Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
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(Today’s Reading)
The Biblical Case for the Second Coming as Accomplished Fact
(Book Installment 20)
Part Two – The Timing of the Second Coming
Chapter 2 – What the Gospels Say
Other Things Jesus Said About the Timing (continued)
We see this distinction referred to particularly in John 21 where Peter hears Jesus foretell of his death as a martyr. Peter’s fellow fisherman and apostle John is standing nearby, so Peter asks if their fates would be similar, whereupon Jesus answers,
“If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?” John 21:22
It was clearer still that some of them would be chosen to taste death and some to endure to the end, and that Jesus Himself would be overseeing who was assigned to which category. Either way, it would be an honor for any disciple.
Also, going back to the Matthew 16 passage (also recorded in Mark 8-9 and Luke 9), we see that the questions the disciples asked at the beginning of Matthew 24-25 (Mark 13, Luke 21) – that is,
“Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your
coming, and of the end of the age?” Matthew 24:3
– were connected. Not only had the disciples been asking these questions in the context of the messianic age in which they lived, and in the knowledge of Jesus’ identity as Israel’s Messiah, but also in the specific knowledge (He had given them) that He would be coming before they all died. In fact, they had already known He would come in their lifetime by something He told
them even earlier in the gospel of Matthew:
…truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes. Matthew 10:23
So, having already been informed that His coming would occur while they were still in the process of their lifelong mission, though they now also knew that some of them would die in that process, the questions which prompted the detailed answer of Matthew 24-25 were born of a general knowledge seeking a more particular knowledge. That is, the disciples knew they would
see His coming before their generation passed away but were probably interested in a more precise schedule. When Jesus mentioned the destruction of the temple, emblem of the nation of Israel, it seemed the appropriate time to ask.
Note also from the Matthew 16, Mark 8-9, and Luke 9 passages that “coming,” “coming in His kingdom,” “coming in the glory of His Father,” and “kingdom of God coming” are all synonymous terms. The “Coming One” was even one of the titles for Messiah. In Matthew 11, John the Baptist asked Jesus, “Are You the Coming One?” Jesus was to “come” in His kingdom. England’s kings have a coronation; America’s presidents have an inauguration; Israel’s Messiah “comes” in his kingdom.
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