The Five Comings of Jesus

Textual notes Abbreviations, Bibliography

The Five Comings / Appearings of Jesus

Crucial to a right interpretation of chapters 24 and 25 in Matthew's gospel, is the way Jesus breaks open the meaning of "coming" in the disciples question, "What will be the sign of your coming" ("parousia" or "presence", is usually translated "coming" in the NIV). A number of commentators have suggested that it is possible to identify five "appearings" (comings) of Jesus in the New Testament, cf. D.B. Knox. Jesus mentions four of them in these chapters. It is worth noting that there are also numerous "comings" in the Old Testament. For example, God's hand of judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah is a typical "coming", as is the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians.
In 25:1 the phrase "at that time" seems best to refer to the "coming/appearing" of Jesus and therefore, the parable is best applied to these comings. In fact, it works just as well with Old Testament comings. It is easy to imagine Jeremiah using it with his countryman in the days before the destruction of Jerusalem. For them, the way to escape the coming day was to submit to the Babylonian invader. This was for them, God's way of escape, their only way to prepare for that day. For the early church the parable applied to both Jesus' coming in judgment upon Jerusalem and his coming with the angels for the final judgment. God's way of escape from his judgment upon Jerusalem was for the believers to flee the city. The disciples had to be prepared, keep watching, and history tells us that they did just that, for it is recorded that the Jerusalem believers fled to Pella. For us the parable applies to the final judgment. God's way of escape (salvation) is the gift of His eternal approval appropriated through faith in Christ. Our task is to be prepared, keep watching to our faith.
As for the five comings of Jesus they are as follows:

1. Jesus' appearing in his birth - Jesus' coming to this world. He comes as a light in darkness to save the world, Jn.12:47. He comes to complete the purpose of the law, Matt.5:7, and thus "call sinners to repentance", Matt.10:35.

2. Jesus' coming in judgement upon Jerusalem, Matt.25:31. This is the "abomination of desolation", 24:15, spoken of by Daniel and made explicit by Luke. "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies then know that it's desolation is at hand." This is based on Daniel 7 where the Son of Man comes to (appears before and is accepted by) the Ancient of Days and initiates judgement. There have been many such "appearings" where the sinner is overtaken in judgement, unpredictable, swift, conspicuous and violent. The Bible often calls them "a day of the Son of Man". The flood in Noah's time was such a "day". Abraham rejoiced to see such a "day", Jn.8:56, the "day" being the judgement upon Sodom and Gomorrah. The destruction of Jerusalem will be such a "day", says Jesus. That "day" occurred in 70AD.

3. Jesus' coming to reign through the gospel - The coming of Jesus in the clouds of heaven, Matt.24:30, 34, 26:64. This derives from Daniel 7:13 where the Son of Man comes with the clouds into the presence of the Ancient of Days and receives the kingdom. It is a "coming", an appearing, to reign. His reign is over the nations. This reign is exercised in the mission of the church through the conversion of the Gentiles via the preaching of the gospel. It was on the basis of this authority that Jesus sent his disciples out. This work begins in earnest after the destruction of Jerusalem, cf. Matt.21:40-43. As Jesus says to his disciples, "you shall not go through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes". ie. before Jerusalem is destroyed and the Gentile mission is launched in all its fullness. The Gentile mission is described in the terms of Isaiah 13:10, Matt.24:29, the imagery of a world turned upside down - social and national turmoil, through the proclamation of the gospel.

4. Jesus' coming as the Spirit of Christ. "The sign of the Son of Man in heaven", Matt.24:30. Through the Spirit, God's people are gathered and blessed. The gospel brings about repentance and draws a people to Christ, Jn.16:8, Rev.1:7. All this is initiated in the generation of the disciples, Matt.24:35.

5. Jesus coming with the angels for the final judgement. Matt.25:31ff. In 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 we see the best description of this coming judgement. Daniel 7:10, also Zechariah 14:5, defines the imagery of this appearing in final judgement.

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The Five Comings / Appearings of Jesus