WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES TEACH ABOUT THE SECOND OR FINAL COMING OF JESUS CHRIST

WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES TEACH

ABOUT THE SECOND OR FINAL COMING OF JESUS CHRIST?

By Ron McRay

Over the centuries since Jesus' ascension, there have been many public and private discussions concerning this question. One position states: "The Bible teaches that the second or final coming of Jesus Christ occurred at 70 AD in the destruction of Jerusalem." Another position states: "The Bible teaches that the second, or final coming of Jesus Christ is yet future and will occur at the end of the Christian dispensation." Which, if either, is biblically correct? We will examine only the following in this document.

What do the scriptures teach about the "second coming" of Jesus Christ?
What do the scriptures teach about the "final coming" of Jesus Christ?
What do the scriptures teach about other comings of Jesus Christ?

I have purposely avoided the scriptures that use the Greek word "parousia," as it has been adequately dealt with by various authors.

My main objective is to show the "preterist" that the second or final coming of Jesus did not occur in AD 70, and also to show the "futurist" that the second or final coming of Jesus is not in our future, primarily because the scriptures do not teach "the second or final coming of Jesus." I hope that statement will not cause you to stop here, for the reasons for making that statement follow. If you stop now, be assured that you will not find "the second or final coming of Jesus" in your Bible. Search it out for yourself. If you have stayed with me, consider very carefully the following.

While I will touch on some Greek wording, I do not intend to get very involved in this document in the Greek manuscripts, as I want to keep our subject centered enough for both the student and scholar.

THE "SECOND COMING" OF JESUS

Since many believers frequently state that the Bible teaches a "second coming" of Jesus, let the proponents cite a Bible passage that states the reality of such a coming. Place the citation into this box:

What do the scriptures teach about the "second coming" of Jesus Christ? Nothing! Notice that the phrase, "second coming" does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Nevertheless, such is stressed daily on the TV, radio, in common conversation, religious books, periodicals, letters, church bulletins and newspapers. The religious public is overwhelmed with the use of the phrase "second coming" of Jesus.

It is futile to try to prove that the "second coming" of Jesus is from the Bible. If you inserted a passage into the box, read it again. Are the words "second coming" there? If you inserted Hebrews 9:28 into the box, note that the phrase "second coming" is not there. We shall study Hebrews 9:23-28 in a different document.

THE "FINAL COMING" OF JESUS

Secondly, search, and see if the phrase "final coming" appears anywhere in the Bible.
If so, please insert the passage into this box.

What do the scriptures say about the "final coming" of Jesus? Absolutely nothing! The phrase appears nowhere in the Bible. Is this the first time that you have been confronted to actually try to find the phrases "second coming" and "final coming" in the Bible? Now challenged, how honest will you be? As you continue to study this subject, I believe that you will understand why the scriptures cannot contain these two phrases.

AD 70 OR YET FUTURE?

· Did something extraordinary happen in AD 70?

· Is there something yet to happen in our future?

· Did Jesus "come" in AD 70?

· Is Jesus yet to "come"?

I believe that the answers to all four questions are, "Yes." Clearly, this needs some explanation. The answers to these four questions will become apparent as you complete your reading of this document. As you continue to study carefully, I believe that you will realize that this document is not concerning one of the comings of Jesus, but of a final coming of Jesus. Do the scriptures teach a "final" coming of Jesus? In view of the fact that the scriptures do not use the term "final coming, can we really teach such? When it is taught, the subjective concept of a "final coming" of Jesus comes from the context of one or more passages. It certainly does not come from a text using the phrase "final coming."

AT HIS BIRTH, JESUS CAME IN A FLESHLY, BIOLOGICAL BODY

Speaking of Jesus, John 1:11 says, "He came unto his own, and his own received him not." When Jesus was born of Mary, was this Jesus’ first coming? (If He had come at any time during the Jewish period, or anytime previous to Abraham, then His fleshly coming by birth from Mary could not have been His first coming.) This calls for some serious considerations, which shall be divided into various sections.

Let us look at John 14:1-30:

"(1) Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. (2) In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) [then] … I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (4) And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. … (16) And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (17) Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you. (18) I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. (19) Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. … (22) Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? (23) Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. … (28) Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If you loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. (29) And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. (30) Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me."

Many things are usually overlooked in this passage.

In the first four verses, there is nothing said of "taking the apostles to heaven." Jesus only spoke of "receiving" them.

Verses 17-20 disclose that the Spirit of truth was already known of the apostles. In fact, He was presently dwelling with them, would continue to do so, and would eventually be in them.

Jesus said that He would not leave the apostles comfortless. He would come to them. When did He come to them? Did He come to the apostles on Pentecost and not leave them comfortless, or did He go to heaven and stay there, apart from the apostles until AD 70, leaving them comfortless for forty years? Or, has He gone to heaven and not returned yet, leaving the apostles to die comfortless without the presence of Jesus? Perplexing thoughts, are they not?

