Did the Apostles Expect Jesus to Return in Their Lifetime?

[Garland-Green]

Posted on February 6, 2010 by CP

It is common in these days for people to say very general things about the Bible, and paint with broad strokes, instead of carefully paying attention to what was written.

I was watching, for the first time, an episode of 30-Rock last week. And a mother and daughter team were singing a completely inappropriate song to each other at an office party, completely unaware of the song’s inappropriateness. That of course, is what made it funny, and to make it even crazier, an office worker listening to them, thought the inappropriate song was absolutely wonderful, and remarked to the father/exhusband, something like: “How can you not love this??”

And he replied, “Because I’m listening to the words.”

Which I thought was hilarious.

Yet at the same time, I sort of relate to that guy. It’s also what I think of some things people say about the Bible. I don’t always agree because… well I’m listening to the words. What they say, and what the Bible says, doesn’t always match up at all.

One of those broad stroke comments, concerns the apostles. Did they expect Jesus to return in their lifetimes? This has been talked about so long, that most of us believe the obvious answer is yes. In fact, it’s one of many reasons people have for not taking the Bible so seriously in the first place. After all, those apostles were misguided themselves weren’t they? Why, they thought Jesus was coming back in their lifetimes and it’s been what? 2000 years and counting right?

Well, just under, but I’m splitting hairs. In fact, I’m a splitting hairs kinda guy, which is why I’m about to try and you know… listen to the actual words.

The short answer, based on what they actually wrote, is… not really. They certainly expected it could happen, and they wrote with the urgency of those living on borrowed time. However, they also wrote about the end of their own lives, and conducted themselves with the purpose of passing along their ministry to others after they were gone.

And I’m not appealing to my opinion here, nor am I appealing to church tradition. I’m simply appealing to what was actually written, and what they actually are recorded as saying. In fact, insisting that they must have been expecting Jesus to return in their lifetime and insisting they were indeed misguided, is appealing to a traditional viewpoint that is not based on the actual words, but our own opinion.

(And what does “in my lifetime” really mean to a Christian in the first century? Considering the persecution and threat of death they were under for believing in Jesus, they must have believed He would return very soon indeed!)

WHAT DID JESUS SAY ABOUT THE TIMING OF THE “END?”
The apostles asked Jesus point blank about the end of all things, AFTER He had risen from the dead, and the conversation went like this:

So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”-Acts 1:6-8

The book of Acts was written by Luke who was a contemporary of the apostles, and would have had the chance to converse with them, and get their stories… And from this quote we see Jesus specifically pointing out that before any physical restoration of the kingdom as the Old Testament seemed to predict, they would first be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

And whether you believe Luke or the Bible or not, it is well established by almost any historical source, that the spread of Christianity did exactly that. The early Christians began preaching the message of Jesus, first in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and eventually, to the ends of the earth.

Luke’s account of Jesus here, is consistent with what happened later.

Matthew and Mark’s record another instance of Jesus saying much the same thing. Mark records that Jesus, speaking of the end of the world, said, “And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.” -Mark 13:10. And Matthew records that Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and THEN the end will come.”
-Matthew 24:14 (all caps mine)

Now certainly, if Jesus said the Gospel would be preached to the entire world, they understood that might take awhile? It also means we have 3 of the 4 gospel writers attributing a statement to Jesus, which indicates the end of the world was still several years down the road.

Of course, one of those gospel writers (Matthew) records Jesus as saying something that on first glance sounds as if he was teaching the world would end in a short time:

Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. -Matthew 24:33-34

But the key word here is “generation.” In English, “generation” would usually mean the general lifetime of the people who were listening to Jesus. Not surprisingly, many will argue these two sentences demonstrate Jesus believed the end was very, very nigh. Jesus, however, wasn’t speaking in English and Matthew wasn’t writing it down in English either. The original word was the Greek word “genea” which has a broader meaning, referring not just to a generation of people alive at that moment, but the entire race of people we call the Jews. And the Jews have not passed away, but continue to be a distinct group of people to this day.

