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 Implications of the Second Coming as Accomplished Fact
(Book Installment 11)
The Scope of the Second Coming
Chapter 1 – References to the Second Coming
References to the Second Coming in Daniel
We gave Isaiah extended attention because his book was so long, and there were so many verses from which to choose. Daniel also deserves some extra attention, even though he wrote a much shorter book. Daniel is important because the things he wrote about the coming of the kingdom seemed especially important to Jesus and His apostles. Here is the most notable statement that Daniel made on the subject.
Daniel 7:13 “I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
Daniel 7:14 “And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations and men of every language
Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed.
Jesus quoted from this prophecy at His trial before the Sanhedrin the night before He was crucified. I’ve put in bold below what Jesus is quoting from the passage above.
Matthew 26:59 Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death.
Matthew 26:60 They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on two came forward,
Matthew 26:61 and said, “This man stated, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.’”
Matthew 26:62 The high priest stood up and said to Him, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?”
Matthew 26:63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.”
Matthew 26:64 Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.“
Matthew 26:65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy;
Matthew 26:66 what do you think?” They answered, “He deserves death!”
You can see that Jesus is actually evoking two pictures from the Old Testament. There is the one in bold, coming from Daniel 7:13-14. The other – “SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER” – comes right before it, and is taken from Psalm 110:1, written by David. Thus is Jesus reciting the two prophetic truths which will get Him convicted by the religious elite: that He will be seated at the right hand of God and that He will come again…in glory. This brackets the period of time from His resurrection from the dead to His Second Coming – a span of no more than a generation.
The false testimony against Jesus wasn’t enough to get Him convicted; His own testimony, telling the truth about Himself and His future, was. Portraying Himself at the right hand of God (as prophesied by David) was bold enough on its own, but portraying Himself as the man who would come up to God and be presented to Him for the purpose of receiving the eternal kingdom that would rule all men was more than the religious leaders could stand.
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