5 Issues We Learn about Christ’s Second Coming

What Is Identified

“However in these days, after that tribulation, the solar will likely be darkened, and the moon won’t give its mild, and the celebs will likely be falling from heaven, and the powers within the heavens will likely be shaken. After which they are going to 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” will be summarized below 5 headings.

First, Jesus’s second coming will likely be apparent. When Christ returns, all “the powers within the heavens will likely be shaken” (Mark 13:25): the solar (“The solar will likely be darkened”) and the moon (“The moon won’t give its mild”) will flip off, adopted by the celebs’ “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 mild present that may fill the common darkish void: “After which they are going to see the Son of Man coming within the clouds” (Mark 13:26). The darkness is ready in distinction to the heavenly “signal” of the Son of Man (Matt. 24:30).¹ We’re advised that Jesus will descend from heaven (“coming in clouds”) and that this coming will likely be “with nice energy and glory” (Mark 13:26). Mark states, “After which they are going to 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 completely different components of the globe, see Jesus on the identical time? Maybe our Lord is talking metaphorically.³ In that case, the purpose nonetheless stands. His return will likely 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 at the hours of darkness—with out the sunshine of the solar, moon, or stars? The reply is that the “mild of the world” (John 8:12) wants no lesser lights to line his means (cf. Rev. 22:5).

Second, Jesus’s second coming will likely 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 will likely be driving 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. The truth is, almost each phrase of Mark 13:24–27 is brimming with this theme. When Jesus says, in verse 24, “However in these days . . . the solar will likely be darkened, and the moon won’t give its mild,” he isn’t speaking a few double eclipse; when he mentions in verse 25 “the celebs . . . falling from heaven,” he isn’t speaking a few divine firework present that begins with a number of capturing stars. Moderately he’s speaking about all the nice lights created on day 4 of creation turning off for good. They are going to flip off as a result of, as I stated, a brand new and spectacular mild 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 can make Haley’s Comet appear to be two Boy Scouts rubbing sticks collectively to make a spark.

The second coming will likely be superior.

Third, Jesus’s second coming will carry reduction 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 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 means of 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 decide, and I started the sermon like this:

Vengeance has its place within the Christian religion. And it holds not an insignificant, pointless, or minor position 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 e book of Revelation does, as a holy king, righteous decide, and victorious warrior. In our minds, we now have little bother imagining him as a child wrapped in swaddling garments, as a baby educating within the temple, as a person miraculously strolling on water, and as a dying savior. However we wrestle to check Jesus as a mighty conquering king—muscular, fierce, relentless, and vengeful. One motive we might have this problem is due both to our ignorance or to our misunderstandings regarding Christ and his second coming. On the one hand, we might merely be uninformed of the main points of Christ’s return; however, we might be able to recite among the details of the second coming, but fail to understand its final goal.⁴

The target of Jesus’s second coming is salvation. Jesus comes to save lots of his individuals, and he does so partially by judging those that will not be his individuals. Salvation and judgment are linked. We have to know that Jesus’s second coming will carry reduction 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: “Actually, I say to you, this technology won’t go away till all these items happen. Heaven and earth will go away, however my phrases won’t go away.” Within the fast context (see Mark 13:5–23) Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple emphatically (“Actually, I say to you,” Mark 13:30), and positive sufficient the temple is toppled. After all, what Jesus says in verses 30–31 we will 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 cope with the three common issues people face: sin, dying, and injustice. I additionally speak in regards to 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 go away, however my phrases won’t go 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 world wide 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 know 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 is just not 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 beneath or the sky above (“Heaven and earth will go away, however my phrases won’t go away,” Mark 13:31), and if Jesus has a confirmed monitor document on an enormous prediction in world historical past—the destruction of the temple (“This technology,” that of his apostles, “won’t go away till all these items happen,” Mark 13:30)—then we will 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 will likely be (1) apparent, (2) superior, (3) a day of vindication for God’s individuals, and (4) sure.

The fifth truth follows: (5) for the reason that temple has been destroyed, we should know that Jesus’s return is imminent. That is what our Lord says along 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 realize that summer season is close to. So additionally, whenever you see these items going down, you realize 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 chance, at any time, for my return.” Or, extra probably, in these verses Jesus returns to talking immediately in regards to 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 every little thing 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 which means 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 are going to 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 sooner or later of divine judgment (“the day of the Lord”) once we know there will likely be two.

The analogy typically used to elucidate this educating method or distinctive style is that of a mountain vary. If we checked out a mountain vary from a distance, it’d seem that two peaks have been shut to one another when in truth 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 Information

In mild 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 “Maintain 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 occurring a journey, when he leaves house and places his servants in cost, every along with his work, and instructions the doorkeeper to remain awake” (Mark 13:34). That story then morphs into an admonition, one we now have heard earlier than: “Subsequently 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 all of a sudden 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 software needs to be readiness (“Be on guard,” Mark 13:33) and wakefulness (“Maintain awake,” Mark 13:33; “Keep awake,” Mark 13:34, 35, 37).

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

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