
How much longer? This is the sigh of people experiencing great distress or empathising with the hardship of others. Jesus Christ Himself provides the answer.
“Every week there is terrible news of things that have happened,” Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider said on 22 December 2024 in Stuttgart in Germany. If you have an open heart and an open ear, you cannot just say:“Well, that is just the way it is.” Every now and then, he said, I ask God: ‘How much longer? How much longer do people have to endure this?’
Christ’s answer is: “Behold, I am coming soon,” the Chief Apostle said with reference to the last book of the Bible. Then he read Revelation 22: 16, which he based his sermon on: “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”



What the Israelites had expected
This is how Jesus announced Himself as the promised Messiah. He had come to bring justice and righteousness. “Everything that had been said about Jesus was fulfilled. Everything down to the last detail, but it was different from what people had imagined.”
In the Old Testament, the people expected the Messiah to be a powerful king who would destroy the Israelites’ enemies. And what did Jesus do? He was humble, He healed the sick, and preached forgiveness instead of punishment. And the Jews were disappointed: “This is not how we thought it would be. We thought He was going to turn Israel into a great nation again.”



What we expect of His return
And today? The promise of His return is already two thousand years old. “And people have been waiting for it to be fulfilled. But nothing has happened. The Chief Apostle said that many people are wondering whether Christ’s return is perhaps only meant symbolically or whether it will really happen.
For the Chief Apostle it is clear: the return of Christ is real. “It will happen exactly as He said it would, but completely different than we imagine it.” It is not worth wasting time speculating about the when, where, and how, the Chief Apostle said.
He will not come to punish sinners. Rather, He will continue with His plan because His goal is to help all of humankind and give everyone the opportunity to come to Him to be saved.



Our response to His answer
This is how believers respond, the Chief Apostle said, “Come, Lord Jesus!” And this response is then underpinned by a corresponding attitude.
- Faith in Jesus Christ: “I believe in Your word. You will fulfil Your promise.”
- A personal connection: “You will intervene in my existence—however that may be—either in this world or in the hereafter.”
- Humility: “I cannot understand it. I have a thousand questions and not even one answer. But I trust you.
- Preparation: “I want to become as You want me to be.”
- Patience: “I will wait for You to come back. I will not expect You to solve all the problems just yet.”
- Mercy: “I agree that You are not coming back to punish sinners, but to unfold another stage of your plan of salvation so that all human beings can be saved.
For all of humankind
“This is our message for today,” Chief Apostle Schneider said. The Lord Jesus says: “I am coming soon. I will come as the Son of David to overcome the enemies, to save the faithful, to tend and feed them, to remedy all their shortcomings, and to establish justice and righteousness.”
And that is exactly what will happen. Certainly not the way we imagine it, but it will happen.
And the believers said: “Yes, Lord, I believe it. That applies to me. You will intervene in my existence. I am preparing for this and will be patient. I will wait for Your return. And please do not just return for me alone, but for everyone.”



Photos: Nico Eberle / Kurt Entenmann