60. When was the Second Coming of Jesus?
The event referred to as the second coming is always closely related to the tribulation associated with 'the day of the Lord' which precedes it. It is also frequently linked to the resurrection and the judgment which it precedes.
Heb 9:28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. NKJV
This scripture says that Jesus will only appear a SECOND TIME for salvation to those who eagerly wait for Him. The rest would see Jesus come in judgment.
The key question
Matt 24:3 ... the disciples came to Him privately saying "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?" NKJV
Brethen, why would the disciples link these three events together ... if they were not events which they knew the prophets of old had promised would happen at the same time as the destruction of the temple? Jesus refers us to these same prophecies from Daniel 9:24-27 (see also Zechariah 14:1-5 and Isaiah 27-29) in His reply confirming that these other events were all part of the sequence of 'end of the age' events.
Please note that in Mark 13 the apostles ask only 'When will ALL these things be?' ... and in Luke 21 they ask 'When will these things be?'... and 'What will be the sign when these things are about to take place?' Jesus however responds in the same way in Mark and Luke's records of the Olivet discourse irrefutably linking all these same series of events together INCLUDING His second coming. The series would conclude with the resurrection and judgment of the believing Israelites and the judgment of the unbelievers which was also to signify the end of their age.
This is simply because this series of events WAS expected by Israel AT THAT TIME time based on the well known (and imminently expected fulfillment) of the Old Covenant prophetic record.
BUT further we should consider why they needed to ask "what will be the SIGN of your coming...and the end of the age" ... if as we are told today that Jesus was to return in "the physical body of a man"? Jesus would then have said..."When you see Me you will know that I have come" (Consider the reply Jesus gives to this aspect of their question in Mat 24:26-27 .... it rules out a physical body return'.)
...and if "the end of the age" was to be the total destruction of the whole physical world as they knew it... what would be the purpose of the "New Covenant" which Jesus died to bring to the world?
Definition of 'coming'
The Greek word most frequently used for 'coming' is 'parousia'.... most easily translated as 'presence'. This was often used to describe the ceremonial arrival of a ruler. Also as in the 'manifestation' of a presence (2 Thes 2:8) ...or to an 'epiphany' being the realisation of a presence.
This is also closely linked to another aspect often overlooked. ..'apocalupsis' meaning revelation (1 Peter 1:7 &13)
This describes scripturally what the book of 'Revelations' is all about ... a manifestation to the both the Jewish and Gentile worlds of who Jesus really was. The messiah who was rejected and killed ..... but then also raised from the dead and now coming to rule the whole world in all the glory of His position of 'one like the Son of Man' ... who was actually the Lord God or 'Yahweh' Himself (Rev 1:7&8, 13-18 // Zech 12:10 and Isaiah 43 and 44).
Historical context
God, through His prophets, had promised a Messiah. Jesus had come as Messiah and He too had been killed as promised in Isaiah 53. The Jews had rejected Him and said 'His blood be on us and our children' ... and they were now trying to destroy the church that Jesus through the apostles was building.
2 Thess 1: 6 ... it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, 7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed. NKJV
The time in AD 65-67 was NOW very close to the time for God to act as He had promised to totally destroy apostate Israel ... and revealing to them that God was manifested or revealed in Jesus the Christ and to rescue the persecuted church which was now to be the only way of salvation for the whole world.
Rev 3:9 Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie — indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. NKJV
So when did Jesus say His coming would be?
Matt 10:22 And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. NKJV
Jesus told the disciples he was speaking to that THEY would not have gone through the cities of Israel (fleeing persecution) before He would come....(ie in their lifetime and their location), This conclusively limits the time of His return to THAT generation.
Jesus here also confirms to the apostles that as He is the Son of Man referred to in Daniel 7:13... He is the one who would usher in the New Kingdom ...the Kingdom of GOD
Dan 7:13 "I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man ,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed. NKJV
The kingdom was one of grace and truth in which God Himself would rule directly ... not through the law where Moses and the prophets ruled .... but through His Son (John 1:17).
This kingdom was not something that was to come at the end of the church age some 2000 years later but in the days of the Roman empire...
Dan 2:44 And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; NKJV
These verses tell us that the kingdom of our Lord was established when Rome was still in power. We also know from New Testament verses that this was after Jesus had won the victory over Satan on the cross.
Matt 16:27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 28 Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." NKJV
Brethren, there are no remaining disciples from Jesus day still alive on earth today. Jesus said his coming would be before the last person living when He spoke on earth had died...so we KNOW Jesus promised to have returned prior to AD120 at the latest. (Unless you believe there are still some 2000 year old plus disciples living today?)
The scriptures give another indication that the time of the second coming should be within the lifetime of at least one of the apostles.
John 21:22 Jesus said to him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me."
