fufilled in the coming of John the Baptist as messenger and Jesus as the angel of the covenant. The dawning day of the Lord is implied in Jesus’s reading from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue (Luke 4:16ff), where he speaks of himself as ushering in "the year of the Lord’s favour", and performing the works of Isaiah 61 associated with it, as seen too in Mark 11:5. The resurrection reflects the dawn of the great day of the Lord. The outpouring of the Spirit is said to reflect the signs of Joel 2:28-32, which speak of the day of the Lord. Yet that day can still be spoken of as future - 2 Peter 3:12, Revelation 16:14.
It is also striking that the very diffuse and varied nature of the OT promises and predictions concerning "the end" all find unity, or coherence in Christ. It is striking how many of the OT predictions and promises can be said to have found a fulfilment in him - be it promises to Abraham, to the Davidic monarchy, the resurrection of the dead, the outpoured Spirit, the eschatological temple, the return of YHWH to the temple, the defeat of YHWH’s enemies, the worldwide reign of YHWH, the second Exodus. On their own, these promises are diffuse, unfocused. In Christ, they each in their own way find fulfilment. This has been proposed as an explanation why the NT authors ransacked the OT for prophecy which found its fulfilment in him - for in fulfilling God’s total purposes, Jesus was also the fulfilment of OT prophecy of every kind.
No matter which phase of the history we are looking at, it is in Christ that all these promises are fulfilled. At whatever phase of his history, and it is a history which is yet to be completed, Christ is the end, the goal and fulfilment of history.
Christ is within time, but he is also above and beyond time. It is in this sense that phrases which are normally used to describe time are said to describe Jesus himself - he is "the alpha and omega" - Revelation 1:8; 21:6; 22:13, "the beginning and the end" - 22:13, "the first and the last" - 1:17; 2:8; 22:13. Each of these designations has application to creation. "Alpha and omega" echoes the rabbinic idea of keeping the law from "aleph to taw" - which implies that Jesus was not just involved at the beginning and the end of time, but is involved throughout. The concept of "beginning", or "arche", in Revelation 3:14, suggests also supremacy, or power over creation. "First", or protos, indicates not merely first in sequence, but also preeminence. "As first, Christ is also Lord of all creation - Christ, the beginning, the first, and the alpha, is he who is responsible both for "creation’s origin and for its continuous guidance and governance." (König).
Eschatological language, including words and phrases which are directly eschatological in meaning and character, and eschatological actions and events, which include the entire history of Christ, point to the person of Christ, in whom God summed up all he wanted to say about himself, and all he wanted to do on behalf of his creation. He is in himself the omega, the end, the last. He is "the last Adam" who became a "life-giving spirit" - 1 Corinthians 15:45. He is "the second man" - 1 Corinthians 15:47 - who came on our behalf, and is working throughout history to bring his creation to its telos, end, or goal. "And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so we shall bear the likeness of the man from heaven." - 1 Corinthians 15:49.
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