When Will Jesus Return?

Intro: The following series of advertisements reportedly appeared in a daily newspaper and this is factual:

Monday: "The Rev. A.J. Jones has one color TV set for sale. Telephone 626-1313 after 7 p.m. and ask for Mrs. Donnelley who lives with him, cheap."

Tuesday: "We regret any embarrassment caused to Rev. Jones by a typographical error in yesterday's paper. The ad should have read: 'The Rev. A.J. Jones has one color TV set for sale, cheap...Telephone 626-1313 and ask for Mrs. Donnelley, who lives with him after 7 p.m.'"

Wednesday: "The Rev. A.J. Jones informs us that he has received several annoying telephone calls because of an incorrect ad in yesterday's paper. It should have read: 'The Rev. A.J. Jones has one color TV set for sale, cheap. Telephone 626-1313 after 7 p.m. and ask for Mrs. Donnelley who loves with him.'"

Thursday: "Please take notice that I, the Rev. A.J. Jones, have no color TV set for sale; I have smashed it. Don't call 626-1313 anymore. I have not been carrying on with Mrs. Donnelley. She was, until yesterday, my housekeeper.'"

Friday: "Wanted: a housekeeper. Usual housekeeping duties. Good pay. Love in, Rev. A.J. Jones. Telephone 626- 1313.'"

It is easy to miss something if you have the wrong information, or if you think you know something when yout don’t know what you should know.

This is the reason why Jesus’ first coming was missed. They were expecting their Messiah to be a warrior king like King David. And sadly, the religious leaders during Jesus' time gave into their human nature’s desire for control and power.

The only people who came against Jesus were the religious men.

And then when Jesus begins to call them out as “whitewashed tombs’’ basically saying that they were clean on the outside...dead on the inside.

All the rules that these religious men place on people they didn’t even keep themselves. When Jesus challenges their authority,  this is when they begin to plan for His execution.

Transition: I think about if things were different, and Jesus came for the first time today. I wonder how He would be received today……………….. It would probably guess, very much the same way.

Many people missed Jesus’ first coming because of their stubbornness or preconceived ideas. They were expecting a warrior king not a man from Galilee.

BUT…….. no one. Not one person worldwide,… will miss His second coming.

Today we will look at Jesus’ promise of His return. And Jesus uses imagery that they all would understand.  Jesus uses imagery from a wedding…. Jesus’ promise of His return provides hope to those waiting because it will be physical and public and immensely powerful. He will return as a warrior King….

Objective: So today, from God’s Word we will find how the “rapture” of His people is part of His return.

Review: If you remember from last week, we saw that false prophets and messiahs, and wars and global disruption, global destruction, political powers, the anti-christ, and persecution,… are all signs that the end is getting close. And all these signs will happen before His return: Then all people alive will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

(PP) Luke 21:27 says, “At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”

So, it is clear, that many missed Jesus’ first coming, but absolutely no one, not one soul will miss His second. His coming will be physical, supernatural, powerful, and most definitely public.

(PP) Matthew 24:36 says, “Now concerning that day and hour, no one knows neither the angels of heaven nor the Son-except the Father alone.”

So once again, I don’t know when nor does anyone know, so beware of anyone predicting Jesus' date of His return…

However, Jesus speaks very profoundly about His return. Mostly about we need to be ready for He will “Come Like A Thief at Night”…

Transition: So, let look at this parable from Jesus.

(PP)Matthew 25:1-13- “Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 The five who were foolish did not take enough olive oil for their lamps, 4 but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. 5 When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’ 7 “All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. 8 Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’ 9 “But the others replied, ‘We do not have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 “But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. 11 Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord!

Open the door for us!’ 12 “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’ 13 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return.”

So, this imagery is something that is very strange or foreign to us right. Well, what is this proverb all about?

Now let go back to the time when Jesus spoke this parable. Jesus spent most of His ministry north of Jerusalem. Those from Galilee had their take on Jewish traditions…….

