Jesus’ teaching repays careful study, as you would expect. In the first part of his Ministry, he was concerned to preach a way of life: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”. But when Bethsaida and Capernaum did not repent, and he had denounced them as coming after Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgement, he set his face towards Jerusalem and death. He may always have known this was his fate; but he was human, and must have hoped against hope that the world would repent, and make his sacrifice unnecessary. After all, in Gethsemane he pleaded for his life. As Luther says, “No man feared death more”. It was when he realized men would not repent that his Ministry became one of salvation after death, and he preached an other-worldly gospel. In the circumstances, he could do nothing else.
But to start with, he preached a way of life; and it must be remembered that after he set his face towards Jerusalem, he promised many times he would come back soon. Everything he said must be viewed in that context; and of course about that, he was hopelessly wrong. St.Paul was right to say we must put on the mind of Christ; and that means studying the thoughts in his mind, rather than paying too much attention to his exact words, particularly when the Gospel accounts may be far from accurate. One does not shut one’s ears to Biblical criticism.
My own response to the uncertainty created by Christ’s failure to come back soon, is not to look up into the sky, but to conclude that the Creator wants us to complete the salvation begun by Christ. He wants us to use our initiative and judgement as best we can. My own particular contribution is the idea is that some people should try to recreate between people the same relationship that is supposed to exist between God and the soul. Not a bad way to reconcile symbolically England and Germany after the last War. No need for us all to do it. But the supreme promise of Jesus the night before his Passion was that his spirit and the Father’s spirit would dwell in anyone who believed. I can think of no better way of entering into his thoughts; and if it helps complete his salvation, so much the better.