The End is... Near?

The second coming of Jesus is an event known as the Parousia, in which Jesus will return to judge the world, punish evil, and redeem the saved. This event is still expected as an article of Christian faith, but it has seemingly been long delayed. An examination of New Testament passages shows that the earliest Christians expected Jesus’ return within their lifetimes. The Gospels and Paul’s letters reveal what happened when the Parousia did not occur. They show how it upset many believers, and they detail the explanations people came up with for why it did not occur – reasons which still make sense, even today. It is a story of hope and doubt, fear and reassurance, fevered expectation and changing perspective.

Paul’s letters were written perhaps 20-30 years after Jesus’ resurrection. In that period, as we shall see, Christians were already worried about the delay in Jesus’ return. The gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke were written perhaps 40-50 years after Jesus’ resurrection, but we have to look at them first, for they tell the beginning of the story, during Jesus’ lifetime.

The gospels set up the basic idea that in the near future, Jesus would return, and the present world would come to an end. Of course, the Christian faithful were understandably very much interested in exactly when the Parousia would occur. There are two thoughts about this in the gospels. One is, the second coming would occur suddenly and unexpectedly, and no one could predict the time. The other is, the second coming would be preceded by and heralded by many dramatic signs and portents, by which people could know it was coming. These contradictory thoughts exist side by side in the gospels, as shown in Matthew when Jesus discusses when the end would come (the following passages are from Matthew 24:3-44).

Jesus is asked by the disciples, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus responds by listing many signs of the end, the sort of things no one could fail to notice. “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs. Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. […] But anyone who endures to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come. […] For at that time there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. […] For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. ‘Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see “the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven” with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. […] when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.”

On the other hand, in the very same chapter of Matthew (24), Jesus proclaims that no one except God the Father, not even Jesus himself, knows exactly when the end will come. “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. […] Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” Even so, Jesus gave broad hints that the Parousia would occur during the lifetimes of his listeners, as shown in the following passages. “Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.” (Matthew 24:34) “And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.” (Mark 9:1)

Twenty to thirty years after Jesus spoke these words, when Paul’s letters were written, the second coming had not yet occurred, and Christians were beginning to worry. Despite Jesus’ promise, people were indeed beginning to “taste death”, dying as people eventually do, without the kingdom of God coming with power. First Thessalonians, a letter of Paul, deals with this issue. Paul has to comfort people, telling them that those who die before the second coming will be raised up when it finally does happen, so there is nothing to worry about. “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thess. 4:13-17)

Of course, Paul’s readers still worried about the timing of the Parousia. Paul has to repeat the idea that it will happen at an unexpected time. “Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! […] So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” (1 Thess. 5:1-6)

In another letter of uncertain authorship, 2 Thessalonians, another problem arises. Some Christians have even begun to worry that the Parousia has already happened. The writer has to reassure them that no, it has not. In fact, the writer claims, the second coming cannot occur until a particular agent of evil is revealed. “As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. […] And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-8) Between the two letters to the Thessalonians, there is again a tension between the opposing ideas that the Parousia will be both unexpected and preceded by signs.

Another letter, 2 Peter, was written around 140-150 CE, and was probably the last canonical book of the New Testament to be composed. By that time period, over a century after Jesus’ resurrection, the second coming had obviously still not occurred, and it seemed that it might even be delayed into the indefinite future. At that point, an explanation had to be found which would satisfy people for the long term. The writer of 2 Peter explained that the reason for the seeming delay was to give more people time to repent and be saved. “First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come […] saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!” […] But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:3-9)

The idea that any delay is to allow more people to be saved is a good one, and even in the present day, it makes sense. We have to admit that there are still many people in the world who could be redeemed, and so the delay, already approaching 2,000 years, is perhaps likely to continue. But what can we do in the meantime? The gospel writers encourage us to watch, wait, stay spiritually awake, and be ready. The author of 2 Peter has some last advice as well. We can hasten the second coming by leading righteous lives. “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise […] what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God,[…]? But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.” (2 Peter 3:10-15)