During Jesus’ time, some families lived in clusters of buildings called (insulas,) which resemble apartment buildings or a city block.

Jodi and I saw the remains of Peter's house and it is also designed this way... And we know that Peter’s mother-in-law lived with them… (Maybe that is the reason Peter was so eager to get out of his fishing boat and follow Jesus…

(I am only kidding mother-in-laws) 

But these tiny homes were built around a courtyard for grandparents, siblings, cousins, uncles, and aunts…….

So, a son who became engaged and married, they added to the insula.  This is how an engagement and wedding would happen in Galilee. And it would happen in……

(PP) 8 steps:

1-A man would want to ask a woman to marry him.

2- Then the man’s dad would pay to establish a marriage proposal….

3-Then the man would present the proposal to the woman and her father…

4-The girl’s father would accept the price the guy is willing to pay to marry his daughter by pouring a glass of wine for the daughter...if she drank the wine, then she accepted the proposal. At this point, they are betrothed or engaged…..

5- So then the Groom returns to his village and builds onto the father’s home, while the bride makes her dress and dresses for her bridesmaids.

6-Then the groom would wait until his father declared the building ready (no one knew how long). They were built with mud bricks and stone… So, it would take some time I would suspect.

7- Then during the wait, the groom would send his bride gifts to remind her of his love for her….

8- And finally once the groom’s father said it was time, the groom would go at night, with his friends and with a “shofar”  a goat’s horn trumpet,…. to announce to the bride that he was on his way so that she could gather her belongings.  Then the bride and her bridesmaids were on short notice.

The bride would sleep in her dress and they would have oil in their lamps to see at night………………………………………………………….

So, this will help with understanding Jesus’ parable of the “The Ten Virgins” 'who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom.

Jesus calls His church His bride. This is why Paul wrote in  (PP)1 Corinthians 6:19-20:  “You are not your own, for you were bought at a price.”

Many people missed Jesus’ first coming because they were looking for the wrong kind of Messiah. But I am telling you all this fact. No one will miss His second coming. It will be physical and public and might as well as frightening for all who do not believe.

Application and Conclusion: Now last week we looked at a timeline: Resurrection - Last Days - Tribulation - Return - Millennium - Eternity

Sometime between the start of the tribulation to the return is the rapture. Some say it is before the seven-year tribulation, others say it is mid-way, and some believe it is at the end right before the return……

Honestly, I think all three could be argued. I hope and pray that it is at the beginning… But I also believe that God will take care of us if it is not… 

The important thing is that we, as the church, are resurrected and raised with new perfect bodies to meet our groom.

 Look with me at 1 Thess. 4:13-18 and see what Paul has to say about this event:

(PP) I Thessalonians 4:13-18

“13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

All of us can relate to this as we have lost loved ones. But Paul explains how we as Christians can have hope even when we are in a casket and placed in the ground, and grass and flowers are growing on top of us.

Those who have died at the rapture they will have their bodies resurrected first and then we who are alive will meet them in the air.

So, the phrase “caught up” is where we get the word “rapture.”

Only because of Jesus’ resurrection do we have this hope.

Now back in the Old Testament the prophet Zechariah prophesied this event.

(PP) Zechariah 14:4, 9 “4 On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.”

I don’t know the length of time between the rapture and the second coming. Maybe some of you might know…. But the great question for me is and maybe for you is:

What are we supposed to do with this information?

Well, Jesus provides us some guidance: He tells us that we need to be prepared for at any time He can return. We need to live with the hope that He can return soon. We need to be living in a community with others to inspire us to continue to grow in our affection for Him.

We need to pray for His return. Jesus modeled prayer for His disciples and part of it went like: “Your kingdom come.”

This might be scary for some because you still want to enjoy some aspects of life. When Jodi was 12, she learned about this and she was hoping that she would be able to drive a car before Jesus came. You might want to see grandkids grow up.

But praying will help our attention to center on things that are primary, not secondary, eternal not temporary.