While God’s Word clearly documents and teaches that the comings (plural) of Jesus run like a thread throughout both the Old and New Testaments, the word “return” is also never used. Like the “Second Coming,” it is non-scriptural terminology that has divided Christians for centuries into various end-time views regarding when it was to, did, will, or won’t happen. 

To this point, I submit that authentic Christianity does not stand for a departed or absent Christ absent the entire length of the Christian age! It stands for a present and active Christ who never left and has truly, wholly, totally been with his Church and people for over nineteen centuries and is still with us today. How do I know He never left?  Jesus said so.

Of course, at one point, toward the end of his earthly ministry, Jesus said He was “going there [Heaven] to prepare a place for you.” And, He promised to “come again” to “take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:2-4). He said his going was required and the decisive factor for the coming of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7). But, at the end of his famous Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, He also assured his 1st-century followers that He would be with them, “And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age” (emphasis added, Matt. 28:20b).

In a similar manner, Jesus previously had promised, “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (emphasis added, Matt. 18:20). So how can Jesus go somewhere and still be with them? Can these two seemingly contradictory notions be reconciled?  

The traditional explanation has been, what Jesus was really saying was He would be with them in the future in the Person of the Holy Spirit, Whom He was to send at Pentecost (see Acts 2). The verse, “the Lord is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:17) and “the Spirit of Jesus” (Acts 16:7) are cited in support. But the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was a separately and distinctly prophesied event in the Old Testament (see Ezek. 36:26-27; 37:9-14; 39:29; Joel 2:28-32) and a singular happening in the New Testament (see Acts 2). Furthermore, did Jesus really mean He had to “depart” to send Himself back? No New Testament text written twenty or more years later ever acknowledges this outpouring of the Spirit as a coming again of Jesus.  To the contrary, many, subsequent, New Testament texts, were still anticipating this coming of Christ as yet-future. 

Besides, if what Jesus really meant here was “the Holy Spirit would be with them always,” why be so cryptic or obscure?  He wasn’t cryptic or obscure anywhere else when He spoke about the Holy Spirit.  In John 14, for instance, Jesus spoke, distinctively and by name, about the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit’s coming (see John 14:15-29).  He clearly differentiated between Himself and the Holy Spirit by using the pronouns “I” and “him.” Moreover, He spoke, clearly and plainly, in the rest of his Great Commission.  So why not in verse 20 as well?

I believe there is a much better explanation.  That is, Jesus did speak, clearly, plainly, and distinctively.  He meant exactly what He said.  He, Jesus, the second Person of the Godhead, would always be with them, and with us today as well. 

Notably, when we compare different Bible translations with the original Greek language, we find something quite interesting regarding return-type language.  For instance, in the New International Version (NIV), the phases “I will come back,” “I am coming back,” “until I return,” and “Jesus . . . will come back” are found in only four places in the New Testament—John 14:3, 28; 21:22-23; and Acts 1:11, respectively.  Problem is, the words “back” and “return” are not in the original language.  Unfortunately, the word “back” conveys a nuance of being away and necessitating a return.  But Jesus never said He would “come back” or “return.”  Correctly translated, his actual and emphatic words are “come again,” “come again,” “till I come,” and just “come,” respectively (see King James Version for a good translation).  Big difference!

Also, three of these phrases (John 14:3, 28; Acts 1:11) are in a similar verb form (future deponent indicative) as Revelation 1:7’s “Look, he is coming with the clouds” (present deponent indicative).  [See again the Introduction.]  Hence, they convey the same dualistic sense of an in-process action of coming and/or a present and continuous activity of coming—although a little less so.

Another revealing tidbit comes from Jesus’ unveiling in the Revelation’s first chapter.  Here, John and we see Jesus not off somewhere waiting to return someday, but instead, He’s standing “among [in the midst] the lampstands” (Rev. 1:13, [KJV]).  Jesus explains that “the seven lampstands are the seven churches” (Rev. 1:20b).  This is more evidence that Jesus did not leave them but was with them—i.e., with the churches, in their midst.  