23 Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?" NKJV
It is interesting to note that of the apostles ONLY John is believed to have remained alive till AD70 having been banished to the Isle of Patmos.
But what about "no man knows the hour or the day"
Matt 24:25 But of that day and hour (kairos) no one knows .... but My Father only. (Mark 14:32 ...nor the Son)
This should be read in the context of a pregnancy (Mark 13:8, 1 Thes 5:3, Rom 8:22) ...and is like saying "when a woman is pregnant you do not know the day or hour ... but you certainly know it will be about 40 weeks" ... and then logically also ... "when the contractions start you will know the 40 weeks duration is soon (or about) to come to the end" (and certainly not something that was to happen 2000 or so years later)
BUT Jesus tells us in John 16:13 that when the Holy Spirit (who is God) ...the Spirit of truth has come that He would guide the apostles into ALL truth and that He would tell them about "things to come" ... ie this certainly includes the timing of the promised return of Christ.
The apostles confirming this all said in their epistles (written approximately AD 55-65) that the appointed hour (kairos vs chronos) was at hand, that it was the last hour, that the judge was standing at the door, the time has come, etc. UNDER THE INSPIRATION of the Holy Spirit. Claiming they were confused or mistaken IS simply rejecting the inspiration of the scriptures. (refer Rom 13:11-12, Heb 10:37, James 5:8-9, 1 Peter 5:4, 1 John 2:18)
Further note that Jesus made this statement in AD30. However in approx AD66 when the time had drawn near, the scriptures tell us...
Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants — . NKJV
Please note that the Father here gives the Son (Jesus) notice that the TIME was about to take place. This was done so that Jesus could give the churches of that time warning about "things which must shortly take place"
This is the specified intent and context of the book of Revelations from start to finish. (Rev 22:10, 12 & 20)
Jesus here in AD65-67 reveals to His servants (the apostles), the detailed events and programme for 'that day and hour which no man knoweth' at the time of Mat 24:36 in AD33.
The scriptures here again confirm that the coming of Jesus in judgment of Israel was to be within the lifetime of the first generation of believers (before AD 73) ...and not some 2000 years later.
Jesus was coming to BE REVEALED in all His glory...this is what the book of REVELATION is all about. There was and will be no greater revelation to the world that Jesus IS God than AD70. And sadly today much of the 'church' has still not and almost stubbornly refuses to acknowledge this event for what it WAS...one which the early church certainly expected in their day. (1 Cor 3:13, 2 Thes 1:7, 1 Pet 4:12-17, 1 Pet 5:1)
Luke 17:30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed . NKJV
When Jesus first came he came incognito as a MAN...but when He returned in AD70 he came as GOD in judgment on apostate Israel. Israel thought they had merely betrayed and sacrificed a man not realising it was God Himself who they rejected. (John 11:49-52)
Rev 1:7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. 8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." NKJV
Zech 12:10 "And I (God speaking) will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced . Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. NKJV
The tribes of the earth here refers to the 12 tribes of Israel...those who had rejected their Messiah and killed Him. This confirms that Jesus had to return before that generation passed ...they were His killers who had said.... 'his blood be on us and our children' ... THEY were to see and mourn. This again verifies the timing as having to be around AD70 at the latest.
He was coming as the Son of Man of Daniel's vision....he came to usher in the NEW KINGDOM ...an everlasting spiritual kingdom and not a temporal or physical one as it was in the Old Covenant. This explains why most of the unsaved did not know what had happened.
2 Cor 4:18... while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. NKJV
Jesus quoted from Daniel 7:13 again in his promise to the high priest and Sanhedrin who condemned him.
Matt 26:63 And the high priest answered and said to Him,"I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!"
64 Jesus said to him, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you (singular), hereafter you (plural) will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." 65 Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, "He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy! 66 What do you think?" They answered and said, "He is deserving of death." NKJV
Jesus told the high priest who condemned Him that the current Sanhedrin would be eye-witnesses to the consequences of THEIR decision to reject and crucify Him....and most of the Sanhedrin lived to see this event!
The Sanhedrin saw this fulfilled when they saw Jerusalem and the temple being destroyed around them in AD70....and they then KNEW that this was the judgment of God and proof that Jesus was who He claimed to be......and so also did ALL the remaining Jews scattered all around the world. Their whole power base was shattered (Dan 12:7)....no longer were they THE chosen race or special to God.
The reality that GOD had DIVORCED Israel permanently was indisputable in AD70. This is also the story of Revelations 16 to 19...the harlot was destroyed. And co-incidentally the punishment for harlotry is stoning (just as happened to Jerusalem according to Flavius Josephus). The hail stones of 1 talent in weight were fulfilled by white marble stones of this weight being catapulted onto the city.
