ALL IS WELL, THAT ENDS WELL.
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5: 48.
The Greek word for ‘perfect’ is very poorly translated: “teleios’ has at its root “telos” which means “end” or “goal”, so the proper translation of Jesus’ words, should be: “Always keep the END in mind, as Jesus did”.
That brings me to the very end of the Scriptures, the book of Revelation, where the Telos, the End, is described.
“Revelation”, that last Bible book, tells a fascinating story, engaging, but also, mysterious. And, as the title suggests, revealing, revealing the complete final destruction of the world, the world we live in, the world today, the world of AI, the world of nuclear bombs, the world capable of self-destruction, the world where ‘religion’ kills, as is the case in Iran today.
The word is an Old English word: apocalipsin, via Old French and ecclesiastical Latin from Greek apokalupsis, meaning ‘uncover, reveal’.
Some years ago, I translated a book, written by a Dutch Professor of Missions at the Amsterdam-based Free University, Dr. J. H. Bavinck, dealing with this last Bible book. In it, this theologian, writing more than 50 years ago, examined the status of the church and the world in the times of the end, but before the “final finish”.
I believe that ‘the final finish’ is now at hand, which suggests a new approach, an approach reflecting ‘the end of the church, and the world’, as we have distorted it. Frankly, of course, my interpretation.
Jesus, and The End.
Even from a casual look at what Jesus said – he did not leave anything written – it is plain that Jesus was obsessed with “The End”: From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 4: 17).
Jesus was right, of course, because with death human development and memory stop, and the next conscious experience is, indeed, ‘The Kingdom’. Well, if Jesus was so engaged with “The Telos”, the End, shouldn’t we do the same? After all, the Kingdom is, after death, our immediate experience.
This reality – the Kingdom being always near – calls for a new approach for the church and life, because that Kingdom, although ‘from’ heaven, is not ‘in’ heaven: it brings ‘Peace on Earth’.
That’s why this peace, the reality of perfection, must pervade our earthly enterprise, from exploring art, to new ways of music, to scientific studies, to genuine fun and entertainment, in a word: originality and ingenuity, from examining the human psyche, to composing the perfect paragraph.
No wonder, Dietrich Bonhoeffer called himself an Anthropos Teleios, a human being who keeps ‘the end’ always in mind. That, too, I try to be my mindset, following Jesus’ example.
The ’end’ is the New Creation.
There the best will be bettered; there all possibilities will be achieved, there the end will never come again, as the human brain will exceed AI, a human device, which will fade away as smoke dissolves in the purifying air.
I list these categories for a reason. The church today, in general, is monopolized by the Bible, and considers it as the exclusive “Word of God.” Which is not true. Karl Barth, the 20th Century most famous theologian, distinguished the Three-fold word: the word written, the word preached, the word incarnate. So, only Jesus, the word ‘made flesh’, and Creation, can be regarded as the Word of God. Bonhoeffer echoed this concept, broadening this definition when Dr. Sabine Dramm summarized his teaching with: “What Bonhoeffer presents as specific to the Christian faith is the perception of God and the world as one.”
Life cannot go on as it is now.
I sincerely believe that our current way of life is unsustainable. Just as our bodies are only a heart-beat away from eternity, so, our planet is only one degree Celsius away from burning to a crisp. The danger of Methane erupting in the Arctic, is real and imminent. The danger of a planet destroying nuclear war, is real and imminent. The danger of the world economy facing a collapse of finances, with unsustainable debts, is real and imminent.
All this indicates that, somehow, as Jesus told us, we must live LIFE and that to the full – John 10: 10 – in preparation of eternity. Not a life ruled by sport events, or glorifying in family life, or indulging in the pursuit of such fleeting objects as money or recognition. No. Our life and our intentions must be focused on the coming of the Kingdom that glorious perfection for whose redemption Christ gave his life, as beautifully expressed in John 3. There Jesus gave a private lesson to a leader of the church. Yes, Jesus loves the church: that’s why this episode is in the Bible.
The end, the Telos, is like the beginning, the Garden of Eden, only more so. And we? We will be wiser and wised, affirming that “All is well, that Ends well”.