5 Things We Know about Christ’s Second Coming

What Is Identified

“However in these days, after that tribulation, the solar shall be darkened, and the moon won’t give its gentle, and the celebrities shall be falling from heaven, and the powers within the heavens shall be shaken. After which they’ll see the Son of Man coming in clouds with nice energy and glory. After which he’ll ship out the angels and collect his elect from the 4 winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.” (Mark 13:24–27)

“However regarding that day or that hour, nobody is aware of, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, however solely the Father. Be on guard, preserve awake. For you have no idea when the time will come.” (Mark 13:32–33)

What is understood about “that day” could be summarized underneath 5 headings.

First, Jesus’s second coming shall be apparent. When Christ returns, all “the powers within the heavens shall be shaken” (Mark 13:25): the solar (“The solar shall be darkened”) and the moon (“The moon won’t give its gentle”) will flip off, adopted by the celebrities’ “falling from heaven” (Mark 13:25). These are all apparent indications that one thing necessary is afoot.

So too is the brand new and spectacular gentle present that may fill the common darkish void: “After which they’ll see the Son of Man coming within the clouds” (Mark 13:26). The darkness is about in distinction to the heavenly “signal” of the Son of Man (Matt. 24:30).¹ We’re informed that Jesus will descend from heaven (“coming in clouds”) and that this coming shall be “with nice energy and glory” (Mark 13:26). Mark states, “After which they’ll see” (Mark 13:26); Matthew tells us that the “they” are “all of the tribes of the earth” (Matt. 24:30), everybody from each nation who’s alive on that day.²

However how will everybody alive then, from totally different components of the globe, see Jesus on the similar time? Maybe our Lord is talking metaphorically.³ If that’s the case, the purpose nonetheless stands. His return shall be apparent. Nobody will miss it. But when he’s talking actually, then the scene is extra outstanding. Give it some thought. How will everybody see him in the dead of night—with out the sunshine of the solar, moon, or stars? The reply is that the “gentle of the world” (John 8:12) wants no lesser lights to line his means (cf. Rev. 22:5).

Second, Jesus’s second coming shall be superior. Discover that Jesus makes use of his favourite title for himself in relation to his second coming. It’s the “Son of Man” (Mark 13:26) who shall be using upon the clouds. This title is linked to Daniel 7:13–14 and pertains to Jesus’s divinely bestowed authority. In that chapter the Historic of Days grants the Son of Man an excellent and eternal kingdom. That’s superior. Jesus will return because the Son of Man, the one who has been granted all authority over all creation (Mark 2:10, 28; cf. Matt. 28:18).

Different particulars additionally spotlight the awesomeness of Christ’s return. In actual fact, practically each phrase of Mark 13:24–27 is brimming with this theme. When Jesus says, in verse 24, “However in these days . . . the solar shall be darkened, and the moon won’t give its gentle,” he isn’t speaking a few double eclipse; when he mentions in verse 25 “the celebrities . . . falling from heaven,” he isn’t speaking a few divine firework present that begins with a couple of capturing stars. Somewhat he’s speaking about all the nice lights created on day 4 of creation turning off for good. They may flip off as a result of, as I stated, a brand new and spectacular gentle present fills the common darkish void: “The Son of Man coming within the clouds” (Mark 13:26). No matter that superior cosmic upheaval will appear to be, it would make Haley’s Comet appear to be two Boy Scouts rubbing sticks collectively to make a spark.

The second coming shall be superior.

Third, Jesus’s second coming will carry aid to the righteous; it will likely be a day of vindication for God’s individuals. The picture of God’s messengers’ (“the angels”) gathering God’s individuals (“his elect”) from the entire earth (“from the ends of the earth”) and all through the very best heavens (“to the ends of heaven,” Mark 13:27) is a picture not solely of God’s energy however of his grace. For many who have persevered by persecution (see Mark 13:9–13) last vindication will include the approaching Son.

My first sermon as a pastor was on September 16, 2001, 5 days after 9/11. My preselected passage was Revelation 19:11–21. I preached a sermon on Jesus’s coming as savior and choose, and I started the sermon like this:

Vengeance has its place within the Christian religion. And it holds not an insignificant, pointless, or minor function in our salvation. It’s as foundational and as essential because the biblical ideas of grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness as a result of at its heart stands our Lord Jesus Christ. When most of us consider Jesus we not often image him, because the ebook of Revelation does, as a holy king, righteous choose, and victorious warrior. In our minds, we have now little bother imagining him as a child wrapped in swaddling garments, as a toddler educating within the temple, as a person miraculously strolling on water, and as a dying savior. However we wrestle to ascertain Jesus as a mighty conquering king—muscular, fierce, relentless, and vengeful. One purpose we could have this issue is due both to our ignorance or to our misunderstandings regarding Christ and his second coming. On the one hand, we could merely be uninformed of the main points of Christ’s return; then again, we might be able to recite among the details of the second coming, but fail to grasp its final goal.⁴

The target of Jesus’s second coming is salvation. Jesus comes to avoid wasting his individuals, and he does so partly by judging those that should not his individuals. Salvation and judgment are linked. We have to know that Jesus’s second coming will carry aid to the righteous, and we have to reward God for that.

