Is Jesus Coming Soon?

Jesus is coming soon?

You hear it in a lot of churches. And not to say "amen" is akin to blasphemy in some minds. Jesus is coming soon! I've said it a lot through the years, and although I believe He may be coming for me pretty soon, I feel it's important to be a part of correcting pop theology, so here goes.

In the English Bibles with which I am familiar, Jesus is never quoted as saying, "I am coming soon." Instead, it is usually, "I am coming quickly."

That's a totally different idea. In the Greek original, the word is tachu. And yes, both ideas can be conveyed by the word. One can be talking about when or in what manner with that same word. We're left with a need to interpret. Here is how I interpret all this.

First, Jesus cannot lie. He is the Truth. Soon to us means within the next few minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or to stretch it to its max, a few years. 2000 years could not be considered soon by any mortal. And it was to mortals He said these words. Believers in the soon doctrine will be ridiculed for no reason. In fact that very thing has happened and was prophesied by Peter (I Peter 3). We have been saying in every generation, "Jesus is coming soon." And He didn't come. Now they mock the whole idea of His coming, just as Peter said they would.

Second, these individual statements about coming quickly are not the only way Jesus expressed the thought. He said in Matthew 24 that He will come as the lightning. Suddenly. Quickly. Tachu. The sun sets gradually. That is not tachu. A man returns from a trip gradually. You see his plane, then him as a dot, then a man, then face to face. That is not tachu. And Jesus is not coming that way, as many even in our generation have speculated, that one day we will realize that Jesus is here, that he slowly has made His Presence felt. No, that is not tachu. Jesus says, "When I do come, I will come without annnouncement, without delay, as the lightning, as the vultures on a piece of dead meat." That's tachu.

Jesus is near. He is at hand. That's why when He appears, it is suddenly.

Jesus did not tell His disciples, I'm coming back in a few days or months. Instead He gave them clear-cut signs (Matthew 24) to identify the world scene at the time of His coming. Then He told them He had no clue when He would return. That is, the Father had not revealed to Him the time of Earth's history when the signs would all be fulfilled. But the generation that lives at that time will know...

Both Paul and Jesus (II Thessalonians 2 and Matthew 24) are clear: Don't let anyone deceive you. I'm not coming back until a certain sign is fulfilled. No space to talk about the sign here, but when He does come, it will be quickly.

Why such a teaching? Why tell us several times He is coming quickly? So that believers through the years will not be led astray into following false Messiahs who will appear here and there, take out ads in newspapers, start communities, all the while trying to convince people they are God's Promised One. No, when Jesus comes, it is tachu. There'll be no questions asked or answers needed.

The when of His coming we must discuss some other time. But the how is certainly quickly.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. I have created over 200 blogs and the site features a live news feed, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. I love to write Scriptural works. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.