The Promise of His Coming
by J. E. Leonard
Introduction
Eschatology, the study of the "the end" or final things,
continues to fascinate students of the Bible. New books regularly appear
laying out a scenario for the return of Christ, or in some way
reinforcing the expectation many Christians have that Jesus Christ will
soon come to fulfill the hope of the kingdom of God.
This is understandable. After all, the central focus of the New
Testament is the appearance of Jesus Christ on the human scene.
Beginning with the accounts of his birth, baptism, and ministry in the
Gospels, the story moves on to his death, resurrection, and ascension,
and then to the anticipation of his reappearance in power and majesty.
For nearly two thousand years the Christian church has proclaimed the
hope of the glorious advent of Jesus Christ. His coming is to right the
wrongs in the world, bring a final destruction of evil, and initiate an
eternity which believers will enjoy in his presence. The various
branches of the church, and interpreters within each branch, differ on
the details and timing of this great event, but virtually all Christians
look forward to the end of the old creation and the introduction of the
new heaven and new earth which John describes in his Revelation.
Among some Christian groups it seems that the first coming of Christ
pales in comparison with the expectation surrounding his coming again.
Jesus’ ministry fulfilled the prophets’ visions of a deliverer for
Israel; it established a new covenant of salvation for all people and
introduced true Light into a darkened world. Yet even while Jesus was
with his disciples, they were asking questions about his eventual
return. After he was taken up to heaven, interest in the parousia,
the coming appearance of Christ, grew more intense. Indeed, the major
theme of apostolic teaching from Peter’s sermon on the day of
Pentecost to the Revelation of John seems to be the impending return of
Jesus Christ.
It is not surprising that the pages of the New Testament pulse with
excitement at such a prospect. This anticipation was no doubt fueled by
Jesus’ own statement to the effect that the coming of the Son of Man
would occur within the lifetime of at least some of the people to whom
he preached. In talking with his disciples about the events which would
accompany the end of the age and the coming of the Son of Man, Jesus
declares, "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away
until all these things take place" (Matt. 24:34; Luke 21:32).
Subsequent New Testament teaching continues the theme of the imminent
coming of the Lord. At least twenty-three of the twenty-seven New
Testament books refer to the impending consummation.
But despite the first-century church’s fervent and consistent
proclamation of Christ’s coming, years came and went without its
apparent fulfillment. Already in the New Testament community there were
those who began to doubt. "Where is the promise of his
coming?" they asked (2 Pet. 3:4). Two millennia have passed since
the question was first posed, and in all generations there are those,
doubters and believers alike, who raise it again. Is it possible that
the church has misunderstood the meaning of Christ’s coming?
For evangelical Christians, who subscribe to the inerrancy of the
scriptural record, the New Testament’s affirmation of the imminent
appearance of Christ and the end of the age presents a credibility
problem. If it can be shown that all of the biblical writers and Jesus
himself stated unequivocally that his coming and the end of the world
were soon to occur, three possibilities present themselves: (1) they
were mistaken, (2) they meant something other than what they appear to
say, or (3) the end in fact occurred, just as they said it would.
Liberal interpreters, who have discarded the idea of an infallible
Scripture, might accept the first option. Evangelicals, who believe the
Bible does not make mistakes, could not. But this seems to force them to
the position, however adroitly they may phrase it, that the New
Testament writers gave a misleading impression to the people who first
read their words and took them at face value. How else can one explain
why a "coming" they said would take place in their own
generation has yet to occur almost two millennia later?
But the third option remains. Perhaps Christ and the apostles meant
exactly what they said, and they were correct. Perhaps the church has
misunderstood what they meant by the coming of Christ and the end of the
age. Did something indeed occur at the close of the New Testament era
which was the very thing they predicted? A growing number of evangelical
students of the Bible are receiving this third option, in one form or
another. It is not a new viewpoint, but has historical precedent in
Christian scholarship.
This study examines those statements of Jesus and the New Testament
writers which relate, in particular, to the time of the parousia, and
discusses the ways these time statements have been interpreted by
students of eschatology along the lines of the three options described
above. In drawing to a conclusion, the study further suggests a way to
understand the coming of Christ in the ongoing life of the church,
exploring possibilities expressed in the New Testament itself.
The authors are well aware that their study presents a conclusion
which differs from the idea of the coming of Christ held by most
evangelical Christians today. It is therefore appropriate to note that
the authors’ views are their own, and do not necessarily reflect those
of any educational institution, publisher or Christian ministry with
which they may have been associated. Nevertheless, they join with
Bible-believing Christians every where to affirm the historic faith in
God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and in the authority and integrity
of his Word. And they offer this study to the larger evangelical
community in the conviction that this is a time not to erect walls, but
to build bridges.