The Old Covenant was ended when the temple was destroyed and festivals and sacrifices ceased, the priesthood ended with the loss of all their genealogical records in the fires and Israel was taken from their promised land.
The NEW KINGDOM is "not of this world"....and it is one which will NEVER end.
John 18:36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here." NKJV
John 14:3 I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. NKJV
Jesus came again in AD70 to resurrect the remaining Israelite saints and martyrs and reward them with eternal life in His presence.
Jesus returned as GOD..in Spirit...to judge Israel as promised in NUMEROUS Old Testament prophecies. The means He used was the Roman armies (just as He had used the Assyrians to judge Egypt...and Cyrus to judge Babylon before)
Today we as NEW Covenant believers are now united with Him (1 Cor 6:17; John 17:20-23; 2 Cor 5:17-18; 1 John 3:2) AT OUR REBIRTH!
Col 2:11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, NKJV
This is resurrection today.
The Kingdom is NOT a visible institution. We do not have to wait for a personal physical appointment to meet Jesus. We can ALL encounter Him in spirit all over the world at the same time...and be saved.
Luke 17:21 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." NKJV
(Believers were told.."you will not SEE this kingdom coming, but you will know WITHIN YOU that it HAS COME. You will know God's presence with you by the indwelling Spirit...and you will know God's judgment is being meted out by the fulfillment of PROPHECY and Jesus words)
Luke 17:22-31 also tells us that while the apostles would not 'SEE the coming of the Son of Man in His kingdom (yes as per Dan 7:13), they would however see the SIGNS which would be accompanying destruction of the generation who rejected Jesus in the same way as the generation who rejected Noah were judged ... and in the same way as Sodom (also a type of the city where the Lord was slain .. ie Jerusalem in Rev 11:8) and the people in it who rejected God's Son were destroyed (Mat 21:33-43).
The coming of Jesus was not an event that was to take 2000 years to occur... it was IMMINENT and for 'THIS GENERATION'' ....those who were alive in AD30-70 and were being persecuted by the Jews who stirred up the Romans and locals because they hated the fact that the gospel had now gone out to the Gentiles. (Acts 9-28)... and that they were not under the Law (Acts 15:1-5).
Matt 24:29-30
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. NKJV
Brethren, Jesus came IMMEDIATELY after the tribulation of those days (AD67-70) which included the destruction of the temple (and Jerusalem and the nation of Israel) which HISTORY documents as having happened in AD70. These scriptures do NOT speak of an event 2000 year in the future to the apostles! There has also been since then no other series of events in history which have come close to matching what Jesus promised for that time.
Matt 24:34 (see also Mk 13:30 and Luke 21:32)
34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till ALL these things take place. NKJV
('ALL these things' categorically included the second coming of Jesus as we are told THREE times where Jesus teaches about the end times in each of the three gospels ... Mat 24:30, Mark 13:26 and Luke 21:27)
Bretheren, the scriptures are emphatic that THIS generation...the very people who Jesus was adressing right there in Jerusalem would not have passed away before his return. The bible gives clear indications that a generation is around 40 years so the generation he was speaking of would pass away typically by AD 73 (Mat 1:17, also as a type in Numbers 14:27-35).
SO Jesus was either speaking of AD70 and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and the tribluation of that time....or you open the case for the sceptic's argument that he was a false prophet?... or just plain got the timing of his return wrong?
'I KNOW HIM in whom I have believed'.... I believe He did exactly what He promised... and when He promised.
Is it acceptable to you to have an eschatology which requires us not to believe Jesus words? What about doubting His promises that start with "Assuredly I say to YOU, ..."? ... What about those promises made over and over in many different forms?
Is it acceptable to you to have an eschatology which requires the belief that 'the apostles were mistaken' in their question to Jesus (Mat 24:3) when they linked the second coming of Jesus to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple AND the end of the age? Could they have been wrong about this issue when they wrote the gosples and the rest of the New Testament under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7&13) ... and that without telling us in their epistles that they had been mistaken?
Jesus then states...
Matt 24:34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. NKJV
DO you believe that heaven and earth have passed away? (PS... I believe that it did in the way Jesus meant from the prophetic scripture he was referring to - refer article 54)
Do you believe that JESUS RETURNED IN AD70 on clouds in judgment of apostate Israel within the time frame He promised? (PS...many early church fathers and believers throughout history did)
Do you believe Jesus and His words in the scriptures...or do you rather hold to a condradictory and flawed interpretation of a creed of men which states that 2000 years or so later Jesus IS STILL TO COME in the future to judge the living and the dead?
Do you really believe that Jesus is still to return a third time? ... and that as a man to establish a physical kingdom on earth centred on Jerusalem and a new temple? (contrary to scriptures telling us it is a spiritual kingdom .. including John 3:3&5)
But what happened to the Milleneum and how does it fit?
