Was Jesus a False Prophet When He Predicted a Return in the First Century AD?
This refers to a prediction in what’s called the Olivet Discourse. Some famous skeptics have used this prediction to reject Jesus’ divinity. The Olivet Discourse appears in three Gospels (Matthew: 24:1–25:46, Mark: 13:1–37, Luke: 21:5–36). Many people view this narrative as describing Jesus’ return to earth in what’s known as the Second Coming. Others see the section as describing a preliminary return of Jesus to the sky, but not to the earth. This action, known as the rapture, will take away the Christians and leave the rest of the world behind. In all three Gospels accounts of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus is quoted as saying that “this generation” will not pass away until all these things happened (Matthew 24:34, Mark 13:30, Luke 21:32). So, if this discourse deals with the second coming or a rapture, it looks like Jesus made a false prediction. In my opinion, this issue cannot be addressed by a simple look at popular English versions of the New Testament. A proper answer requires looking at ancient Greek renditions of the New Testament, understanding figures of speech, recognizing references to Old Testament verses, and knowing a bit of the cultural background of the times. First off, the idea that Jesus was describing a preliminary return to extract the church can be discarded as a completely indefensible concept. Many Christians accept this idea, but the Bible never teaches it. I discuss this in a postscript below. What about the idea that Jesus falsely predicted a first century second coming? Here are four counter responses of which I am aware: Either 3 or 4 explains Jesus’ prediction, but it must be recognized that the language of the Olivet Discourse includes figures of speech and references to Old Testament verses. An example of the former is “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” (Matthew 24:29). How do I know this constitutes figures of speech and not a literal supernatural astronomy event? I know because in Acts 2:20 and Isaiah 13:10, similar language described events that have already occurred. All of these involve a painful authority change. We use these types of expressions in modern times. For example, an old song by the Walker Brothers about a breakup said: “The sun ain’t gonna shine anymore. The moon ain’t gonna rise in the sky.” An example of an Old Testament reference is “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory” (Mark 13:26). Matthew 24:30 says something similar: “And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.” An NIV Bible footnote gives a different translation for part of the sentence: “At that time the tribes of the land will see…” For reasons I won’t go into, the footnote gives the better translation than “all the peoples of the earth.” This could refer to Jesus’s second coming, but two alternative views have been raised. Possibly, Jesus’ quote merges both views. One refers to passages like Isaiah 19:1: “A prophecy against Egypt: See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt.” These passages refer to God using an army to enact judgement. That would fit the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in “this generation.” Also, that would fit the idea that people will see something happen. This proposition is reenforced by Jesus using similar language later before Jewish religious leaders (Matthew 26:64). Jesus’ statement comes right after complaints were made about Jesus saying he would destroy the temple. Moreover, a threat to the city and temple would explain part of the extreme anger the leaders felt toward Jesus. These leaders’ power and livelihood depended on Jerusalem and the temple. One big reason they wanted Jesus killed was a fear of the Romans destroying the temple: “If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation” (John 11:48). One problem with this idea is the timing associated with Jesus statement to the Sanhedrin. Jesus said: “From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven (Matthew 26:64, bolding mine). However, the context of both the Matthew chapter 24 and chapter 26 sections gives a simple explanation. Jesus may have been saying that the transition of temple sacrifice to Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice has now begun. This goes with Jesus’ saying that he would destroy the temple and rebuild it in 3 days (a reference to his dying and rising as a replacement for temple sacrifices-John 2:19-21). An accuser raises this point about temple destruction just before Jesus says “From now on” in Matthew 26:64. The other view of this verse has Jesus taking his place in Heaven as having authority over all the world (fulfilment of Daniel 7:13-14). The Gospel wordings show similarity with the Daniel passage. This coronation of Jesus as king would be taking place shortly after Jesus statement to the Sanhedrin (which could explain “from now on”). However, two problems arise with this interpretation. First, in the Olivet Discourse, the timing of the coming in the clouds seems to be intertwined with the destruction of Jerusalem. A number of Bible verses suggest that Jesus’ coronation happened before the Jerusalem destruction. Also, in both the Olivet Discourse and the Sanhedrin exchange, Jesus said people will see what’s happening. People on earth wouldn’t have seen a coronation event occurring in heaven in the first century. It is possible that Jesus was talking about both the destruction of Jerusalem and the coronation. The coronation sets up the destruction of Jerusalem which would be a visible event. In my current thinking, a strong case exists for “this generation” referring to the
Are the Miracles Described in The Bible Possible? If They Are, Why Have I Never Seen Any?
