This article addresses the two often conflicting aspects of the parousia: its imminence and its delay.
Any sincere Christian who awaits Christ’s return will notice that there is a tension between the imminent return of Jesus, which is frequently mentioned in the New Testament (NT), and the long lapse of time from then until now. The aim of these reflections is therefore to make sense of the New Testament language and to seek an explanation for this formal conflict.
To achieve this goal, this article will review the main biblical evidence for the imminent coming of Jesus, analyse the problem of the delay of the parousia in the New Testament, and offer a solution that will hopefully resolve the tension between the two dimensions.
The imminence of the parousia in the New Testament
There are three things to note about the approach of the end. First, virtually all the NT writers express the idea that Christ is coming soon. Second, very few of these writers tell the reader why they believe this. Third, the approach is affirmed and reaffirmed over a period of about four decades.
If we examine the main evidence for the first statement, we find explicit and implicit assertions about the imminent coming of Christ.
In the first category we have phrases (sometimes in metaphorical language) such as “salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11), “the night is nearly over; the day is almost here” (Romans 13:12), “the time is short” (1 Corinthians 7: 29), “the Lord is near” (Philippians 4:5), “in just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay” (Hebrews 10:37), “the Lord’s coming is near” (James 5:8), “the Judge is standing at the door!” (James 5:9), “dear children, this is the last hour… even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18), “the time is near” (Revelation 1:3; 22:10) and “I [Jesus] am coming soon!” (Revelation 22:7, 12, 20).
There are also implicit statements, such as: the idea that God will finish the work He has begun in believers “until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6)[1], the warning that the eschatological prototype of mankind (selfish, money-loving, etc.) is to be avoided in the present (2 Timothy 3:1-5)[2], the advice to be patient “until the coming of the Lord” (James 5:7), the declaration that “salvation is ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5), and language that includes contemporary recipients among the witnesses of the parousia (Mark 14:62; Matthew 26:64; John 21:22; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). All this implicitly suggests that the primary recipients of the NT writings were living in eschatological times, and that at least some of them would be alive at the time of the end.
While it is likely that not all scholars would agree that the above texts support the imminence of Christ’s coming, most of them would pass the test of exegetical rigour and confirm the hypothesis that they express the early church’s belief that Jesus would return in a relatively short time, probably within the lifetime of that generation.
But the New Testament writers rarely tell us why they think Jesus is coming soon. John uses the presence of contemporary antichrists as a reason for believing that he lives in the last hour (1 John 2:18). Paul places the shortening of time in the context of a time of crisis (1 Corinthians 7:26, 28), and in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 he presents the moral decadence of the first century as an argument that the human race is living in the last days. It would seem that all of these reasons are rooted in Jesus’s teaching about the end, a point that we will explore in the next section.
Before we do so, however, it should also be noted that although the parousia is presented in terms of imminence or nearness, its timing is more dynamic than is usually assumed. The best argument for this comes from the dating of the various books of the New Testament. Between 1 Corinthians and James (the earliest letters) on the one hand, and Revelation and 1 John (the latest books) on the other, we have about four decades. The fact that Christ’s return is “standing at the door”, “near”, “coming soon”, etc. throughout this interval means that the idea of the imminence of the parousia allows for some flexibility.
The ever-near parousia
There are a number of statements made by Jesus in the Gospels which underline the legitimacy of His followers’ expectation that He will return soon, perhaps even within the span of their generation. The first is found in Matthew 10:23[3], which speaks of persecution in the context of mission and says: “When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes”. The fact that the report of the disciples on their return from their first mission contains no hint of hostility (see Mark 6:30; Luke 9:10) suggests that the mission Jesus described was much broader in time and space.
Thus, in Matthew 10:18, the reader sees, in line with 24:14, that the disciples were to preach the gospel to Jews as well as Gentiles. The limitation “rather to the lost sheep of Israel” (v. 6) was most likely a reference to this initial missionary activity. Next, the fact that they were to testify before governors and kings (10:18) is evidence of an extended mission.[4] Finally, the mention of the Spirit of the Father who would help the persecuted (10:20) alludes to a missionary activity after Pentecost (see Acts 2) that would begin in Jerusalem but continue to the ends of the earth (see Acts 1:8).
Therefore, Jesus did not indicate that He would come before His disciples had completed their mission among contemporary Jews. However, the phrase “you will not finish going through the towns of Israel” clearly emphasises the short term. When speaking of the Great Tribulation, an event describing the world’s attack on God’s people, Christ describes this event as near, but also that it will be immediately followed by His return (see Matthew 24:29).
