Surprised by Hope, by N.T. Wright

Chapter Eight

1.  Where does Jesus Christ meet us now?  “At the moment, by the Spirit, the word, the sacraments and prayer, and in those in need whom we are called to serve for his sake, the absent Jesus is present to us; but one day he will be there with us, face-to-face.” 

How does each of these encounters with Jesus “at the moment” strengthen our faith in the risen Lord?  What do you anticipate will change when we see him “fact-to-face?”

2.  “The first thing to get clear is that, despite widespread opinion to the contrary, during his earthly ministry Jesus said nothing about his return.”  The early church and the rest of the New Testament, he says, can take credit for that.

Did Wright’s statement here surprise you?  Why is this important?

3.  Wright goes to great lengths to expound on the meaning of the word, “parousia.” 

How does he define it and why is it important to this discussion?

4.  “So why does Paul speak in this peculiar way in 1 Thessalonians about the Lord descending and the living saints being snatched up in the air? I suggest that he is finding richly metaphorical ways of alluding to three other stories that he is deliberately bringing together.”  These include, “the story of Moses coming down the mountain; the story of Daniel 7, in which the persecuted people of God are vindicated over their pagan enemy by being raised up on the clouds to sit with God in glory.”  “Putting these two stories together, in a typically outrageous mix of metaphors, enables Paul to bring in the third story, to which we have already alluded.” “The reality to which it refers is this: Jesus will be personally present, the dead will be raised, and the living Christians will be transformed.”

How does this shape your expectation of the parousia?