Information Related to "Who Could Possibly Misunderstand the Second Coming?"
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Both the apostles and the early Church misunderstood Christ's second coming. Could you be repeating their mistakes today?
by Cecil Maranville
he second coming of Jesus Christ has to be one of the most widely accepted and least controversial subjects in the Christian world - right? It was the one idea that the early Church unitedly perceived in all its ramifications - wasn't it? Don't be too quick to agree. The answers might surprise you.
As we approach the year 2000, interest in the return of Jesus Christ is increasing. Will Jesus Christ return then? Why did He say He would return?
We can glean biblically sound information about Christ's return by looking at the accounts of His first coming and the years immediately after His death.
Expectations concerning the Messiah
The image of a conquering King was strong in the minds of the early followers of Christ, but their thinking was significantly different from yours or mine. They believed in one coming of the Messiah, not in a first coming and a subsequent return.
Since the early Church was composed of Jews and Jewish proselytes, the prophetic traditions concerning the Messiah were widely accepted among early Christians. The expectations of two elderly citizens of Jerusalem, Simeon and Anna, show the extent of that acceptance. To see the Messiah, or Christ, was a lifelong hope of each of them (Luke 2:25,26,36-38).
When Jesus began His ministry, He did not fit people's expectations of the Messiah. Notice the response of the residents of His own home area: "And when He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, 'Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son? ... Where then did this Man get all these things?' So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, 'A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.' Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief" (Matthew 13:54-57).
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