Fourth, Jesus’s second coming is definite, as he makes clear in Mark 13:30–31: “Really, I say to you, this era won’t move away till all these items happen. Heaven and earth will move away, however my phrases won’t move away.” Within the fast context (see Mark 13:5–23) Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple emphatically (“Really, I say to you,” Mark 13:30), and positive sufficient the temple is toppled. After all, what Jesus says in verses 30–31 we are able to apply to each phrase Jesus stated.

Various occasions within the final 5 years I’ve given a chat titled “Why I Am a Christian.” I give 4 causes. I speak about Jesus’s irresistible name on my life, the alluring paradox of Jesus’s claims and character, and the way Jesus has handled and can take care of the three common issues people face: sin, dying, and injustice. I additionally speak concerning the energy of his phrases.

The target of Jesus’s second coming is salvation.

Practically two thousand years in the past Jesus stated, “Heaven and earth will move away, however my phrases won’t move away” (Mark 13:31). What does historical past make of this daring assertion? Is it true or false? It’s true. It’s traditionally verifiable. Allow us to say there are forty million native church buildings around the globe the place over two billion Christians collect every Sunday. In most of these church buildings, even the unorthodox ones, the phrases of Jesus are being learn and taught. Christians, and a few non-Christians, every Sunday morning search afresh to grasp and apply what Jesus stated. Can we are saying this of the phrases of Socrates, Cicero, Julius Caesar, or Winston Churchill? No! This isn’t true of any thinker or politician, and it actually will not be true of celebrities. Persons are not gathering collectively every week to attempt to perceive and apply what John Lennon sang or stated.

Again to the purpose. If Jesus’s phrases are extra everlasting than the bottom under or the sky above (“Heaven and earth will move away, however my phrases won’t move away,” Mark 13:31), and if Jesus has a confirmed monitor document on a large prediction in world historical past—the destruction of the temple (“This era,” that of his apostles, “won’t move away till all these items happen,” Mark 13:30)—then we are able to belief that what he says about his return, and the occasions surrounding it, will likewise happen.

That certainty takes us to the fifth truth. We all know the second coming shall be (1) apparent, (2) superior, (3) a day of vindication for God’s individuals, and (4) sure.

The fifth truth follows: (5) because the temple has been destroyed, we should know that Jesus’s return is imminent. That is what our Lord says together with his parabolic educating in Mark 13:28–29: “From the fig tree study its lesson: as quickly as its department turns into tender and places out its leaves, you already know that summer time is close to. So additionally, whenever you see these items going down, you already know that he’s close to, on the very gates.”

Right here both Jesus is speaking not directly about his second coming, saying in impact, “As quickly because the temple falls, know that there’s a risk, at any time, for my return.” Or, extra seemingly, in these verses Jesus returns to talking instantly concerning the destruction of the temple and what his earliest followers ought to do. As quickly as they hear the rumble of the Roman troops as they shake the muse of the holy metropolis (an indication as apparent as a fig tree in spring spouting leaves), they should do all the pieces Jesus has taught in verses 5–23. So right here is how I perceive verse 29: “Whenever you see these items going down [the desolation and destruction of the temple], know that he [or “it,” i.e., “that tribulation”] is close to, on the very gates.”

Regardless of the case, what Jesus is doing all through the Olivet Discourse is what students name “prophetic foreshortening.” What meaning is that Jesus, just like the prophets, speaks of two occasions—one within the close to future and one other within the distant future—as if they’ll occur shut to one another. For instance, Isaiah speaks of the destruction of Babylon in the identical breath as he does the ultimate day of the Lord, as if there have been someday of divine judgment (“the day of the Lord”) after we know there shall be two.

The analogy usually used to elucidate this educating approach or distinctive style is that of a mountain vary. If we checked out a mountain vary from a distance, it would seem that two peaks have been shut to one another when in reality they have been miles aside. Likewise, Jesus speaks of two mountaintops—the destruction of the temple and his return—as if they have been shut collectively when, in actuality, they’re hundreds of years aside.⁵

What to Do in Mild of Such Data

In gentle of these 5 details, particularly the final one, what are we to do? Jesus tells his disciples and us in Mark 13:33–36. He begins with two related exhortations: “Be on guard” and “Preserve awake” (Mark 13:33). He then says why, reiterating the purpose of Mark 13:32: “For you have no idea when the time will come” (Mark 13:33). Subsequent, he illustrates, “It is sort of a man happening a journey, when he leaves dwelling and places his servants in cost, every together with his work, and instructions the doorkeeper to remain awake” (Mark 13:34). That story then morphs into an admonition, one we have now heard earlier than: “Due to this fact keep awake—for you have no idea when the grasp of the home will come, within the night, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or within the morning—lest he come instantly and discover you asleep” (Mark 13:35–36). This admonition is common, given to each Jesus’s first followers and all since: “And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake” (Mark 13:37). Right here then is the logic to Jesus’s name to vigilance: if nobody is aware of the time of Christ’s return (“Regarding that day or that hour, nobody is aware of,” Mark 13:32; “You have no idea when the time will come,” Mark 13:33), then the hour-by-hour utility ought to be readiness (“Be on guard,” Mark 13:33) and wakefulness (“Preserve awake,” Mark 13:33; “Keep awake,” Mark 13:34, 35, 37).

This text is customized from Expository Reflections on the Gospels, Volume 3: Mark by Douglas Sean O’Donnell.

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