I will define a miracle as an event that cannot be explained by natural laws or behaviors. Bible examples include: the sea parting for Moses and his people, a lost borrowed axe head floating to the top of the water, Jesus healing a man’s withered hand, and Peter finding a coin in a fish’s mouth for his and Jesus’ tax payment. Three common objections to the possibility of miracles are: 1. Science laws are predictable and consistent. Miracles are rare deviations. Rarity equals impossibility. 2. Science laws cannot be broken. 3. I have never seen any miracles. 1. Rarity does not automatically equal impossibility. For example, according to the Big Bang Theory, this universe was created only once. Also, extremely rare genetic traits can occur. And, only one person exactly like you has ever been born. 2. Science laws don’t have to be broken to have a miracle. Even non-miraculous events can get around science laws. Is a science law broken when someone rides in an airplane? Is such flight impossible because it breaks the law of gravity? No, the law of gravity is not broken. Instead, the law of gravity is temporarily overwhelmed by the airplane. If natural people can devise a way to temporarily overwhelm a natural law, a supernatural being can do the same. 3. Should we all expect to see miracles for them to be possible? First off, the amount of miracles reported in the Bible varies from book to book and even within certain books (ie. there are more miracles in the early parts of Joshua and Acts than later on). Thus, even in the Bible times, miracles may not have happened with equal frequently at all points of history. Thus, I feel comfortable in saying nobody should expect to see miracles every day. But should anyone today ever expect to ever see a miracle? To address that question, the purpose of miracles in the Bible should be examined. From what I can see, Bible miracles served one or more of these purposes: A & B. The most important example of authentication is Jesus’ miracles attesting to him actually being the promised messiah. His greatest miracle was his resurrection from the dead, but the Gospels also record other miracles of Jesus. Other Bible people also had miracles to authenticate their roles. These include Moses, Joshua, the prophets Elijah and Elisha, and the apostles. In Bible sections where authentications were not occurring, fewer miracles were recorded. In the authentication sections of the Bible, the primary audience needing validation were people that already believed in the right God or were seeking that God. The miracles were generally not for winning over cynics. I talk about this more in a future writing on this site (about the hiddenness of God). Despite what I just said, Bible miracles were sometimes witnessed by people who were not in a good spiritual place. For example, Jesus did certain miracles in front of some not-so-good religious leaders. These leaders claimed to follow the “right” God, but really opposed that God. For the most part, the miracles did not convert these individuals and weren’t intended to. In fact, Jesus wouldn’t do miracles to put on a show (discussed more in this site’s future hiddenness writing). Instead, the miracles mostly verified to believers or seekers that Jesus was who he claimed to be. To examine another example, Moses was in charge of a transition of slave people into a nation. His initial miracles were intended to rally people behind him and to get Pharaoh to let his people go. These miracles were not an effort to convert hard hearted Pharaoh into following Moses’ God. Why Pharaoh had that hard heart has sparked theological debates, but that’s not for this writing. In contrast to what I just emphasized, God could use a miracle to draw in a skeptic. However, this doesn’t seem to be standard operating procedure (see more in the future hiddenness writing). On the other hand, a person seeking God can look at the historical miracles as part of a faith building process. In other site writings, I will talk about the reliability of the Bible accounts of Jesus’ resurrection and his other miracles. Besides authentication purposes, Biblical miracles also gave a taste of the eternal world to come. For instance, when Jesus healed someone, a glimpse was given into what heaven is like. In that world, God: “will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4). Some people will argue that A and B have now been accomplished. The Bible never directly says that (especially for parts of the world that have had limited exposure to Jesus’ teachings). Nonetheless, it would seem that miracles for authentication reasons would now be rare if at all. Thus, a person may be less likely to see a miracle now than in Moses or Jesus’ public ministry days. C. Matthew 14:14 says the following: “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” In another place in Matthew (15:32), it says: “Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” Jesus then proceeds to feed the group through a miracle. We also see compassion motivated Bible miracles in other places such Kings 6:1-6. A person was distraught because a borrowed axe head was lost in a body of water. However, a “man of God” is able to make the axe head floats to the top. This reason for God doing miracles was given no expiration date in the Bible. Yet, as much as I hate to say this, God’s ultimate compassion does not play out fully until the future world noted in