Brethren we have to learn to understand the meaning of prophetic and apocalyptic language. If you insist, despite the fact that neither the prophets, nor Jesus nor the apostles EVER even mentioned a 1000 year period to occur before the New Covenant commenced, that because a thousand year period is mentioned six times in the first half of chapter 20 of Revelations that it MUST be literal then you must be consistent ...
Is the angel's chain literal? vs 1
Is the devil or serpent literal? vs 2
Is the beast literal? vs 10
Is the false prophet literal? vs 10
Are death and hades literally cast into a lake of fire? vs 14
Please also explain how one can justify explaining away the clear teaching in the didactic portions of the book of Revelation about the timing being soon, shortly, quickly, etc and then at the same time believe that the time period of 1000 years must be literal when this is only found in a clearly prophetic apocolyptic chapter?
Please note that in the new testament scriptures Peter alone refers to a 1000 year period in his epistles (2 Pet 3:9) and the context is emphatically about the events of the 'last days' (vs 3) in which they were living and the persecution they were enduring. The promise of His coming (vs 4) refers to Jesus promise in Mat 24:35 (in their generation) and the associated soon coming judgment of Jerusalem and the temple by fire (vs 7, Dan 9:26b). He tells us that to those who were enduring persecution, 'one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as one day' ... the period is certainly NOT literal.
But even if you want to believe all of these characters are literal along with the 1000 year period ... then you need to nominate the start and thereby the finish date.
Note that Jesus came in judgment of Jerusalem and the temple in Revelations chapter 18 which history records happened in AD 70 ... and harlotrous Israel in chapter 19 which clearly happened at the same time. (Biblical Judaism ceased in AD 70 ... no temple and no priesthood means NO sacrifices have been offered since)
Now we know that Jesus had defeated Satan at the cross in AD 33. And because history tells us when the temple was destroyed, we would have to conclude that by AD 70 at the latest the milleneum had started....and it then must have ended in either AD 1033 or AD 1070.
Sadly for those wanting to believe in a literal 1000 year time period NOTHING of significance happened in AD 1033 (or AD 1070) despite the many predictions of the world coming to an end. We can today check the HISTORY. NOTHING changed. Satan was not released and then finally destroyed, there was no war of Armageddon which occurred in the world (Rev 20:7-10) nor was Jerusalem destroyed by fire at that time.
(According to the timeline in Revelations the events discussed in Chpter 20 ... including the resurrection and the white throne judgment... were all to happen SOON. The milleneum started either at the begining of Jesus ministry in AD 30 (Mat 12:29 when Satan was bound) .. or in AD 33 when Jesus defeated Satan at the cross.... and brought about the first resurrection of saints. (Mat 25:52-53). The millenium then according to Jesus would then have had to come to an end before AD 73 (before 'this generation passes') ... and according to Daniel and Jesus when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed in AD 70 and the Old Covenant passed away.... and also at the time of the final resurrection of the saints (Dan 12:1-3 & 7).
But what about 'the fig tree blossoming'?
Luke 21:29 Then He spoke to them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. 31 So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. NKJV
The fig tree...and ALL the trees are just props in a parable. The fig tee and all the other trees are NOT the sign we are too look for in regard to Christ's return. The subject is NOT the trees...and it is NOT referring to Israel 'blossoming'. The subject is the timing of the second coming of Christ. The point is that just as the leaves being 'put forth' after winter are the indication that summer is coming shortly (within a month or so)....SO in the same way when the believers SAW ALL the signs (Mat 24:6-15) which Jesus gave them being fulfilled (as they were by AD66) ...THEN they would have known that the KINGDOM which Jesus was going to usher in (as per the Dan 7:13-14 prophecy) ..was COMING UPON THEM. This event was the SECOND Coming and the prelude to THE Day of the Lord.
According to the context of this parable the timing CANNOT to be extended out to 2000 or so years...it was emphatically to be something THEY would see and would therefore occur according to verse 34 "this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place"
Now please consider the apostles question in Mat 24:3 '...and what will be the sign of your coming, and the end of the age?' This question shows that the apostles were NOT expecting Jesus second coming to be one where He would return in 'bodily form' ie as a physical being who they would know. This understanding is confirmed because Jesus does not reply "When you SEE Me, you will know that I have come" ... but gives a list of the signs which would confirm that He was about to come ... (being wars followed by tribulation and false prophets, the gospel being preached, the abomination of desolation, the believers fleeing, false christs, etc) ... these are the signs which Jesus directs the apostles to look for in vs 33 to know that His coming was imminent. This is in no way related to an apostate and unrepentant Israel returning to 'the promised land' in AD1948 (some 1878 years later).
