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When Jesus Said He Would Return

“Truly, I say to you, THIS GENERATION will not pass away until all these things take place.” (Matt 24:34)

Introduction

When we read New Testament (NT) passages, it is important to realise that they were originally addressed to early Christians, living in the period AD 30 to AD 70… the LAST DAYS of the Old Covenant… the LAST DAYS of national, fleshly Israel.

The Gospels, Acts, Epistles and Revelation were written to inform early Christians about Jesus and the soon coming Kingdom of God, and to encourage them to live in righteousness and not to despair at their trials and sufferings, while they waited for Jesus’ IMMINENT RETURN [Gk: παρουσία: parousia].

Jesus himself repeatedly said that his parousia would occur SOON… WITHIN THEIR LIFETIME..

I - What Jesus Said in the Gospels

During his earthly ministry, Jesus repeatedly warned people that the Kingdom of Heaven was “AT HAND” and that God’s wrath was “ABOUT TO COME” upon THEM:

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt 3:2, 4:17, 10:7)

“You brood of vipers! Who warned YOU to flee from the wrath to [Gk: μελλούσης: mellouses: ABOUT TO] come?” (Matt 3:7)

“EVEN NOW the axe is laid to the root of the trees.” (Matt 3:10)

“His winnowing fork is in his hand…” (Matt 3:12)

Matthew 10 - Jesus sent out his twelve Apostles telling them to go “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (v.6), proclaiming “the kingdom of God is at hand” (v.7). He warned them about possible persecution saying: “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” (Matt 10:23)

Matthew 16 - “For the Son of Man is going to [Gk: μέλλει: mellei: IS ABOUT TO] come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” (Matt 16:27-28) (see also: Mark 8:38-9:1 & Luke 9:26-27)

there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
(Matt 16:28)

Matthew 23 - Jesus decreed seven woes on the scribes and Pharisees for their corruption, greed, hypocrisy and murder of his messengers. And then He prophesied their fate: “so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” (Matt 23:35-36) (see also: Mark 13 & Luke 21)

Jesus specifically denoted that period of time (in the 1^st century) as “days of vengeance”:

“… for THESE are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written..” (Luke 21:22)

Matthew 24 - Jesus prophesied that the temple was about to be completely destroyed: “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” (Matt 24:2)

Sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, the disciples asked to know more:

“Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming [Gk: παρουσίας: parousias] and of the end [Gk: συντελείας: synteleias] of the age [Gk: αἰῶνος: aionos]?” (Matt 24:3)

Jesus described the events of his parousia: false messiahs and false prophets, wars and rumours of wars, famines, earthquakes, great persecution and murder of Christians, apostasy and lawlessness. (Matt 24:4-32

He warned his disciples to flee to the mountains when they see the signs of the approaching parousia:

“Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” (Matt 24:16)

And again Jesus reiterates the imminence of these End Times events:

“Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” (Matt 24:34) (also Mark 13:30 & Luke 21:32)

Just before Jesus was crucified, he was tried before the Jewish Sanhedrin. At that trial, Jesus warned Caiaphas, the chief priest, and the scribes and elders of his IMMINENT RETURN ON CLOUDS OF HEAVEN:

this generation will not pass away until all these things take place…
(Matt 24:34)

“You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Matt 26:64) (also Mark 14:62 & Luke 22:69)

As Jesus was led way to Calvary’s cross, many women walked along “mourning and lamenting for him”. However, Jesus knew what terrible suffering was SOON to come upon some of those women, when he returned at his parousia. So he turned to them and said:

“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ” (Luke 23:28-30)

John 21 - After his resurrection, Jesus met the disciples by the sea of Galilee (called Tiberias in John 21). Peter asked Him about John’s future: “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus replied: “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” (John 21:22)

II - What Jesus Said in Revelation

The book of Revelation also reinforces the expectation of an imminent parousia in the first century. Jesus sent his angel to John, to reveal what was ABOUT TO HAPPEN. Jesus directly addressed seven real, historical churches in Asia Minor c. AD 62, warning them that the parousia would be soon… “the time is near”. See the very first verse:

“The revelation [Gk: ἀποκαλυψις: apokalypsis] of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must SOON [Gk: τάχει: tachei] take place.” (Rev 1:1)

“… for THE TIME IS NEAR.” (Rev 1:3)

Jesus repeats that same promise in the closing chapter of the Revelation:

‘And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must SOON [Gk: τάχει: tachei] take place.”’ (Rev 22:6)

Jesus foretold that those who crucified him would live to see his parousia:

“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even THOSE WHO PIERCED HIM.” (Rev 1:7)

Here are more examples from Revelation:

Behold, I am coming soon…
for the time is near.
(Rev 22:12 and 1:3)

“Therefore repent. If not, I will come to YOU SOON [Gk: ταχύ: tachy] and war against them with the sword of my mouth.” (Rev 2:16)

“Nevertheless what YOU have, hold fast until I come.” (Rev 2:25)

“Because thou didst keep the word of my endurance, I also will keep THEE from the hour of the trial THAT IS ABOUT TO [Gk: μελλούσης: mellouses] come upon all the world, to try those dwelling upon the earth.” (Rev 3:10 YLT)

“The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is SOON [Gk: ταχύ: tachy] to come.” (Rev 11:14)

“And he said to me, ‘These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must SOON [Gk: ἐν τάχει: en tachei] take place.’ And behold, I am coming SOON [Gk: ταχύ: tachy]. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” (Rev 22:7)

“Behold, I am coming SOON [Gk: ταχύ: tachy], bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.” (Rev 22:12)

‘He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming SOON [Gk: ταχύ: tachy].”’ (Rev 22:20)

Conclusion

When Jesus spoke about his parousia (‘Second Coming’) he was not addressing people like you or me, living two thousand years later. He was speaking to 1^st century Christians who lived in the period AD 30 to AD 70. He said that he would return before some of his disciples “taste death”… and that his generation “will not pass away until all these things take place”. The IMMINENCE of Jesus’ parousia is emphasised a number of times in Revelation, including in the seven verses where we see the Greek word: tachy or tachei which means “SHORTLY, QUICKLY, SPEEDILY”. This is also conveyed in several passages using the Greek word: mello which means “ABOUT TO”.

Clearly, the New Testament prophesied a “SOON” parousia which was coming “QUICKLY”, during the lifetime of some of Jesus’ disciples. The question is: will you believe Jesus or will you cling to man-made traditions about a vague, future Second Coming?

There are more than 100 TIME STATEMENTS in the New Testament indicating the imminence of Jesus’ parousia.
▹ Check out the Time Statements

Footnotes: