The Messiah - The Last Hope for Mankind -- At Madison Square Garden

By 7:00 p.m. September 18, 20,000 men, women and children packed Madison Square Garden and some 10,000 more on the outside pounded on the doors, unable to enter. It was the day of rebirth, the widely- publicized “New Future of Christianity” proclamation by Reverend Sun Myung Moon.

Eighty thousand brilliant blue posters had been plastered on almost every construction site throughout the city and some 800,000 tickets had been given out by a thousand of Reverend Moon’s young followers in the. New York area since August 10.

“One of the genuinely mysterious figures of our time” (according to the New York Daily News), Reverend Moon spoke for two hours and 45 minutes to the overflowing audience on “The Messiah — the Last Hope for Mankind.”

The program opened with the “Gloria” from Schubert’s Mass in G by the New Hope Singers and continued with two spirituals, ‘’Sit Down, Servant” and “Ezekiel Saw a Wheel.’’ The Korean Folk Ballet performed two of their most popular dances, the “Fan Dance” and the “Penitent Monk,” followed by Bonnie Hylton and an ensemble from the Singers leading the audience in a rousing “Lighthouse.”

Reverend Moon’s speech attracted a varied crowd, inside and outside the Garden. Outside, a dozen different groups handed out leaflets espousing various causes, from Trotskyites and Marxists to Atheists United, Jews for Jesus, and Husband’s Liberation. A hot pretzel vendor drew a hungry crowd and “God’s Umbrella” of several Baptist, Methodist and Nazarene groups passed out their interpretation of fundamentalist Christianity. Radio and newspaper reporters confronted people with questions about Reverend Moon.

Inside, Reverend Moon invited those who opposed him to stand up and speak; about a half a dozen stood up, waved papers, and left. Then, with tears in his eyes, he sang a lyrical Korean song, “San yoo wha.”

“l did not come to America of my own will,” he declared. “I came by the will of God. I have a mission to share this revelation with you and the rest of the world. September 18, 1974, to me and to God, is a day of declaration.”

Reverend Moon explained that God’s eternal and unchanging will was unfulfilled when Adam and Eve disobeyed His command not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. “Our first ancestors brought sin to mankind,” he added. “So the world is a world of sin. We are patients; we need the Messiah; we need the master physician. We need help to bring this world back to God.”

“If the first man and woman had been obedient to God, no salvation would have been necessary,” Reverend Moon asserted to scattered hecklers. God’s will is the kingdom of heaven on earth, he added. In such a place there will be sinless couples, sinless children, and actually a sinless world. In such a world you won’t have to go to church to pray. In such a world the Messiah is not necessary.

“The Messiah must destroy Satan’s sovereignty and liberate man from the bondage of sin into the bosom of God. The Messiah· comes to do a repair job. We must be grafted to him as the true olive tree.”

What is the mission of the chosen nation? Reverend Moon asked. “It is the preparation for one day — the coming of the Messiah.” This mission was the mission of the people of Israel at the time of Jesus and is

also the mission of Christians today. The two people are like brothers, both agents of God’s will, he stated.

In order to be able to accept the Messiah today, we must know the true meaning of the Bible. The Bible is written in symbols and parables. Why? “When agents communicate in enemy territory, they always speak in codes,” Reverend Moon explained. “Then no one understands the meaning of the message except those who coded it. Jesus said that no one knows the day of the coming of the Lord, only God. In order to protect His agents on earth, God gave the message in code. But from time to time God sends His prophets to reveal the true meaning of the Bible.”

Here is an unsolved historical puzzle! he exclaimed. “God prepared the chosen nation for 4,000 years. At the appointed hour, God sent His son, and the people rejected him. Why?” He gave three reasons.

First, Mal. 4: 5-6 promised that Elijah would come before the Messiah, before the “great and terrible day of the Lord.” The people thought this prophecy had to be fulfilled literally, with Elijah himself returning from the sky, as he had gone up. But Jesus said John the Baptist was Elijah (Matt. 17: 10).

The second reason was the failure of john the Baptist. Although he initially testified to Jesus, he did not follow him. He even denied his role as Elijah (John 1: 19-21), contradicting the words of Jesus.

The third reason the people rejected Jesus was because they expected the Messiah to come on the clouds of heaven, as prophesied in Dan. 7: 13.