A second statement of Jesus in the Gospels is also about the nearness of His return: “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (Matthew 24:34; see Mark 13:30; Luke 21:32). Some scholars argue that the phrase “all these things” refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, the temple, and the Jews (see Matthew 23:36; 24:2). These interpreters suggest that when “all these things” take place in verse 33, it is not the Son of Man standing at the door, but the end of Jerusalem, because the Greek language does not specify what the subject of the verb phrase “is near” is. This kind of effort[5] is probably motivated by a desire to defend Jesus against a false prediction.
But such a defense is neither accurate nor necessary. The phrase “all these things” in verse 34 must have the same meaning as in verse 33, which says, “Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door”. Thus, “‘all these things’ can include all of the events portrayed in vv. 4-31, with one exception: Something still must take place after ‘all these things’— namely, what stands before the door”.[6] The subject who is to enter that door “is probably the Son of Man”.[7] Indeed, in the New Testament, only people stand at the door and knock.[8] In James 5:9 we have confirmation beyond any doubt that the end is near, by the use of the phrase “the Judge is standing at the door”. In conclusion, in Matthew 24:33-34 and parallel passages, Christ affirms that in the generation of His listeners all those things will come to pass which, when they come to pass, will indicate that He is near, even at the very door. The history of the first century provides ample evidence that, as accurately as the human eye can perceive, all these things took place in that generation[9].
It should be carefully noted that Christ did not promise in black and white to come in that generation. At the same time, the language He uses can be interpreted in exactly this sense (see John 21:22-23; see Mark 14:62; Matthew 26:64). This leads us to suspect that this is indeed the intention of the New Testament: to present the parousia as always near, while at the same time not giving an exact time. The NT invites us to expect a near end, but not to calculate how near it is.
What really matters
Before the ascension, the disciples probably remembered that the day and hour of Christ’s return remain a mystery under the exclusive authority of the Father (Matthew 24:36; 13:32). That’s why they ask Jesus a general question about the end times: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) Christ refused to give a direct answer to this question. After all, He told them repeatedly that the eschaton was near. That was all they needed to know. His answer, however, reveals what is most important when considering the approaching end: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (vv. 7-8).
The mention of the “times or dates” is very significant. The two terms retain some distinction, especially when used together, as they are here. The word translated “times” denotes a period of time, while the second word—”dates”—denotes an event or moment in time. Jesus’s response discourages any concern about time or locating today on the prophetic map. Jesus does not discourage the expectation of an imminent parousia, but He does affirm that its exact or approximate time is not within the reach of His followers. They must therefore concentrate on their overall mission.
The delay of the parousia
The fact that Jesus did not come, although He promised to come soon, has led some scholars[10] to investigate whether the New Testament anticipates this delay. Expressions of the postponement of the parousia are found in the parables of Jesus: “my master is staying away a long time/is taking a long time in coming” (Matthew 24:48; Luke 12:45), “the bridegroom was a long time in coming” (Matthew 25:5), and “a man of noble birth went to a distant country ” (Luke 19:12). While these texts use a vocabulary of delay or postponement, they do not imply an indefinite delay. The expressions anticipate that Jesus will come not as soon as expected[11], but soon.
The true message of Jesus’s parables of the parousia is not delay, but vigilance. Delay is simply the antonym of imminence, not a long postponement of Christ’s coming. In fact, the parables also present the parousia in terms of imminence. For example, at the end of the parable of the widow and the unjust judge in Luke 18:1-6, the parallel questions “And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night?” and “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (vv. 7-8) make it seem that the parousia is imminent. The very fact that the parable emphasises vigilance[12] means that the author does not place the end far back in history. If delay played a significant role here, the idea of always being ready would lose all force.
Conditionality
The end of all things seems to depend on two factors. The first is the spreading of the Gospel throughout the world (Matthew 24:14; see Mark 13:10). The second is the spiritual preparation of the Church (Acts 3:19-20; 2 Peter 3:9, 11-14). The motivation for both conditions seems to be God’s desire that the whole world should come to repentance and be saved. In the New Testament, the parousia is illustrated in agricultural terms, as a “harvest” (Matthew 13:30, 39-40; 1 Corinthians 15:23; Revelation 14:15). God, who is the sower or gardener, is interested in the best result (see Isaiah 5:1, 2, 4; Luke 13:8). Therefore, He determines the time of harvest when the results are optimal. As Norval Pease says, “When nothing good can result from further delay, Jesus will come.”[13]
In practical terms, the church will never know when the world is saturated with God’s Word or when the church itself is spiritually ready. Only God can measure these things. Therefore, the fulfilment of these two conditions does not depend on the Church. At the same time, these conditions are linked to the diligence and the mission of the church. On a practical level, the primary implication is that every individual who claims to be a Christian is called not to speculate about the end of time[14] but rather to try to be a sign of the times—a model of morality and humanity.
Laurenţiu-Florentin Moţ is Assistant Professor of New Testament and Dean of the Adventist Theological Institute.
