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Signs of Christ’s Return—Part 2: Why Jesus Must Return to Earth
(Luke 21:8)

And He said, “See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not go after them. (21:8)

By some estimates, future predictive prophecy comprises one fifth of Scripture. Of that one fifth, one third refers to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of the approximately 300 Old Testament prophecies regarding the coming of Christ, approximately one third were fulfilled at His first coming, leaving about 200 still to be fulfilled at His second coming. The New Testament also predicts Christ’s return (some of the Old and New Testament predictions are listed below).

But despite the abundant biblical evidence, proud scoffers have always denied the reality that the Lord Jesus Christ will one day return to earth—just as the Bible predicts they would. Peter warned, “Know this first of all, that in the last days [which began with Christ’s first coming; cf. Heb. 9:26; 1 John 2:18] mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation’” (2 Peter 3:3–4). They deny the second coming because they deny the deity of the Lord Jesus, and reject any idea that He is the judge and executioner of humans for their sins who will return to judge. The simplistic argument Peter answers invokes the principle of uniformitarianism: Christ has not returned, “all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation,” they say, therefore He never will return. But to claim that something cannot happen because it has not yet happened is obviously foolish.

Further, that convenient, if faulty, reasoning ignores the obvious reality that things have not continued uniformly from the beginning, namely the destruction of the world by the flood of Noah’s day, “through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water” (v. 6). Peter then pointed out that the cosmic judgment of the flood serves as a model for the even more catastrophic judgment yet to come:

In the preceding verses, Jesus had told the disciples that judgment—including the destruction of the temple—was coming on Israel. That judgment, which began with the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in A.D. 70, will continue until Christ’s second coming. His men would never have expected that such judgment of which Jesus spoke would last as long as it has. They likely would have expected it in Jesus’ lifetime, and that it would be followed immediately by the restoration of Israel and the setting up of Messiah’s earthly kingdom. Even after Jesus’ death and resurrection they asked Him, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).

The first hint that such expectation was wrong and that Christ’s return would be delayed is His warning, “See to it that you are not misled.” That warning would have been unnecessary while He was still with them to protect them. Because of their eager anticipation of His return, believers will be in danger of being deceived by the many false messiahs who will come in His name, saying, “I am He,” and, “The time is near.” The Lord’s followers are not to go after them. Subsequent history would prove the timeliness of His warning:

The long parade of charlatans claiming to be Christ will culminate in the ultimate deceiving false messiah, the Antichrist, the

There will be no mistaking Christ’s return. Jesus said, “For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day” (Luke 17:24).

Not only must believers be wary of false christs, but they must also be ready for Jesus’ return. Earlier in Luke’s gospel Jesus told His followers,

In Luke 17:22 “He said to the disciples, ‘The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.’”

Despite the denials and mocking of the scoffers, the Lord Jesus Christ will return to earth. Before examining in detail His discourse on the events leading up to His return, it will be helpful to generally consider the reasons why He must return. As I have pointed out in each of the gospel treatments of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus must return to earth because God’s person, program, and priorities demand it.

GOD’S PERSON DEMANDS CHRIST’S RETURN

THE PROMISES OF THE FATHER DEMAND IT

God is the “God of truth” (Ps. 31:5; Isa. 65:16), who abounds in truth (Ex. 34:6) and whose words are truth (2 Sam. 7:28). God cannot lie (1 Sam. 15:29; Titus 1:2), therefore all of His promises will certainly be fulfilled (Num. 23:19; 1 Kings 8:56).

God made numerous promises concerning Jesus’ first coming, including that He would be born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14), that He would be born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2), that God would call Him from Egypt (where His parents had taken Him to avoid Herod; Matt. 2:13–15) (Hos. 11:1), that He would be a descendant of Jesse, David’s father, and would be anointed with the Holy Spirit (Isa. 11:1–2), that He would enter Jerusalem riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey (Zech. 9:9), that He would be betrayed by a close associate with whom He had shared a meal (Ps. 41:9), that He would be forsaken by His disciples (Zech. 13:7), and that the exact amount Judas would receive for betraying Him would be thirty pieces of silver, which he would throw into the temple (Zech. 11:12–13).

The Old Testament also predicted the specific details of Christ’s death. Isaiah 50:6 says that He would be beaten and spit upon. David recorded the details of His crucifixion (a form of execution unknown in Israel in Old Testament times), including the piercing of His hands and feet, His final cry to the Father, and the dividing of His garments by lot among His executioners (Ps. 22). Psalm 34:20 notes that none of His bones would be broken, while Zechariah 12:10 predicted that His side would be pierced. Psalms 2:7 and 16:10 allude to His resurrection.

