Jesus’ prophecies are a warning, not a verdict

Many people today, as they consider the accumulation of threats and disasters ravaging our “Common Home” see in this dark scenario the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecies, or of the sometimes terrifying metaphors in the Book of Revelation, the final book of the New Testament.

The “Common Home” is a phrase Pope Francis used in his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’to describe the Earth as a shared household entrusted to humanity’s care.

To be honest, we must acknowledge that the words of the prophet from Nazareth are strikingly close to describing our present reality.

Each generation reads these texts in light of the dark events it is experiencing. Hence the abundance of interpretations. It is worth recalling that Isaac Newton (1643–1727) — the English physicist and mathematician best known for his laws of motion and gravity — toward the end of his life, turned away from physics and mathematics and devoted himself to interpreting biblical prophecy, especially the Book of Revelation.

His resulting work, Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John, was published in London in 1733, six years after his death, compiled from his papers by his half-nephew.

What a biblical prophecy actually is

It is important to consider the original meaning of prophecy in the biblical sense. Prophecies do not consist of narrating future events in advance, like a forecast.

The prophet perceives the trends of the times and warns: if you continue along this same path, you will experience suffering and disaster. This also applies to the prophecies of Jesus that we have compiled below.

However much they may seem to portray our present situation, this does not mean Jesus is announcing a collective Armageddon in advance. His own statement remains the key qualifier: no one knows the day or hour of the great tribulation. Therefore, we must remain vigilant, not fatalistic.

But the signs today are so strong that, if we continue along this planetary path of systematically plundering natural resources and accumulating wealth at the expense of the wretched lives of millions of people, we may see the words of the prophet from Nazareth come true.

We have been warned. It is up to us to heed the warning and act on it.

Jesus’ words on the end of the age

Let us briefly consider the prophecies contained in the New Testament. A disciple of the prophet from Nazareth asked: “What is the sign of the end of the world?”

The prophet replied:“When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet.

A nation will rise against another nation, and a kingdom against another kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and, in many places, famine and pestilence. Terrible things and great signs will occur in the sky.

But all these things are only the beginning of suffering. Lawlessness will increase among many, and love will grow cold.

When you see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place — a phrase originally referring to the desecration of the Jerusalem Temple, drawn from the Old Testament Book of Daniel — there will then be great tribulation, such as has never occurred since the beginning of the world, nor ever will again.

On Earth, anguish will seize the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint with fear and anxiety over what is coming upon the whole Earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

False Christs and prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

After the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the end will come. No one knows the day or the hour, not even the angels of heaven, nor even the Son, but God alone.

Therefore, keep watch, for you do not know the day on which the Lord will come. Consider this carefully: if the master of the house knew at what hour of the night the thief would come, he would keep watch and not allow his house to be broken into. Therefore, you too must be prepared, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you least expect him.”

(Collected from the Gospels: Mark 13:5–32; Matthew 24:3–31; Luke 21:10–27.)

These are the prophetic words of Jesus of Nazareth, regarded by many Jews as one of the great prophets in that tradition and, for Christians, as the saving and liberating Christ.

The Book of Revelation: a message of hope, not horror

I have deliberately set aside detailed commentary on the Book of Revelation and have drawn only on a few themes that inspire hope.

It is a later work, traditionally attributed to an author called John. Scholars debate whether this was the Apostle John, a different early Christian figure known as “John of Patmos,” or a community writing in his name; the text itself does not settle the question.

It is traditionally dated to around A.D. 95–96, during the reign of Emperor Domitian, whose persecution of Christians earned him comparisons to Nero. Some historians, however, note that the evidence for widespread persecution under Domitian is thinner than later tradition suggested.

Its style is not conceptual but metaphorical, known as the apocalyptic style, in which angels, monsters, animals, and demons appear. This is a symbolic literary genre common in Jewish and early Christian writing, not a literal description of coming events.

The purpose of the book is to console Christians suffering severe persecution. It calls them to resilience and to hope in a final victory: “I saw a new heaven and a new Earth … in which God will dwell among the people, wipe away the tears from their eyes, and death will be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor weariness, for all these things have passed away” (Revelation 21:1–4).

In the holy city of New Jerusalem, “there will be no temple, because the Almighty God will be its temple; there will be no night, nor any need for a lamp or the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them, and they will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 21:22; 22:5).

A warning, not a verdict

As we can see, beyond the terrifying metaphors, the text expresses hope for a new heaven and a new Earth. The alternative — continuing down our current path — risks the very desolation these ancient texts warned against.

May the cosmic Christ, present in the unfolding of creation and in every event, compel us to change course, as Jesus pointed out. And so we may yet come through.

But we must remain vigilant about what is happening across the planet.

This is a translated and edited version of the Portuguese-language column that first appeared on Instituto Humanitas Unisions and has been republished with permission.