Christ Not Coming Back Again (Part 2) - By Danilo T. Nacua

The Misinterpreted Passages

John 14:1-3 (NIV)
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

We emphasized the important points because these will be the basis of our discussion and the most salient parts of the promise. By virtue of the truthfulness of Biblical statements we can not dispute such declaration but we merely want to clarify some things that need explanation.

Again, we ask: To whom did Christ made the promise to come back to? We always ask this question, because of all the professed Christians in the world today, we are the only ones who are not waiting for Christ’s return. We are not in the same category with them because we do not claim to be the kind of Christians who adhere and cling to the organization founded by Christ in the first century of our common era. Besides, we know that Christ is no longer coming back to earth by virtue of his promise, which we always remind you at the end of our article concerning this topic entitled above.
If you’ll only read and open your mind to understand and detach yourself from prejudice; and continue to read John 14:1-5 (NIV) there’s no doubt that you would come to realize that the context of the discourse was by and between Christ and his disciples only.

Just because the promise from verses 1-3 contains the phrases “for you”, “that you”, “take you”, or for that matter the second person “you”, anybody who reads that promise is suddenly qualified to claim inclusion.

The dialogue in verses 4-5 gives the qualified persons; “You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’

Was the promise made to “you” the present readers? Don’t be absurd! Thomas was one of Christ’s disciples where the promise was given and nobody else that’s why Thomas replied to Christ’s assertions!

Sorry folks, but “we” today (“you” and “I”) have nothing to do with that promise given exclusively to Christ’s disciples.

Now, why did Christ made such promise to prepare a place in his Father’s house for his disciples?

Christ in John 12:26 (NIV) gave the answer as, “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”

Wooh! So, the reason is: where Christ is, his disciples will be there also! And where is Christ now and what term did Paul give to the promise discussed above?

Paul in Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV) expounded this promise to his fellow believers; “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining forward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Heavenward calling! Therefore, the promise that Christ made to his disciples (not to us) was for them to be together with him up there in heaven (heavenward) and not here on earth!

To prove this, Paul elaborately explained this in 2 Corinthians 5:1-4, 6-8 (NIV); “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groaned and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life...Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith not by sight. We are confident I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

Paul explained that the place Christ prepared in his Father’s house was called an indestructible “house in heaven” or “heavenly dwelling”. Their human body is what kept them away with their Lord Jesus Christ and they would prefer to be “away” from their body so that they can join Christ in heaven in spiritual manifestation. This simply means that they prefer to die and be with Christ, if needed be.

Again Paul further defined this in Philippians 1:20-25 (NIV); “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I chose? I do not know! I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith.”

The Disciples of Christ must leave their human body (death) in order to partake of Christ promise for his disciples to be with him in heaven.

As actual proof, Acts 7:55-59 (NIV) tells us that; “...Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look’, he said, ‘I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him...While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit’”

Stephen, at the point death, ready to leave his human body, was still able to utter the final proof confirming the truthfulness of Christ’s promise that he will receive his disciples in heaven! The final proof is Ecclesiastes 12:7 where it said, “...the dust returns to the ground...and the spirit returns to God who gave it”.
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John 14:28 (NIV)
“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I’.”

It’s one of the promises that the proponents of Christ’s second coming hold on to. I do not deny that Christ made a promise to come back, but the above statement from him needs some clarifications. Was it just because he said that he was coming back, he had already given others the right to qualify themselves to be included in that promise? The question is: who were the ones that Christ made the promise to come back?

Clearly, this was made explicitly and exclusively to his disciples and nobody else. It does not necessary follow that because you are now reading this passage in the Bible you are already included in that particular promise. The story began in John 14:18-19 (NIV) where Christ said that, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you will also live.”

Orphans are without parents. Because Christ’s disciples look upon him as some sort of a parent, hence, when he said that he was going away he likewise promised to come back. But if he was going away, how long did he say he would be gone?

Christ set the time limit in John 16:16 (NIV); “In a little while you will see me no more, then after a while you will see me.” Oh! He would only be gone in a little while! What was the reason why he should go away and how long is “a little while”? We’ll see.

Matthew 16:21 (NIV) rendered that , “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

Christ would be killed! But, where would he go after his death? In Matthew 12:40 (NIV) Christ gave this comparison; “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Jesus practically said that after he dies he will go away for three days and three nights and he will be in the heart of the earth. This was what Jesus wanted his disciples to understand and this is what we should understand today! He will come back “in a little while” and it only meant three days and three nights! I totally agree with Christ he was gone “in a little while” only.

So, how long did he stay with his disciples after he came back? Acts 1:3 (NIV) unquestionably counted it as, “After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke to them about the kingdom of God.”

After he was gone for three days he came back and stayed with them further for forty days and was gone again never to come back! Now, that’s the reason why no Christ is coming again today as expected by the present religious sects who claim themselves as followers of Christ. Present readers of the Bible are to the truth that Christ has already fulfilled his promise to his disciples! We, have nothing to do with that promise, understand?

Christ made that promise to appease his disciples because he knew beforehand what would happen to him and his disciples were confused about his statements. That’s why in John 16: 16-22 (NIV) he gave them an analogy to make them understand the events that would transpire after that: “In a little while you will see me no more, then after a while you will see me. Some of his disciples said to one another, ‘What does he mean by saying, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father”?’ They kept saying, ‘What does he mean by “a little while?” We don’t understand what he is saying. Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, ‘Are you asking one another what I mean when I said, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a while you will see me”?’ I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.”

Did they really experience the grief that Christ said they would suffer? Luke 23:26-28 (NIV) prove this; “As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and they him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children’.”

Did they likewise experience the joy that would follow after he came back to them? Yes! Again Luke 24:51-52 (NIV) prove this, “While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.”
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May 27 at 12:57pm