Jesus: “If I have told you earthly things, and yet believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you [of] heavenly things?” John [3:12]
This is Part 1 of a short series of arguments and mini-essays I will post over the next week. I'll try to put one up each day for about 6 days.
Prophecy
For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. [Matthew 16:27-28]
Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us", they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now-and never to be equaled again. Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. [Matthew 24:1]
“Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” [Matthew 24:34, which references the above passage above]
Jesus, on multiple occasions, is quoted stating that his return, the Second Coming, will happen before some people listening to his statements are dead. According to the Book of Revelations, the Second Coming is going to be very easy to recognize, as that book gives a play-by-play description of exactly how it will happen. We’re talking more than just fire and brimstone, we’re talking dragons and trumpets and starts falling to the Earth. Intense stuff. Again, Jesus says that this should have happened very shortly after his death and rebirth. It couldn’t be any more clear: “…some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom”, “…this generation will certainly not pass until all these things have happened”, and “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”
Obviously, this never happened. These prophecies are patently false. It boggles my mind that such passages can be ignored, that people still await Jesus’ return. It is said in such plain language, such clarity, that I cannot conceive how Jesus could make it any more clear. Two-thousand years after Jesus claimed he would return, people are still waiting for him.
RESPONSE: Jesus could have been referring to his own resurrection, as Matthew comes before his death and rebirth. Under that interpretation, Jesus’ prophecy is true.
Jesus’ description does not match that of his resurrection. Jesus describes catastrophes, cataclysms, hosts of angels, and the doling out of divine judgment upon each man according to his worth. Check Matthew 24:1 specifically. That is not his resurrection, that is the Apocalypse.
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