Smoodock's Blog

It seems to me that the Second Coming of Jesus, whether this event is in the past or in the future is extremely important, because the New Testament writers portray Jesus as coming in their lifetimes. That fact makes the **when** of his coming very important. Moreover, the Gospel narratives put words concerning the nearness of his coming into Jesus’ own mouth. In other words, they said that Jesus said he would come soon. Therefore, whether or not Jesus did what he said he would do is vital to our faith, and I won’t apologize or express regret in any way that Jesus said what he did. It is time for me to stand with him and not make excuses for him, as though he needs me to do so (He doesn’t—never did).

Did Jesus say he would return in the first century AD? It seems that he did say that his Second Coming (so-called) would be in the lives of that generation of folks who heard his words in the first century AD:

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. (Matthew 16:27-28 – emphasis mine)

I know that many scholars today seek to redefine Jesus’ words by concluding that he spoke of his Transfiguration, which took place not long after he said these words (a little over one week). Yet, the reply of the scholars seems lame to me, always has, even though I accepted it when I was a futurist. Notice that Jesus said he would be coming in the glory of his Father, so this is, indeed, his glorious return to the earth.

Secondly notice that Jesus said his coming would be in the lifetimes of some standing there listening to him. Matthew has Jesus speaking with his disciples (Matthew 16:24), but Mark tells us there was a crowd of people with them (Mark 8:34), and Luke connects what Jesus said in Mark to what he said in Matthew (Luke 9:23-27). So, Jesus made a public statement that he would come in his Kingdom, and some, implying not all, would witness him doing that. Therefore, Jesus Transfiguration couldn’t be the fulfillment of his statement that they would see him coming in glory.

Moses spoke of Jesus, telling the children of Israel to look for the coming of a Prophet like him (i.e. like Moses – Deuteronomy 18:15-19), and they were to believe this Prophet. In fact, if they didn’t believe this Prophet, who would be like Moses, they would be cut off from the nation. Moreover, Moses submitted and answered the obvious question: how would we know him? Moses replied,

“When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: you shall not be afraid of him” (Deuteronomy 18:20-22).

So, Jesus’ reputation as the Prophet who is like Moses, i.e. the Messiah, is on the line. Do my words vindicate Jesus or do they make excuses for what Jesus clearly claimed?

How I reply to these things helps or hinders the voice of the scoffers who claim: “Jesus wasn’t able to do what he said he would do. Therefore he cannot be the Prophet like Moses. He is a false prophet.”

Jesus left us with a sign that he is who he claimed to be. In Matthew 24:30 Jesus said: “Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven…” That is, after all the other signs that pointed to the time of his coming occurred, THEN, at that time, the sign would appear that showed Jesus was in the heavens—i.e. that he was God, indeed. What sign did Jesus give that would prove to those who saw it that he was God? Well, the whole Olivet Discourse occurred as a result of Jesus’ prediction that the Temple would be leveled to the ground (Matthew 23:37-38; 24:2). Jesus said these things when Israel was at peace with the world. There weren’t any threats against her. This was an incredible prediction. In fact, he repeated it before the high priest in Matthew 26:64, saying it would occur at the time of his coming in the clouds, i.e. in the glory of his Father.

This occurred in the first century AD, within the timeframe of the generation of Jews who rejected Jesus as their Messiah. Far from apologizing for Jesus’ words, I applaud them. I lift them up to say: “See, my Savior has kept his word. He came in the glory of his Father (Matthew 16:27) and the destruction of Jerusalem and her Temple is proof of the fact that Jesus is that Prophet who would come, who is like Moses.”