False teachers who have deceived many with this heresy are called to repent and publically recant.
BUT surely Jesus was to return as a MAN?.... some will counter ... and why did history not record this if it happened?
Please note that this event occurred in the midst of a massive war where all of Jerusalem was destroyed or taken captive...and the WHOLE church in Jerusalem had fled to Pella in the hills as Jesus instructed. ALL Jewish records were burned including their priesthood genealogical archives. There is however no shortage of secular historic records (which is surely something that God's hand has been at work in)....primarily that of Flavius Josephus who was a Roman historian and an EYE-WITNESS (The Wars of the Jews published in AD75) ... which is an essential read....and Tacitus (Histories and Annals). Surely contemporary and independant historic EYE-WITNESS and official records which verify the fulfillment of so much of what was prophecied should be regarded as essential reading for those wanting to understand the prophetic "end time" scriptures?
Acts 1:9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This (same?) Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." NKJV
Please note that the first use of the word 'same' referring to Jesus is NOT in any of the Greek manuscripts. For those who have preached any of the numerous sermons (many are posted online) on this topic emphasizing something which is not actually in the scriptures I suggest a good Greek lexicon. The like manner in which he was to return refers to coming on clouds was spelt out in Daniel 7:13-14 (and this is what we should rely on to confirm our assumptions...in accordance with the main rule of hermeneutics) ...and as Jesus himself confirmed (Mat 24:30).
(This passage also is NOT a teaching on the 'form' in which Jesus was to return... it is about the MANNER of His coming. Jesus himself had given the apostles clear teaching which ruled out any interpretation of a material return in a physical human body as we can see from Mat 24:26-27 and other scriptures below.)
Please note that the emphatic teaching of the scripture is that Jesus would NOT return as a man that all the world can or would see ... but as God manifested in all His glory...
1 Tim 6:14-16 ...until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.
1 Tim 1:17...Now to the King eternal, immortal, INVISIBLE, to God alone who is wise....
Paul also descibes the form of the ascended Jesus in terms that preclude any possiblity of being restricted to a physical body ...
Eph 4:9-10 Now this, 'He ascended' what does it mean but that He also first decended into the lower parts of the earth? (refer John 3:13, 20:17)
He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.
Paul is teaching that the ascended Jesus is now no longer in the 'form of a bond servant and in the likeness of men' (as He was after His incarnation - Phil 2:5-11)... but now that as the 'highly exalted' Jesus He is again in Spirit (one who fills all things) i.e. in the form of God who is omnipresent. (refer also 2 Cor 3:17... 'Now the Lord is the Spirit' ...)
Some quote the following scripture to claim Jesus will forever be in the physical body of a man...
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ (is) the same yesterday, today and forever.
Please note the word 'IS' is NOT found in any of the Greek manuscripts. The fact that this verse does not refer to the 'human bodily form' of Jesus is demonstrated both by its context in chapter 13 and by the previous reference in chapter 1 explaining what being 'the same' means in regard to who Jesus is.
To the Son He says .... (from Heb 1:12) You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundations of the earth ... (before He became flesh) ... they will change but You are the same and your years will not fail you.
Brethren, this scripture was addressed to the Son BEFORE He 'became flesh and dwelt among us' (John 1:14) ...and before 'taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men.... and being found in the appearance as a man' (Phil 2:5-11)
But please note what happened then.... 'Therefore God also has HIGHLY EXALTED Him' (Phil 2:9)
The scripture states that changing from being in the form of God (i.e. in spiritual form only) to becoming flesh is being 'the same' ... and therefore we have to accept that being 'highly exalted' and no longer being in the flesh nor having the form of a man must also still be regarded as being 'the same'. The 'highly exalted' form that Jesus has today is detailed for us in Revelations 1:10-18 ... that of the glorified 'Son of Man' .... and Revelations 5:6-14 etc ... that of the highly exalted 'Lamb of God' who now sits on the throne (21 references) in the heavenly realm. Paul confirms this ...
2 Cor 5:16b ... Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, YET NOW we know Him thus no longer.
Others refer to Colossians for their strongest supporting scripture ... where the word 'dwells' is in the present active indicative...
Col 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. (somatikos ... "in bodily form")
(However the context of this verse and the meaning of us as believers having Christ 'in us' and we being 'in HIM' is completely ignored.)
But first please note how the scripture defines the term 'bodily' or 'in bodily form'....
Luke 3:22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased." NKJV
'In bodily form' refers to a physical manifestation which people recognise as the presence of God. It clearly does NOT refer exclusively to an appearance of God in the form of a MAN! (the Greek word somatikos is an ADVERB... rather than being a noun or even an adjective). Look at Jesus appearance to Paul...'a light from heaven...and a voice' which said 'I am Jesus' (see also 1 Cor 9:1). The glorified Jesus is 'the voice' we as believers hear (John 10:27). This is the same voice Peter heard in Acts 10:13-15 and acknowledged as 'Lord'. This is also the same Jesus that the apostle John saw 'in the Spirit' in Rev 1:13. The apostle who physically walked with Jesus for three years when He was a man, fell at his feet as though dead when he heard 'the voice' (Rev 1:10&12). Any encounter with God today ... if real IS spiritual and will be life-changing.
(Consider that Jesus also appeared in the Old Testament in various forms as 'The angel of the Lord' to Abraham, a burning bush and fire to Moses, a 'Rock' from which water flowed in the desert and a 'Pillar of fire' to protect Israel, a 'still small voice' to Elijah, to name but a few... and is described as 'the same yesterday today and forever')
Jesus NEVER appeared again as a physical man to any of the apostles in the scriptures after His ascension (except for one who saw this 'in the spirit' like John in Rev 1:10-18). Yet some would have us believe they have seen him in 'bodily form' today?
The form in which Jesus exists today is as GOD .... the King eternal ... who is invisible (1 Tim 1:17). Jesus at His coming was not manifested as a 5 foot 6 middle eastern man ... but as 'the blessed and only Potentate ... whom NO MAN CAN SEE (1 Tim 6:14-16). Jesus after His ascention no longer exists in the physical form of a man but as God who is spirit (Eph 4:8-10)
Those who seek to use 2 John 7 as referring to Jesus as 'still about to be' coming in the flesh must accept that while the Greek does allow this interpretation' it primarily refers to Jesus being the one who HAD come in the flesh. John had already told believers in his previous epistle that he was referring to the doctrine of Jesus having already come in the flesh which the false prophets denied. This is clearly the intention as NONE of the Jews of Jesus day denied that Son of Man was coming (ie this was the subject of numerous Old Testament prophecies) .... but they certainly denied that it was Jesus who had come as God in the flesh. This is confirmed to be the subject because the scriptures only know of the latter interpretation as the contentious issue (refer John 1:14-15 and parallel references of this same issue in 1 John 4:1-3). In addition there is NO supporting scripture to confirm that Jesus was to return in a physical body of a man ... and many confirming that He was to return as God who is spirit (John 4:24). We cannot base a docrine on an unsupported interpretation of one verse ... and that in direct contradiction to numerouse other scriptures.
The context of Colossians 2:9 is categorically not about Jesus today existing in a physical body but of the spiritual work that God has provided for us as believers 'in Him' (Col 1:10-14) ... how 'in Him' all things consist (Col 1:17) ... that today Christ is the head of the church (Col 1:18) and that we as the church are His Body ... and that now we are IN HIM and with HIM in us we encounter and experience the fullness of God (Col 1:19-20). The world will never again have an encounter with the physical Jesus. In Him (in His life on earth for us) we have received all that God has for us (Col 2:10) ... including having been raised from the dead, being made alive together with Him and having all our sins forgiven (Col 2:11-14).
Eph 1:16-23 (Paul prays...) that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give to you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened ... He put all things under His feet and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, WHICH IS HIS BODY, the fullness of Him who fills ALL IN ALL . NKJV
Paul is NOT telling the church that they need a 'revelation' to see Jesus who then was in a physical body ... but that the church, then and today, need a revelation to see that THEY are HIS BODY because He now has already been exhalted and then already as GOD 'FILLS ALL IN ALL'.
The passage which most clearly explains that Jesus will NOT return as a physical man is found in John 14.1-29. Sadly these verses are almost completely overlooked by most who hold the 'physical body return' view.
