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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Christ Is God
Chapter 32 – The Deadline for the Second Coming
I once took a Bible and underlined every reference to the Second Coming that I found in the New Testament. As I recall, three out of every four pages had something underlined on it.
Why would the Second Coming be mentioned so frequently? It was top of mind for those people…because they had been taught expect it in their generation.
All 27 New Testament texts were written by contemporaries of Jesus. That’s why they all expected the Second Coming to happen in their lifetimes. Of course, not all of them would live that long because the persecution became so great. But they knew for sure that some of them would still be alive when it happened…because Jesus had promised. We’ll see that in a minute.
But first, let’s consider the New Testament text that people most associate with the Second Coming. And they are right to think of it this way. Its author – the apostle John – addresses the timing of the Second Coming in the very first sentence, saying that the letter is about…
Revelation 1:1 …the things which must soon take place…
John also says that the recipients of this letter should heed the things written in it…
Revelation 1:3 …for the time is near.
At the close of the letter, after the full parade of awesome, shocking, and glorious images has passed, John writes again that all those images refer to…
Revelation 22:6 …things which must soon take place.
Then he quotes Jesus Himself as saying,
Revelation 22:7 “And behold, I am coming quickly…”
John goes on to write that the angel who spoke with him said:
Revelation 22:10 “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.”
Then John quotes Jesus again as saying,
Revelation 22:12 “Behold, I am coming quickly…”
The letter then closes with Jesus saying yet again,
Revelation 22:20 …“Yes, I am coming quickly.”
And we who live 2,000 years later are supposed to believe it’s still in the future?
Jesus’ apostles did not have to commit themselves to this time frame. But they were indeed committed to it. And they were because Jesus Himself had told them that this is what they should expect.
Here are three of Jesus’ clearest statements on the timing of the Second Coming, all from the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus made them all to His various apostles, but on three different occasions.
Matthew 10:23 “But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.”
Matthew 16:28 “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
Matthew 24:34 “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”
Since Jesus died around 33 AD, His generation would have fully passed away by 100 AD. Thus we can know that the Second Coming happened no later than the 1st century AD. If you consider Jesus and the New Testament as authoritative, there’s no reasonable debate about the nature or timing of the Second Coming to be had.
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