Jesus Coming in His kingdom (the Kingdom of God).
The coming of Jesus in heaven is the sign or manifestation of the coming of Jesus in the kingdom of God. Jesus brought the manifestation of the kingdom of God in AD70 when Jesus came upon His people as the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple took place. It was the end of the era of Judaism and the beginning of the greater era of the Kingdom of God.
It is imperative to note that if one has an improper eschatological view, your perspective in life and understanding of Scripture will be hindered even though your redemption is not brought into question. Wrong perspective leads to wrong outlook of life. Right eschatology leads to right perspective and right outlook of life. This proper understanding of the coming of the kingdom of God brings our lives to align with Scripture and right perspective.
So it is important to note that the Coming of Jesus in Matthew 24:30, is the same as the appearing of the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, is the same as Jesus coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, is the same as the new era of the coming of the kingdom of God, is the same as destruction of the Temple and its Judaistic practices and the ushering of the New Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God.
Someone took notice of the 40 years phenomena in the Bible and said it took 40 years for natural Israel to get to the promised land, and it also took 40 years for spiritual Israel to get to New Jerusalem.
That means natural Israel took a total of 40 years to get from captivity in Egypt to the promised land. They had to go through the desert around Sinai and in the process received God's Laws through Moses, their leader. Also it took 40 years for new spiritual Israel, the new believers, to go from the finished work of Christ on the cross to the manifestation of the kingdom of God in AD70, which was the manifestation of the New Jerusalem after the destruction of the Old Jerusalem and its Temple.
In the bible, the term "kingdom of God" is interchangeable with the term "kingdom of heaven". The religious Jews during the times of Jesus do not want to speak or write "God" because they thought it was too holy a term to use, so they used the term "heaven". They had a mental fear of using the name of God in vain, so to be safe, they use the term heaven instead of God, particularly in the book of Matthew which was primarily written to the Jews.
When you study Matthew 24, you will realized that it speaks about the manifestation of the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God.
An analogy would be like comparing to a water tank that had a small hole and the hole was about to get bigger. In the beginning, the water trickles down slowly, but as the hole gets bigger, the water starts to gush down in greater measure, many times bigger that it was before.
The coming of Jesus in the heavens and the coming of the kingdom of God is liken to a greater gush of the water coming down to the earth.
We come to an important key verse in understanding timing of eschatology in Matthew 16:28.
Mat 16:28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
In reading this in its proper Context and Audience relevance, we can specifically conclude the following:
- Jesus was speaking to the people right there and then. He was not addressing people before that or people who lives 2000 years after that statement
- Jesus was saying that those who were hearing Him then will NOT die, until they see Jesus come again in His kingdom. When did Jesus come again? He came again at the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple. He came for His people to save them, those who left for the mountains. He came to witness the destruction of the Old Mosaic Covenant, so that He can usher in the beginning of the New Covenant. Even though Jesus rose again from the dead earlier, but it was the complete destruction of Temple that brought an end to the Old Covenant, the Old Era. In between the Cross and the destruction of the Temple, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant was existing together! The total destruction of the Temple practices brought an end to the Old Covenant.
Those who heard Jesus spoke witnessed the coming of Jesus in His kingdom of heaven i.e. the kingdom of God, just as what Jesus said they would. Just as what Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 24:30.
Mat 24:30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
This happened in AD70. It happened in their future, but it is our past and not our future.
The kingdom of God was inaugurated or begin and was initially manifested with the arrival of Jesus in His anointed ministry. It did not begin in Jesus birth nor during the time He was as a baby in the manger
When Jesus first began His earthly ministry, He preached that the kingdom of God was at hand (that means now it is existing).
Mar 1:15 and Jesus saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
The kingdom of God began to manifest then in His early ministry, but it was a small manifestation and a local demonstration. There were signs of the manifestation of the kingdom of God, with miracles, healings, signs and wonders. But it was a small trickle and confined to the area or district where Jesus and His disciples were. It was not a worldwide event or a massive outpouring.
As Jesus ministry began to grow, He began to preach that the kingdom of God is "within" you.
Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is "within" you.
This word "within" can be said to be translated better by understanding the original Greek word "entos", which actually means "inside of".
Jesus is telling the Pharisees that the kingdom of God will be "on the inside" of you. Some translations use the word "in the midst" which is wrong.
It is interesting to note that this Greek word "entos" only appears TWICE in the New Testament. Once in Luke 17:21 and the other in Matthew 23:26.
Mat 23:26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside (Greek: "entos") of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
Jesus told the Pharisees to clean the "inside" of the cup, not the "within" the cup, and not in the "midst" of the cup.
Qn: When did the kingdom of God went from the outside to the "inside" of you?
An: There are many theories, but my understanding is that when Jesus paid for the sin of the world, there was a vacuum space inside the hearts of people to be filled with the kingdom of God. So at the cross, after the sin debt was paid in full, and when Jesus said "it is finished", the hearts of humanity was ready to be filled with the kingdom of God.
Several years after the ascension of Jesus, we read of what Paul wrote about the kingdom of God in Colossians 1:13.
Col 1:13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.
It was a past tense, and a done deal. Jesus has already transferred us into His kingdom and now His kingdom is inside of us.
In retrospective, we can say that the kingdom of God began at the initial anointed ministry of Jesus. But it is also an ever growing and expanding kingdom throughout all humanity. As long as more and more of the world gets the knowledge of the kingdom of God inside of us (God in you, the hope of glory), the kingdom of God will continue to expand forever and ever.
In the Old Testament, in Habakkuk 2:14, we read of an old prophecy that speaks of the knowledge of God spreading throughout the whole world.
Hab 2:14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
I believe this verse speaks about the ever expansion of the kingdom of God.
Qn: So where does Matthew 24, the chapter on eschatology fits in with the ever expanding kingdom of God?
An: I believe the coming of Jesus in power and glory, the coming of the Son of Man in heaven, the coming of the kingdom of God in AD70, the destruction of the Temple, and the ushering of the New Covenant or the New Jerusalem (they all meant the same or happened at the same time), has brought about a great beginning and expansion for the kingdom of God to be inside you. I believe Paul referred to this as the "age to come".
When Jesus began this eschatology lessons as an answer to his disciples curiosity in Matthew 24:3, He was drawing their attention not just to the negative aspect of the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, but to a positive aspect,to a greater glory of the coming of the New Covenant and with a greater expansion of the kingdom of God.
