God's" Final Exams": Are We Prepared?

It is no coincidence that a liturgical year ends with the week of Christ the King Sunday (34th Sunday in Ordinary Time) on any cycles, when college students are gearing up for fall-term final exams. It is also when we become busy with Christmas preparations, as Advent season of a new liturgical year follows the previous one. 

Because we juxtapose preparation for parousia to conclude a liturgical year and preparation for the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) this time of the year, in regard to our vigilance and preparedness, there is an analogical lesson between preparing for final exams and preparing for the eschatological judgement, which is upon parousia.

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Remember, finals week, back in college days? 

We used to stay up late in the night, burning midnight oil, studying, studying, studying to ace all final exams.  Those who had more stamina pulled all-nighters, with some help of caffeine.

If you happened to be a procrastinator, like me, I bet your emotional tension stayed peaked up during that week.

Staying up…..preparing….getting ready….being examined and tested to be evaluated or judged…. 

These are things associated with finals week and final exams at the end of an academic term. As a matter of fact, they are also relevant to Jesus’ eschatological teaching in the Olivet Discourse, which is found in Matthew 24-25.

Jesus delivered the Olivet Discourse to his disciples after he fended off the hypocrites’ attempts to trap him and sharply rebuking him in the Temple area, following the cleansing of the corrupt Temple and being questioned of his authority. In fact, everything that Jesus has done and said from cleansing the Temple to criticizing the hypocrites from Matthew 21 to 23 leads to the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 and 25.

The fact that Jesus was so upset to have found the Temple deeply plagued with defilements and lamented the condition of Jerusalem indicated that people did not take a lesson from the words of prophets, especially the words of the post-Exilic prophets.  These warning words of the prophets had been given during a time span from before the Babylonian seize of Jerusalem all the way up to the post-Exilic time of Malachi.  It means that they had more than 400 years to learn the lesson!

The fact that Jesus had to confront the hypocrites, who were behind all the reason for the spiritual abomination of the Temple and Jerusalem, was also a proof that those who were entrusted by God to shepherd His people betrayed God’s trust.  By paralleling Ezekiel 34 to Matthew 21-25, for example, tells us that people of Jesus’ time in Judea did not take God’s instruction in Ezekiel’s prophetic words, which were issued almost 600 years before Jesus’ confrontation and discourse on the eschatological outcome.

The hypocrites of Jesus’ time in Jerusalem knew God’s trust on them and have read the words of the Prophets, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, all the way up to Malachi. They sure had read Ezekiel 34. However, they were not able to see themselves in this writing of Ezekiel. Because of this narcissism-based ignorance, they went on to turn the pasture into abomination to be turned into desolation. They knew how other prophets had warned about corruption and hypocrisy. Yet, they turned their deaf ears to the prophets’ words and went on with their own will, rather than God’s.  They made the Law into burdensome yokes to the people they were called to pastor, while turning the Temple into a market place to fatten their own wealth in God’s name. In a way, Jesus’ actions and razor-sharp words to cut the corrupt hearts of the hypocrites in Matthew 21, 22, and 23, are to say, “Enough is enough! It’s about to time for you to pay for your sins!” Then, he moved on to talk about the eschatological signs and judgement to his disciples on the Mount Olive, as described in Matthew 24 and 25.

These hypocrite leaders, whom Jesus rebuked, were taught God’s will and His words, including those came through prophets. Many of these prophets spoke and wrote God’s warnings to take a lesson from the Babylonian seize of Jerusalem in 587 BC, which resulted in the 70 years of painful exile in Babylon. Yet, they failed to take it to their heart and went on with their own narcissistic desires. In other words, God, through faithful prophets, had taught these leaders the right way to lead His people as their shepherds and to take care of His pasture.

No college professor gives final exams to students without teaching.  They announce when to give final exams in advance, as written in course syllabuses. No pop-quiz-like surprise final exams.  Students are given a whole term to study so that they know enough to pass and excel on final exams.  Those who are wise can plan well in studying so that they can avoid procrastination. This way, they can rejoice over their achievements upon the completion of the term.  This aspect of college life, in terms of a finals week, can be juxtaposed to an eschatological description and judgement in the Olivet Discourse.

To those who heed God’s Word through prophets’ words and the writings in the sacred scriptures know that it is no surprise that there will be the eschatological judgement when Christ returns. In fact, it is Christ himself, like a good professor, giving us a “study guide” in his Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25) and in the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse) so that God’s final exams at eschatos will not be a surprise to us.

The religious leaders, whom Jesus sharply confronted and rebuked (Matthew 21-23), were morally and spiritually corrupt, because they did not pay attention to God’s teachings, especially His teachings through prophets. They failed to take a lesson from the tragedies that took place more than 587 years before their time in Jerusalem, in spite of the post-Exilic prophets’ efforts to correct this past mistake.  That is why Jesus had to cleanse the Temple (Matthew 21:12-17) and prophesize the destruction of it (Matthew 24:1). That is why he had to confront and rebuke the hypocrites, whose corruption was symbolized with the abominable Temple, with seven woes (Matthew 23:1-39).  Then, Jesus had to announce the “final exams” that God will give us, as the final warning, to make sure that we will not “fail” on this set of “exams” at the end of time, as he began the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25).

The hypocrite that Jesus confronted and rebuked in Matthew 21-23 are like college students who have goofed off for entire term, though their professor has taught enough material for them to pass final exams. Such students are doomed to fail.  So were the hypocrites, who failed to heed God, before Jesus had to confront.

The concluding narrative of the discourse in Matthew 25:31-46 is like showing some of God’s “final exam” questions, as these questions here that Jesus asks, are likely to be asked as the time when he returns to judge the living and the dead, to sort who are to be ushered into his Kingdom as his sheep and who are to be sent into eternal condemnation as goats.  According to this, Christ the King, the Judge, is likely to ask questions on how well we have done the works of mercy as our way of observing  his mandatum novum in John 13:34-35, and acting on his teaching on Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, in the context of the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). 

In this set of God’s “final exam” questions on our works of mercy at the eschatological judgement, we sure will be reminded why Jesus paralleled Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 in Matthew 22:35-40//Mark 12:28-31//Luke 10:25-28. We can understand this important truth by reflecting these words of him.

"Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me”(Matthew 25:40).

“Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me” (Matthew 25:45).

If we are mindful enough, mentally and spiritually, we can recognize God amidst those who are blind to God’s truth tend to belittle and marginalize – whom Jesus calls “least brothers of mine”. 

Perhaps, our wealth and health could be what makes us blind and deaf, while hardening our hearts, to this truth, though it sure will be on God’s “final exams”.

Who knows?   Besides our deeds of mercy, our acts of love, being examined, our understanding of the Word in the sacred scripture may be tested during our eschatological “final exams”.  Therefore, we must engage in regular scripture studies and reflections.  To ensure of our strengths, we also need our spiritual food and drink through the Sacrament of the Eucharist, with our spiritual “caffeine”, the Holy Spirit, so that we will not fall drowsy.

After all, when the Word of God (Logos) becomes an essential factor of our daily life, through regular engagement with the scriptures, as guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit as our Parakletos, we will perform better on our works of mercy. Therefore, we shall do well on God’s “final exams” when this term – when this time (chronos) ends with kairos upon parousia at eschaton.

Interesting enough, the same lesson of preparedness is applied to Advent of a new following liturgical year, after completing the week of Christ the King Sunday.  Let us remain vigilant, guarding ourselves off drowsiness so that we are prepared for God’s “final exams” at any time. Likewise, we are ready to welcome the Lord in the human flesh of Jesus with joy when Advent season gives its way to Christmastide.