Secondly, Jesus said, “when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.” And that would also be a true statement for anyone who sees all of the events he had been describing such as the sun turning to darkness, the moon turning red, the sign of the Son of Man appearing the sky, the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven, and other world shaking events. Jesus went on to describe the end of the world as coming suddenly, and that most people would be caught unprepared for it. He concluded they should “keep watch” because know one knows the “day or the hour.” This is the attitude of the early church, which I believe is often misinterpreted as believing Jesus would return in their lifetime. The reality was more nuanced. Yes they believed he could return, and yes someone might even have an opinion that he would return, but at the same time, they simply didn’t know for sure. The bottom line was that no one could know the “day or the hour.” Jesus commanded them to “keep watch,” and this has been the general attitude of Christianity ever since.

But hold everything.

What about what Jesus said when he spoke these words recorded by Matthew, Mark and Luke?…

I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” -Matthew 16:28

And he said to them, “I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.” -Mark 9:1

I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.” -Luke 9:27

Well, if this was the only thing Jesus or the apostles said about the subject, I would have to agree that Jesus sure seemed to be saying he would return in their lifetime. At least for some of them.

(Of course, at this point, the apostles didn’t expect a “return” at all, since they were looking for Jesus to establish His kingdom without leaving. That’s why they asked him about it in Acts 1:8 and said, “are you at THIS time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”)

There are four main answers, three of which are legit and all three could be right.

The first answer is that Jesus was predicting he would return and the end would happen in their lifetime, and since it didn’t, we can reject Jesus and the Bible. This interpretation, however, begs the question of why Jesus would say that here, when he wouldn’t say that anywhere else. We would also have to believe that the same writers who wrote this passage, would also contradict it by what they wrote elsewhere. If you believe the Bible is full of contradictions, you won’t have any problem accepting the idea that the writers would so easily contradict themselves, or that Jesus would contradict himself. Nevertheless, to be fair, you must also allow that perhaps Jesus was referring to something else with this cryptic statement. There are three more explanations that seem more likely than this first one.

Answer number 2, Jesus was referring to what was about to happen next. All three of the gospels where this phrase appears, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, record in the next few paragraphs that Jesus was shortly thereafter revealed in all his glory. He took Peter, James, and John with him up a mountain, and as Matthew wrote: “There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.”
-Matthew 17:2-3

Since all three writers record this event immediately after what Jesus said, it is argued that this event, is exactly what Jesus was referring to, that Peter, James and John would see Jesus in all his glory, while the rest would not see it in their lifetime.

Answer number 3, Jesus was speaking of the kingdom of God coming in power on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. Jesus himself told them to wait in Jerusalem because: “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;”. Acts 2 records the Holy Spirit arrived in power and the church officially began, and the Bible clearly teaches the kingdom of God is not merely a physical kingdom, but a spiritual one.

For instance, in Mark 4, Jesus compared the kingdom of God to a farmer planting seed, and explained that the seed is the Word of God and the ground represented how people accepted the Word -the very work that goes on today through the Holy Spirit and God’s people. Therefore it can easily be argued that Jesus was speaking of the kingdom of God on the earth today, which, as Daniel prophesied, would grow from something small into a mountain that took over the whole earth. Of course, it won’t “take over” the earth until Jesus comes back, but the kingdom itself started a few thousand years ago-and the disciples did live to see the start of it.

Answer number 4, it can also be argued that the apostle John not only saw Jesus in his glory on the mountain top, and not only saw the coming of the Holy Spirit and the kingdom of God on earth, but also witnessed the ultimate coming of Christ when God showed it to him as He wrote the book of Revelation. Specifically Revelation 19:11-16.

If Jesus was referring to John, then perhaps that’s why He made that mysterious statement about John to Peter.

“If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?…

Hmmmm…. more on that one in a second.

PAUL
The apostle Paul also made it abundantly clear that he believed certain things would happen before Christ returned.

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. -II Thessalonians 2:1-3

We could have fun debating about the “rebellion” and the “man of lawlessness” but the point is, the return of Christ, according to Paul, would be preceded by certain events which had not occurred yet. Paul also admitted that he would not live to see the return of Christ. He wrote to Timothy:

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. -II Timothy 4:6-8

Paul had longed for Christ’s appearing, although he would not live to see it. And Paul had lived in expectation of the return of Christ, although he wrote that certain things would happen first.

PETER
Peter himself preached to the people in Jerusalem that Jesus would not return until the appropriate time. If you read closely, you’ll notice Peter certainly left the door open for it being a short time (at least in this particular passage), but he made no claims whatsoever that it would be within his lifetime.