(vs 1 'you believe in God, believe in Me also' ... Jesus is spirit just as God is - John 4:24)
(vs 2 'In My Father's house' is not a place but the spiritual realm in which we dwell with God and He with us - and certainly not referring to a mansion or a temple Rev 21:3)
(vs 3 'I will come again' ... returning in judgement on Israel ... 'and receive you to myself' ...and to reward believers with eternal life (see 1 Thes 4:17)
(vs 3 'that where I am, you may be also' ...they were not looking for a physical place but a heavenly one - Heb 11:16)
(vs 4 'where I go you know, and the way you know' ... the place was not found on a map but in the New Covenant - Jesus returned to the glorious heavenly realm of the Father and in Him we have our access)
(vs 6 'I am the way, the truth and the life' .... the way is found in Jesus alone .. i.e. the New Covenant of grace written in His blood... and the life we get is the eternal life of God dwelling in us)
(vs 9 'He who has seen Me, has seen the Father' ... seeing Jesus is NOT referring to seeing a man ... it is the revelation of Him as GOD in our hearts and minds)
(vs 11 'Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me' ... this is NOT a description of a physical presence, but the revelation of a spiritual reality)
(vs 16 'The Father ... will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever' ... the Spirit of Truth' ... God's plan is not to dwell in a building made of human hands but in the spiritual realm of the hearts of His children Rev 21:3)
(vs 18 'I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you' ... Jesus physically appeared to the disciples for 40 days after his resurrection until He ascended in Acts 1:9 ... since that time no believers have seen Him in a physical body)
(vs 20 'At THAT day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in Me, and I in you' ... that day was the day of Jesus coming back on the clouds as per Dan 7:13-14. Please note that this was a revelation where they would KNOW who Jesus was ... it was not a description of a bodily manifestation in which they would see the Lord physically as a man. The day of the Lord and the judgment/destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in AD70 certainly confirmed Jesusclaims and His identity as God)
(vs 21 'he who loves Me ... I will love him and manifest Myself to him' ... we do not see Jesus today in a bodily form. His manifestations scripturally are as a bright shining light (Acts 9:3) and the voice that we as believers hear and respond to. (Acts 10:13, John 10:27, Rev 1:10&12)
(vs 23 'We will come to him and make OUR home with him' ... this is not describing a physical event of the Father and Jesus living in our homes ... but a spiritual reality of God dwelling in us and with us as New Covenant believers - Rev 21:3)
(vs 29 'and now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe' ... prophecied events including the second coming of Jesus as the Son of Man on the clouds of glory in judgment of Israel were to be witnessed by some of the apostles. This historic event proved to the whole world that Jesus was and is who He claimed to be. There was no scriptural record of a physical Jesus appearing because this was not something God ever said was to happen.
Further...
Jesus himself refutes interpretations that He would return in a 'physical body in one location'... in a form which we would need to go OUT and LOOK for in order to find in any specific location.
Matt 24:26 "Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. NKJV
Luke 17:20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say,'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." NKJV
Jesus was saying to the Jews of His day ..."My coming will be something you mortals will ALL see at the at the same time"...no matter where you are in Israel....like lightning it will be in a FLASH...and you will ALL concur saying ... 'This is what Jesus meant when He said the believers would see Him coming on the clouds in glory!'". These verses specifically preclude a physical or mortal human being arriving in a single location where only those who go OUT to LOOK would SEE Him! (as occurred after the resurrection from the dead and before the ascension!)
Read Josephus account of this event....the Jews of that day who experienced this event certainly KNEW that Jesus as the Son of Man had come ...in judgment on Israel....and on the clouds.
The speculations of men that the whole world will see Him returning physically to Jerusalem over global TV are ludicrous....How would that have made any sense to a Jew in AD33?.... those to whom Jesus said they would SEE IT.
Dan 7:13 "I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
NKJV
This was a 'vision' revealing a future world changing event and NOT a physical reality which was promised.
This is also the Jesus of Revelations
Rev 1:13 .. and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. NKJV
Jesus who is God, came in 'disguise' fully as a man to live a sinless life under the Law ...and to share our humanity...and then as the innocent and pure Lamb of God ...to die for our sins. He returned on the clouds in JUDGMENT revealed in the book of Revelations to be GOD HIMSELF.
Rev 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
5 Then He who sat on the throne said,"Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."
6 And He said to me,"It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. NKJV
ALL of Jesus comments about His return tell us they will be IN GLORY....this is not telling us about a man returning but Jesus in the GLORY He had with the Father BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN (Jn 17:7, Mat 24:30, Mat 16:27)
The Jesus who became flesh and dwelt amongst us (John 1:14, Phil 2:7) did not remain flesh and blood (Heb 5:7-9 ... please note the PAST TENSE x5)... but after the days of His flesh ... is now perfected and glorified...and seated at the right hand of the Father (Luke 22:69).
Phil 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. NKJV
The glorious body is the one the apostles saw at the transfiguration...the one Stephen saw at his stoning...the one John saw in Revelations when He fell at His feet as though DEAD. Brethren, we too will not be simply 'flesh and blood' because as 1 Cor 15:50 states "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God". We too will need glorified bodies to live in GLORY.
(If you want to be literal about the interpretation of Revelations then you must accept that Jesus in heaven today is in the form of a LAMB ... as the 21 references in the book describe ... and then also as a lamb with seven horns and seven eyes)
The Jesus who was to come back on the clouds is the one who NOW ALREADY dwells with us and in us (Rev 21:3) ... HE IS GOD IN HIS FULLNESS.
John 4: 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." NKJV
Brethren GOD IS SPIRIT... and Jesus IS GOD (2 Cor 3:17)
Could I suggest that those who are still waiting for a physical 1.65m middle eastern MAN to return on clouds need a revelation of who the real Jesus is?