Jesus said, "Yet a little while" the world would not see Him, but the apostles saw Him. Did the apostles have to wait until AD 70 to see Jesus? Or worse, did the apostles all die without seeing Jesus because this manifestation has not yet happened? If Jesus was not manifested to the apostles (but not to the world) in "a little while" as He stated, can we trust Him? Was the "little while" 40 or 50 days, or 40 years, or 2,000 years and still counting?

In verse 20, Jesus told His apostles, "…at that day ye shall know that I am in my father, and ye in me and I in you." Was that "little while" the day of Pentecost? Did the apostles know on Pentecost that Jesus was in His Father and they were in Jesus and Jesus was in them? If not, can we put any trust in what John stated in this chapter? If Jesus was not to come to them before AD 70, did the apostles preach till they died (before AD 70, except for John) and still not know the above things? How would Jesus come to them after they had died (which was before AD 70)?

Judas wanted to know how Jesus was to "manifest" Himself to the apostles, but not to the world. At that point, Jesus said that if they loved Him, both Jesus and His Father would come and make their abode with them [v.23]. Did that happen to the apostles on that Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus’ crucifixion? Yes. Or did they have to wait until AD 70, after they died, for Jesus and His Father to be with them? Or, are they still waiting because the day of the coming of Jesus and His Father has not yet come, and we still do not know how many days or centuries or millenniums must pass before Jesus and His Father do come?

John 14, verses 28 and 29 speak of Jesus’ departure and coming again to "you". If the "you" was not the apostles to whom Jesus was speaking, who was it? This event was not to be so long in the future that all of them were dead (except John), but rather "a little while" and Jesus was coming to be with them. This verse will not stand the interpretation that this coming of Jesus was either in AD 70 or in our future. Jesus was coming to be with them, they would be yet alive. Jesus told them that when it came to pass, they would believe. Did they believe on that Pentecost day? Yes. Or did they not believe until AD 70 (after they were dead)? Or, can they still not believe because Jesus has not yet come?

Next, consider Matthew 28:18-20:

"(18) And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (19) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. (20) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

In verse 20, the Authorized Version of 1611 (King James Version) erroneously translates the original Greek word "aeon" as "world," instead of the correct translation of "age." So, correctly, Jesus was to be with them unto the end of the age, evidently the Jewish age, which did terminate in AD 70. How was Jesus with them for those 40 years, if He had gone into heaven and did not "come again" to them until AD 70? Since the end of the age came in AD 70, it is erroneous to apply Matthew 28:18-20 to our future, or the end of planet earth.

If Jesus was with them during those 40 years, to the end of the Jewish age (AD 70), how could the "second coming" be in AD 70? Since He was going away from His apostles, He would have had to come again to them in order to be with them to the end of the age. That coming must have been what He was telling them about in John 14.

Did Jesus come in AD 70? Most of the New Testament passages concerning the "coming" of Jesus do refer to His AD 70 coming, as for instance, James 5:8,9:

"(8) Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. (9) Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condenmed: behold, the judge standeth before the door."

James stated that the coming of Jesus was drawing "nigh," or near, which never means thousands of years. James taught that Jesus was standing right at the door at that time, ready to judge.

What about all the threatened comings of Jesus in Revelation? We do not have the space to consider all the comings of Jesus to the churches and individuals in the book of Revelation, but let us at least look at the quotations.

"Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent" [Rev. 2:5].

"Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth" [Rev. 2:16].

"Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee" [Rev. 3:3].

"Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown" [Rev. 3:11].

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" [Rev. 3:20].

III

ARE THERE ANY MORE COMINGS OF JESUS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE?

Has Jesus come into your life? Write either "yes" or "no" in this box.

If you wrote "yes", write the date in this box.

If you inserted a modern date, say 1998, admit that there was a coming of Jesus that was past AD 70, which means that the final coming of Jesus was not in AD 70.

No, we are not talking apples and oranges. We are speaking only of comings of Jesus the Christ.

Of special relevance are the words of the apostle John, who recorded that Jesus said,

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" [Rev. 3:20].

As many people as have opened the door to Jesus, HE HAS COME! There have been thousands of individuals who have opened the door to show Jesus HAS COME into their lives.

Now we can understand why the Bible neither speaks of the second coming of Jesus, nor of His final coming. As long as planet earth stands, and people continue to exist on it, will there not be additional comings of Jesus?

The second coming of Jesus occurred many centuries ago, but we cannot identify it from the scriptures. When man ceases to exist on this planet, at that time there will be a final coming of Jesus into the heart of that last human being who hears His voice and opens the door of his heart. But, it is not mentioned in the scriptures, and from them we cannot identify it.

Let us be joyful that when we open the door of our hearts, Jesus can and will still come. The passage, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus" [Rev. 22:20], even though fulfilled in AD 70, is still relevant to anyone today who is listening to the call of YHVH God.

More importantly, what difference do these things make? As believers who have eternal life, this subject is of little consequence to us. Verily, we must mind the more important things: loving God with all of our hearts, minds, and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves. All else depends on observing these truths. Love is the answer! When will we learn that?

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My love to each of you. God bless you!