Also notable, in my opinion, was the question Jesus’ disciples ask Him the week before his crucifixion, “what will be the sign of your coming” (i.e., the Greek word translated as “coming” is parousia meaning “presence” – Matt. 24:3).  They did not ask Him “what will be the sign of your return?” or “what will be the return of your presence?”  Why not?  Because his presence would remain with them and a return was not required.  (In our next chapter, we’ll see what that sign was.)

Perhaps, once again, the reason so many of us have misunderstood this seeming conundrum of Jesus’ supposed departure and yet remaining with them is because of our physical/material mindset.  Quite simply, Jesus would be leaving them in the physical/material realm via his death on the cross, but He would continue being with them in the spirit realm.  Consequently, Jesus never really left.  He remained with them—as He had promised, “I will be with you always,” and as was expected of the Messiah (see John 12:34).  Thus, there is no reason for Scripture to speak of a “coming back” or a “return.”  This terminology would be totally inappropriate and, therefore, is not used.  It is also a moot concept that no longer needs to be divisive.  Jesus does not have to “come back” from anywhere and “returning” makes no sense.  He simply and clearly said, “I will come to you” and “you will see me” (John 14:18, 19).  He did and they did.  Several times after his death, Jesus came to them and they saw Him. 

Likewise, today, we have no scriptural warrant, necessity, or language for a return.  He is still here with us!  But many of us are impaired by our physical/material mindset and have difficulty thinking in terms of spirit and the spirit realm.  So we imagine Jesus as being off in some distant place waiting to return.  And we think that He cannot be here with us, at least not totally, unless He has literally and bodily returned in the flesh, and is physically resident and visible someplace on this earth.  And yet, as we will continue to explore, this return terminology and concept is not found in the Bible and is inconsistent with what Jesus actually said.

When I started studying the comings of Jesus years ago, no one could answer my questions about why the “Second Coming” wasn’t mentioned in the Bible.  Most pastors and professors I asked merely beat around the proverbial bush and tried to avoid exposing what they did not know. But each of them assured me the Bible clearly taught it.

More recently, I asked a seminary professor who teaches eschatology to show me a Scripture to support the idea of a single, future Second Coming. Together, we examined all the classic Second Coming Scriptures, one by one. But none of them literally spoke of a “Second Coming.”  “I agree...I agree...I agree,” he said on each.  “But,” he lectured me, “I still believe Jesus has left this world, hasn’t come back yet, and there will only be one coming—the final Second Coming.”

With all due respect to this precious man of God, such a response is an emotional reaction that grows out of a lifetime of doctrinal conditioning, and not from the Word of God.  Yet a literal “Second Coming,” or “return” of Christ is considered a core belief and fundamental doctrine that is persistently adhered to, perpetuated, and passed on by learned people with many degrees and much professed wisdom. As we shall soon see, the idea that Jesus is off somewhere waiting to return to planet Earth at some future time, is just as erroneous as the notion of limiting the comings of Jesus to only two or three times, or any at all.  Like the end of the world (see chapter one), this is another classic case of the traditions of men “nullify[ing] the word of God” or making it of “none effect” (Mark 7:13; Matt. 15:6 – NIV/KJV). And since we are to be governed by Scripture and not traditions, it is time for this false tradition to also give way to revealed truth.  We must not be hamstrung by it any longer.
 

Conclusion

Unshackling Christianity from these two non-scriptural expressions and unscriptural concepts is the first step toward resolving and unifying "one of the most divisive elements in recent Christian history... few doctrines untie and separate Christians as much as eschatology." [6]

 One huge hindrance has been removed. The stage is now set and the way clear for synthesizing the four major, competing, conflicting, and confusing end-time (eschatological) views into one meaningful, coherent, and consistent view that is more Christ-honoring, Scripture-authenticating, and faith-validating than any one view in and of itself.

This article has briefly presented one of the major themes being further developed for presentation in forthcoming books by this author:

For more about John Noē’s speaking, writing, and teaching ministry, contact:

John Noē
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Ph. # 317-842-3411
jnoe@prophecyrefi.org
Or visit www.prophecyrefi.org

[2] For more on this, see John Noē, Beyond the End Times (Bradford, PA.: IPA, 1999), 191-195.

[4] Billy Graham, "The End of the World," Decision, January 2004, posted on http://www.billygraham.org/DMag_Article.asp?ArticleID=389, January 31, 2004.