Those who handed Jesus over to be crucified thought he was a blasphemer, heretic, and prince of demons. The crucifixion was a historical mistake, Reverend Moon said, due to the ignorance and blindness of the people. “We must not repeat that same mistake today,” he concluded, to resounding applause from the audience.

He expounded at length the role of John the Baptist in relationship to Jesus. “John the Baptist would have been the bridge between Jesus and the people,” he added. But John said, “He must increase and I must decrease.” If John had united with Jesus, he would have increased with Jesus; if necessary, they should have suffered together, Reverend Moon observed.

The Bible has dual prophecies, according to Reverend Moon. The Messiah can be the Lord of glory or the suffering Servant. To fulfill the will of God, man must accept the Messiah. But man cannot be trusted to accept him. So God must give dual prophecies. When the people rejected Jesus, the result was the suffering Messiah. “If Jesus came solely to die on the cross,” Reverend Moon stated, “he would have proclaimed that from the very beginning. He would have died for us a thousand times in order to save mankind, if his only mission had been to die. God would not have needed the chosen people in that case.”

On the other hand, Reverend Moon continued, “If they had accepted him, he would have become the king of Israel. God said it, and He meant it. Jesus would have gone on to Rome, and God would have restored the capital of the kingdom of heaven in Rome in Jesus’ lifetime. The kingdom of heaven would have been a reality ever since.”

In such a case, there would have been no history of Christian martyrs, the chosen nation would not have lost its homeland, and we would not have to worry about the second coming of Christ.

Jesus prayed in anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane seeking for some other way of fulfilling God’s will. “Jesus knew the heart of God, and was really grieved,” Reverend Moon continued. “At the cross, no one stood at the side of the son of God. The cross was the infiltration of the power of Satan. God’s victory was the resurrection. Christianity is the religion of the resurrection.

“Jesus Christ appeared to me and told me the truth. John the Baptist appeared to me and told me the truth. The whole meaning of the Bible came alive to me.” Reverend Moon added that he himself was shocked when this truth was revealed to him.

Christianity has only the spiritual kingdom of heaven, he explained. The Messiah is coming back to bring man’s spirit and body — his whole being — into the kingdom of God.

There are dual prophecies for the second coming as well as the first. “I have one more shocking item of news to reveal about the coming of the Messiah,” Reverend Moon continued. “John the Baptist did not come on the clouds. Jesus did not come on the clouds. Do you have a guarantee that the Messiah will come on the clouds? Sin came into the world by a man; it is more logical that the Messiah will come again as a man.”

If the Lord is coming with the clouds, the Bible has told a lot of untruths, Reverend Moon explained, and quoted Matt. 17:25; Luke 17: 26-27; 18:8; and Matt. 7:22-23 — all describing how the Lord will suffer and be rejected when he comes back. “If he comes on the clouds, every eye will see him; then who will reject him? Reverend Moon asked. “The narrow-minded Christians will persecute him and put him in jail [if he comes as a man]. But he does not come just to be persecuted. He comes for victory!”

Reverend Moon urged his listeners to invest a minimum of three days in order to learn the entire scope of this revelation. “The end of the world is at hand. This is the end of Satanic order. This is a new day of hope, the new day of the Messiah.”

When the Lord comes, he comes as the Lord of judgment. Jesus said in Matt. 16:19 he left the keys to the kingdom of heaven on earth: “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” You decide your fate on earth. To the evildoers, the Lord will say, “Depart from me.” But Reverend Moon asserted, “I am bringing this message so that he will not have to say that to you.”

In conclusion, Reverend Moon referred to the beginning of his speech. God wanted perfect man and perfect woman to be married in a perfect matrimony and give birth to sinless children. But this never happened. “What is the conclusion of Christianity in the Bible? The final chapter of the book of Revelations describes the marriage supper of the lamb. The true meaning of this is the day of the first heavenly matrimony by God. God will fulfill that day with the coming of the Messiah. When we have sinless True Parents, all mankind will be grafted onto them.”

He stated the qualification for the Messiah: a man of perfection, the last Adam, the champion of God. “The Lord is coming to bring together suffering Christians and give new hope. God has declared that this day is at hand. The third Adam will bring the spiritual and physical kingdom of God, unconditionally and indestructibly. But we cannot accept it as we are. We must change.

