That question was found online in a FB group professing to be about Pauline Doctrine. The name was interesting, so I popped in. Turns out it’s run by a couple of ladies who seem to be advocating for full preterism (Jesus returned in judgment in 70AD) in interesting ways. There will be a post that asks a leading question and makes a ‘logical’ suggestion that unwary readers will naturally accept. I’ve been blocked from commenting until the end of January, partly because I suggested that their preterism was showing, and they hated that. Another reader caught on before I did and has since disappeared. He had also been attempting polite conversation about things.
What I have found out is that I can read these seemingly innocent posts, do a little research study and merely respond to them and see what happens, which is what I had been doing and ended up in ‘purgatory’ for a month. I was actually responding to the above question when I found out about my suspension.
If I assume that the above statement telling me “Since messengers of God told those present (at the Ascension) that they’d see His return” was true, the answer could be ‘yes’, however………
The answer is no, because the messengers didn’t tell them they would see Jesus’ return: Here is Acts 11, along with a couple of other passages to add context. The scene is the ascension of Christ after his resurrection.
“Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11, NKJV)
The two messengers didn’t tell those present that they would ‘see’ his return. That passage just says the Jesus would come again to Earth in like manner (in the same way) he left. So how did he leave? What does “in like manner” mean?
1. Well, since Jesus ascended after his resurrection, He left in a glorified body and will return in his glorified body.
2. He ascended in clouds, so He will return in clouds, which was an Old Testament Prophecy Daniel 7:13, as well as something Jesus told a Jewish High Priest at his trial Matthew 26:64.
That means that the assertion (it wasn’t an ‘IF’ statement), “Since messengers of God told those present (at the Ascension) that they’d see His return” was false on its face.
Pretty slick! Start with a false assumption, combined with a partial truth in order to suggest your ‘logical’ conclusion. It’s true that ‘someone’ told the disciples that some of them would “see the Son of man coming in his kingdom” (See Matt 16:28, Mark 9:1, Luke 9:27) but that doesn’t necessarily mean Jesus was talking about his return to at His second coming. There are alternative interpretations, and since I’m merely suggesting here, I’ll leave further research to you. Isn’t Bible study fun?
So there it is. A false assertion was made, leading to a ‘logical’ conclusion. There was no direct assertion that Jesus returned in judgment, just a nice little question based on a false statement. The reader is supposed to realize ‘logically’ that Jesus return to earth was in 70 AD. That was the point of the meme and exactly what “full preterism” teaches, as opposed to other interpretations of prophecy that claim that the 2nd coming of Christ is still in the future (partial preterism, historicism, futurism). Why a couple of FB group admins would bristle at my mentioning preterism, I’ll probably never know.
So call this an academic exercise. Along the way, I really dug into scripture, commentaries, as well as articles I could find online, therefore enhancing my knowledge concerning Bible prophecy!
Be Blessed!
The Battle Cry 