Matt 16:15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
16 Simon Peter answered and said,"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. NKJV
John 14:1 "Let not your heart be troubled; you 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 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. NKJV
Brethren, let us be real...the apostles were not looking forward to the return of a mortal Jesus ... or going to live in physical mansions in the sky....but Jesus in ALL HIS GLORY as the Son of God ...and the mansions are in the GLORY realm as the realm where we too will dwell in fellowship as FAMILY with HIM in eternity...as we too are incredibly blessed to be children of God!
John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. NKJV
Brethren, in the same way as Israel was guilty of failing to recognise Jesus when He first came as a man... so much of the church today has failed to recognise that Jesus returned in AD70 as GOD to judge Israel... despite the emphatic words of Jesus himself. Israel was blinded because they were looking for worldly warrior Messiah to come and re-establish David's throne as a 'material kingdom' on earth. In a similar way parts of the the church who are looking for a physical man to return and establish an earthly kingdom...and have failed to see the fact that God Himself has already come in SPIRIT in judgment on Israel exactly as Jesus and all the Old Testament scriptures had prophecied....AND ...He has established the Kingdom of God (or the Kingdom of Heaven) HERE ON EARTH which today still rules over the whole world in the spiritual realm.
Brethren, the scriptures speak of Jesus as the Son of Man having a 'SECOND coming' or His 'coming again'. There are NO scriptures that even infer that a third coming was to happen later... and if according to the scriptures, ALL of the scriptures concerning Jesus are ALL fulfilled as Jesus himself said they would be by approx AD70 ... this must INCLUDE the Son of Man i.e. Jesus Christ coming on clouds of glory.
Brethren JESUS WORK in a mortal body IS DONE! He now works in and through people all around the world at the same time by the Holy Spirit! (Jn 14-16)
For a study on 9 of the signs recorded by Josephus in AD70...which match scriptures from Revelations refer the following link...
https://adammaarschalk.com/2016/11/02/josephus-and-the-book-of-revelation-nine-case-studies/
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(For those who still believe a physical Jesus will return on the clouds .... please look at the judgment of Egypt for a great example of apocalyptic and prophetic language ...
Isa 19:1 The burden against Egypt.
Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud ,
And will come into Egypt;
The idols of Egypt will totter at His presence,
And the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst. NKJV
Brethren, NO-ONE was RECORDED seeing God riding the cloud (or hearts literally melting)...instead the scripture records that they saw the following...
Isa 20:4 .. so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians as prisoners and the Ethiopians as captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. NKJV
... in the same way God used the Romans to mete out HIS JUDGMENT ON ISRAEL in AD70 ... and this was followed immediately by the coming of Christ on clouds (Mat 24:29). Proud spirits were humbled. Josephus records the heavenly appearance of angelic host on chariots which was seen by ALL in Jerusalem ...just like lightning amongst the clouds!
(Refer also to Jeremiah 4:9&13, Joel 2:1&2)
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The fact is that almost 50 biblical generations have passed since Christ's 'imminent' return was promised. Surely it is time to revisit our understanding of Jesus teaching and all the scriptures to see where the interpretation of so many regarding 'the second coming' has gone WRONG?
For those who cannot accept this, what is required is a rational alternative explanation of Jesus's words about the IMMINENCE of His coming... one which is cohesive with all the old testament prophets and Jesus words along with the apostles teaching in the Epistles and Revelations and along with recorded HISTORY and the spiritual reality of the NEW Covenant we today LIVE IN.
It is also important that any alternative explanation address ALL the closely associated scriptural events such as 'the day of the Lord', the tribulation, the falling away, the destruction of the temple, the coming of the Lord, the resurrection and the judgment....and their timing as promised by the Old Testament prophets and as verified by Jesus.
IF another such an explanation exists ... apart from preterism ... I certainly have never heard it, seen it or read it in 40 years of walking with Jesus.
The other great challenge for those who still teach the 'imminence of the return of Christ' today is the FACT that there HAS BEEN (for almost 2000 years) AND STILL IS NO TEMPLE in Jerusalem. Most of the furturist prophecy 'experts' agree that the Temple HAS TO EXIST before Christ can return and that sacrificial Judaism also has to be restored. Over this period then ...and continuing today, at best there would be approx 5 years required to re-build the temple which would have to come to pass BEFORE Christ actually could return!
This fact alone eliminates the possibility of real imminence having existed at any time SINCE the temple was destroyed in AD70 (Ezek 37-40, Zech 12-14). Unbelievers and those who have fallen away could easily say "If I ever see a temple being built THEN I will repent and believe... and I should have at least 5 years warning that this is coming"
(Brethren, the answer is simple....Today in the New Covenant since AD70 believers as the church are the temple of God... and the only sacrifices we are to offer are sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving!)