“This is the day of march to the day of hope. We shall bring the kingdom of God to the face of the earth. We shall march on! Amen.”

This stirring conclusion brought the audience to its feet for a great cheer of hope. Thirty-six times they had interrupted the speech with applause, and the hecklers, scattered in the far balconies, had little effect. Reverend Moon and his interpreter, Col. Bo Hi Pak, after pouring out all their heart and energy, left the stage, and the New Hope Singers sang an original arrangement of “Praise to the Lord.” Because of the late hour, many of the audience were unable to remain for the finale: the “Hourglass Drum Dance” and the Mask Dance” of the Korean Folk Ballet; the unique “International Song” of the Singers; and the multimedia “Arirang,” sung and orchestrated by the New Hope Singers and danced by the Korean Folk Ballet. A mirror ball rotating from the middle of the vast ceiling spattered flecks of light throughout the stadium.

“September 18th Could Be Your Re-birthday” posters and handbills had proclaimed throughout the city. Now, four hours later, the crowd spilled out into the Madison Square Garden Center, swelling a sort of multidenominational camp meeting. The Communist groups had left, but many Christians remained to sing and share together.

The “day of glory” and “total victory” was not yet concluded, however. To fulfill Reverend Moon’s promise to the citizens of New York, all those who had worked to publicize the campaign went out that night to tear down all the thousands of posters and restore the city to its everyday dress of dingy, shabby buildings and construction sites.

Finally, after weeks of hard work and a sleepless night, all the participants in the campaign gathered at Belvedere the following day for a celebration. Reverend Moon explained that since 1972 he has been planning for this day at Madison Square Garden, “D-Day for God.” “Truly you have been the wonder in New York the last several weeks,” he told the assembled young people. “People ask, ‘Why do young

people gather from all around the world? Why do they follow a Korean man?’ I think that even now they do not really have the answer.”

Reverend Moon cited the New York Times’ prediction that he would never make his goal. “But 130,000 people gave their word that they would come. I knew that at least one third of them would show up. And they did.”

“We created a miracle in America!” he exclaimed. “Who created the miracle? You did. This small group of young people. Other people do things and never take care of the aftermath. But when we do something, we finish it.”

At Belvedere Reverend Moon announced a campaign next year in Yankee Stadium. “The time bomb is ticking. We must do our job before the time bomb explodes. God has allowed only so much time to accomplish the goal. You are participating as a pioneer, as a champion of God during this critical period. Soon nobody on the earth will be able to deny the existence of God.”

Other leaders added their tribute to Reverend Moon’s speech. Mr. Takeru Kamiyama, advisor to the New York Unification Church and coordinator of the entire campaign, told the assembly that Reverend Moon had “directed me in every specific instruction.” He paid tribute to the cooperation of all the International One World Crusade commanders; U.S. Unification Church president, Neil Salonen; and to the fundraising teams, “who worked very hard to raise the funds needed to make it successful.”

Mr. Kamiyama reported that 192 press people had covered the event in the Garden and that there was a long, live television broadcast across the country. He estimated that 15,000-20,000 were turned away after the Garden was filled. In addition to taking down the posters that night, teams cleaned the debris off the grounds around the Garden. While helping to remove posters, Mr. Kamiyama was told by a policeman, “I have never seen a group like this before. I know God must bless you.”

Col. Pak spoke of his feelings while interpreting for Reverend Moon. “Each time after I translate, I hang my head in repentance for not being able to do him justice. I am deeply honored to stand by him, to weep together, laugh together, be angry together. I am grateful to be his shadow.”

Mr. Young Whi Kim, president of the International Unification Church, attributed the victory to Reverend Moon’s “sweat and prayer” and “your dedication.” He told the young people, “God has already blessed you in your fight. There will always be victory wherever you go.

Japanese Unification Church president, Mr. Osami Kuboki, spoke of his experience on leaving the hall. “After the meeting I stepped outside. People rushed to me asking, ‘Are you Reverend Moon?’ ‘Would you pray for me?’ ‘Will you shake hands with me?’ ‘Please give me a blessing.’ Because of that scene I could not leave for two hours. That was the true witness to the greatness of Reverend Moon. Those who remained to the very end were deeply moved.”