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.
-Acts 3:19-21

It may be Peter believed that IF the nation of Israel would repent, that Jesus would return very soon. (Even today, some would argue Jesus would have!) But later, this same Peter also pointed out in his own letters, that Jesus return would be a long time in coming. He wrote:

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”
-II Peter 3:3-4

Peter was speaking of this for the future, not just the present. Scoffers WILL come. They WILL say, where is this coming he promised?

But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
-II Peter 3:5-7

He was spot on when he predicted people would reject the idea of Noah’s flood. And if you noticed, he made one of the central claims of Christianity, namely that these are the “Last Days” because after this… comes the judgment. In other words, these are the Last Days, because this is the last age, the last chance, and Jesus is the last hope. This age may last 2000 years or more, but it’s still the last one.

But the real kicker came next when Peter admonishes people to remember God is an eternal God, and what seems like a long time to us, is nothing to God:

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. -II Peter 3:8-9

Peter here is arguing my case! By speaking on the nature of God, Peter explains God is taking a long time because for him time is nothing. This is a clear example that Peter was not teaching or demanding that Jesus returned and the world would end in his lifetime.

Take note, what Peter says here is perfectly consistent with what Paul said, what Jesus said, what Matthew said, what Mark said, and what Luke said. They knew Jesus could return at any moment, but they also recognized Jesus had some work to do before the time came. And as Peter wrote, God’s time, isn’t like our time. He’s eternal, we are not.

Have we left out anyone?

JOHN
John certainly didn’t think Peter would live to see the return of Chris at least. John wrote this at the end of his Gospel: (Jesus was speaking to Peter at the first part)

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” -John 21:17-19

But did John think he himself would see the end? Well, he made a point to say not necessarily in the next few paragraphs: (Peter asks Jesus a question about John “the disciple whom Jesus loved”)

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” -John 21:20-23

Here we see John, later in his life writing the stories of Jesus, going out of his way to make sure people understood, “Jesus did not say that (John) would not die.”

But what of that other book John wrote? Revelation has a few things in it that sound like Jesus is coming soon.

The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.” “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.” –Revelation 22:6-7

Here, the original Hebrew word is also the word they used to describe the way something happens. It was used not just for soon regarding ‘time’ but it was used to mean “suddenly.” That fits with Jesus’ description in Matthew 24, and Paul’s in II Thessalonians 2. In Revelation 22:6 things “that must shortly take place” was true for several events in the book of Revelation, and in regard to God, a day is like a 1000 years and a 1000 years like a day. “Shortly” to God may still be many years beyond me. Nevertheless, the book does show them some things that would shortly take place.

Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near. –Revelation 22:10

This and Revelation 1:3 mean the end is imminent, it’s ready, it’s near. From a Biblical point of view this is very true now and was then. In the Old Testament book of Daniel for instance, God told Daniel to seal up the words of the prophecy of his book because it wasn’t for his time. The events written of in Revelation however, were not sealed up because they are meant to be read and taken to heart by the people who have been living in the last age on earth from John’s day until now. It is for our time because we are in the last age, and from Jesus until now, we have been told to keep watch because no one knows the day or the hour.

THE CHURCH
We could go deeper and examine how the apostles appointed leaders in every church, and wrote instructions for selecting leaders and other teachings that would guide Christians for all the centuries to come.

We could examine every word, and every phrase from these apostles, and we would never find one that claimed Jesus would return in their lifetime, while we would find plenty, as in the examples above, that showed they were NOT convinced Jesus was returning in their lifetime.

Yet they lived in expectation of it. They were certainly ready for it. John wrote in Revelation and recorded Jesus as saying “I am coming soon.” John also warned against the anti-christ writing: “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.” -I John 2:18 (obviously he wasn’t talking of a literal hour since it took days and weeks and months to write and send the letter to the churches)

Paul also told the churches that “time was short.” He wrote to the Corinthian church: “What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away. -I Corinthians 7:29-31

And this continues to be the viewpoint of all Christian churches, -well most. That our lives are short, that time on earth is short, and that the goal, the purpose, the whole point of everything, is the eternal kingdom of God which is coming. So live with a view toward eternity.

