A friend of mine named Josh Stockment said something interesting on twitter tonight. He said:

“Sometimes happy endings are not happy at all, but they are still endings. This does not mean that they are the wrong endings, or that a better ending slipped by. Perhaps in a broken world, imperfect endings are at times the only way to close a story. They are the only endings that fit. They are the best endings.”

This got me thinking.

All of our “imperfect endings” point to the ultimate and perfect ending we look forward to in the return of Jesus Christ. The ultimate “putting to rights” of all things will brightly shine against the dark background of all that has taken place before. Christ and Him crucified became Christ and Him risen. Soon and very soon it shall be Christ and Him returned! The resurrection of Christ assures us of our resurrection. Tolkien spoke of the resurrection of Christ as a “eucatastrophe.”

“Eucatastrophe is a term coined by J. R. R. Tolkien which refers to the sudden turn of events at the end of a story which result in the protagonist’s well-being. He formed the word by affixing the Greek prefix eu, meaning good, to catastrophe, the word traditionally used in classically-inspired literary criticism to refer to the “unraveling” or conclusion of a drama’s plot. For Tolkien, the term appears to have had a thematic meaning that went beyond its implied meaning in terms of form. In his definition as outlined in his 1947 essay On Fairy-Stories, eucatastrophe is a fundamental part of his conception of mythopoeia. Though Tolkien’s interest is in myth, it is also connected to the gospels; Tolkien calls the Incarnation the eucatastrophe of “human history” and the Resurrection the eucatastrophe of the Incarnation.”*

I take one issue with what Tolkien said. I don’t believe that the incarnation was the eucatastrophe of human history. I do, however, believe it was the inauguration and guarantee of it. The great “re-raveling’ of the story will find it ultimate end in the parousia. In that moment, all shall be well.

Come, Lord Jesus

I close with a passage from C.H. Spurgeon

“Looking for Him”
********
C. H. Spurgeon

“Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation”
(Hebrews 9:28).

This is our hope. He to whom we have already looked as coming once to bear the sins of many will have another manifestation to the sons of men; this is a happy prospect in itself. But that second appearing has certain peculiar marks which glorify it exceedingly.

Our LORD will have ended the business of sin. He has so taken it away from His people and so effectually borne its penalty that He will have nothing to do with it at His second coming. He will present no sin offering, for He will have utterly put sin away.

Our LORD will then complete the salvation of His people. They will be finally and perfectly saved and will in every respect enjoy the fullness of that salvation. He comes not to bear the result of our transgressions but to bring the result of His obedience; not to remove our condemnation but to perfect our salvation.

Our LORD thus appears only to those who look for Him. He will not be seen in this character by men whose eyes are blinded with self and sin. To them He will be a terrible Judge and nothing more. We must first look to Him and then look for Him; and in both cases our look shall be life.

*Preceding paragraph taken from wikipedia