It’s a whole lot deeper than simply being convinced Jesus is coming in my lifetime. It is recognizing that we have been living in the last days for almost 2000 years, and when they end, there will be judgment and eternity to face. As Paul explained:

“…but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” -Acts 17:30-31

This in fact, is key. The Christians in the beginning until today, lived with an eye toward the end. While the apostles knew very well Jesus might not return in their lifetime, they were nevertheless ready for it and hoped for it. Paul characterized himself as one who longed for Christ’s appearing. I’m the same way myself! However, Paul and the others also made it very clear they might not live to see it happen. Just as we, who believe in the return of Christ, also understand we may not live to see it.

Source:
http://thecrazypastor.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/did-the-apostles-expect-jesus-to-return-in-their-lifetime/  

[TS Sailor Cronus]

Some things to consider:

1. The Bible gives us a basic scale of human life, comparing us to a vapor. Our lives are short, and once it's gone, it's gone. It has always been this way (perhaps a little less extreme preceding the days of Noah, but still.) (James 4:14-- "...For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.") So from a mortal standpoint, it's understandable to look back over the past 2000 years and call them "long," but when you put it into perspective, it's really not as long as you might think. (This applies even to secular reasoning, such as people who believe the Earth is billions of years old. Also, even gap theorists assume God created the Earth that long ago. So 2000 +/- years is still nothing.)

2. Now, this next part only assumes that the coming of Christ, the rapture, the Tribulation, all could happen within a few decades from now (or even one, who's to say?), which Christians have many reasons to believe. (After all, Jesus laid out in surprisingly plain language what signs to look out for, and since at least the days of 1948 and onward, we've been watching the signs pop up almost unceasingly.) Bear in mind, I do believe there is still room for the possibility that it *could* still be a few centuries until then, but even still.

Anyway, when you compare the *roughly* 2000 years since the ascension of Christ, and then measure it against the age of the Earth preceding that date, we're looking at about 1/3 of the Earth's total age, give or take. So, just supposing His return is within the next 2-5 decades, that's pretty quick (by human standards). After all, He could have left the world and let it actually age even by a portion of the standards of the evolutionists-- say an additional 10,000 or even million years after His ascension. I very much doubt we're waiting even another thousand, let alone million, for His return.

3. For those who do not believe the truth in the Bible and to live as though the second coming of Christ either will not happen or will be a very long time in the future-- I'm sure once it finally happens it will be quite jarring, then they will look back and think, "But it hasn't been very long! Where did all the time go??" (Time flies when you're wasting your life.)

4. It is well-known that little children have basically NO sense of time! rofl A seven-year-old could whine incessantly about little things regarding time: "When can we eat dinner?" "I wanna go out and play NOW," "Are we there yeeeeeeet?" But when you think about it, adults don't have a much better grasp of the nature of time, either, thus you hear the incessant complaining of parents and grandparents wondering where all the time went, wondering how they got so old, and often lamenting how fast their children have grown up. I myself, at age 30, still have little "episodes" where I question why it is that I wasn't still in high school just last week... sweatdrop What we once defined as "long" very suddenly, almost jarringly, is now defined "short."

So basically, during the first century, the apostles were preaching to the Earth's group of seven-year-olds; nowadays, it seems like we're much closer to the "grandpa" stage of life. Especially when you consider today's technology, which people often express the feelings that everyone in the world is now rushing; then observing things like the advancement of robotics or medical technology (or even simply cell phones), you often hear the phrase "Well, when I was a kid, we didn't have THAT." (When I was ten, the only people who said that to me had grey hair. Nowadays, I find myself saying it to kids who aren't even a full two decades behind me. I wonder what they will say to ten-year-olds after they themselves turn 16?) rofl

Because they asked Jesus for an answer and received one, the apostles were smart enough to know that since Jesus basically said, "I'm not giving you any dates; just be prepared," they took that answer to heart and used what they recognized as a very limited time (their lifespans) as motivation for getting the word out to as many people as possible.

After all, what could possibly be the point of delaying the word anyway? All that would do is set a bad example and instill a bad set of habits. ("It doesn't apply to me; it's not about to happen; don't worry about telling the children, because it probably doesn't apply to them either; I'm sure the grandkids will just intuitively KNOW when it's about to happen.") To urgently preach to all the world and let people know "We don't know when it will be, so be ready" inspires a good set of habits, which will be passed down through the generations, so that one day someone can't wake up and say "I never knew" because no one told them. (In the end, if today they don't know, it wasn't because no one tried to tell them, but because they didn't listen).