All of those promises regarding the Lord’s first coming were fulfilled literally; they were not just spiritual ideals or subjective principles. Their fulfillment set the standard and pattern for the prophecies yet to be fulfilled at His second coming. As noted above, approximately two thirds of the Old Testament prophecies regarding His return were still unfulfilled after His first coming. For instance, Genesis 49:10 predicts that when Messiah comes, the people of the world will obey Him. But when Jesus came the first time, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him” (John 1:10–11).

Psalm 2 describes Messiah’s earthly reign (v. 6), when God “will surely give [Him] the nations as [His] inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as [His] possession,” and “[He will] break them with a rod of iron” and “shatter them like earthenware” (vv. 8–9). But Christ’s earthly rule was not established at His first coming.

The familiar text of Isaiah 9:6–7 merges both Messiah’s first and second comings. The prediction that “a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us” (v. 6) clearly was fulfilled in Christ’s incarnation. But the rest of the passage was not:

Jesus did not assume the throne of David in a literal sense; in fact, He Himself declared that it is only “when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, [that] He will sit on His glorious throne” (Matt. 25:31).

Micah predicted that Messiah “will judge between many peoples and render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they train for war” (Mic. 4:3). The literal fulfillment of that prophecy awaits Christ’s return. Jeremiah 23:5 also predicts Christ’s future earthly rule: “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land,’” as does Daniel 7:13–14:

THE STATEMENTS OF JESUS DEMAND IT

Jesus repeatedly said that He would return, and gave a detailed description of the second coming in the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24, 25; Mark 13; Luke 21:5–36; cf. 17:20–37). After telling the disciples that He was leaving, Jesus comforted them with the promise, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:3). At His trial before the Sanhedrin the Lord boldly declared, “You shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62)—a promise He repeated several times in Revelation (2:5, 16; 3:11; 22:7, 12, 20). Jesus also told parables that illustrated the second coming (e.g., Matt. 24:45–51; 25:1–13; 14–30, Luke 12:35–40, 41–48; 19:11–27). If the Lord Jesus Christ does not return to earth, His word was not true.

THE GUARANTEE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT DEMANDS IT

The Spirit-inspired authors of the New Testament epistles also spoke of Jesus Christ’s return to earth. Paul commended the Corinthians for “awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:7). To the Philippians he wrote, “Our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20). The apostle reminded the Colossians that “when Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4). In 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 he wrote,

Like that of the Father and the Son, the credibility of the Holy Spirit will be undermined if Jesus does not return to earth. An errant, incapable, or unfaithful Triune God would be a devil more powerful than Satan.

GOD’S PROGRAM DEMANDS CHRIST’S RETURN

GOD’S PROGRAM FOR THE CHURCH DEMANDS IT

The Jerusalem council, recorded in Acts 15, decided the momentous issue of whether salvation is by law or grace. After there had been extensive debate, Peter reminded those assembled that it was in response to revelation from God that he had taken the gospel to the Gentiles (vv. 7–11). Paul and Barnabas then related the mighty works of salvation that God had done through their ministry among the Gentiles (v. 12). Finally James, the Lord’s brother and head of the Jerusalem church (cf. Acts 12:17; 21:18; the apostle James, the brother of John, had already been executed [Acts 12:2]), brought the council to a conclusion (vv. 13–21). He cited Amos 9:11–12, which prophesied that after the setting aside of Israel (Rom. 11), God would call a people for Himself from the Gentiles (the church; cf. Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:1–41). It is only after that gathering is completed (cf. 2 Peter 3:9) that Christ will return.

The second coming of Christ includes a series of events stretching from the rapture to the new heaven and the new earth. The first event, the rapture, is the catching away of the church to heaven (John 14:1–3; 1 Cor. 15:51–54; 1 Thess. 4:13–18; Rev. 3:10). In John 14:3 Jesus promised, “I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” The absence of any reference to judgment, both here and in the other rapture passages, is significant. That omission indicates that those passages do not refer to Christ’s coming to judge the wicked and set up His millennial kingdom (Matt. 13:36–43, 47–50; 24:29–44; 25:31–46; Rev. 19:11–15), but rather to His prior meeting believers to take them into heaven (cf. 1 Thess. 4:13–18; 1 Cor. 15:51–57).

Further differences between the two events reinforce that truth. At the second coming angels gather the elect (Matt. 24:30–31), but in John 14 Jesus told the disciples He would come for them personally. At the second coming believers will return with Christ (Rev. 19:8, 14) as He comes to set up His earthly kingdom (Rev. 19:11–20:6); in John 14 He promises to return for them. Between the rapture and the second coming, the church will celebrate the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7–10), and believers will receive their rewards (1 Cor. 3:10–15; 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:10). When Jesus returns in judgment and kingdom glory, the saints will come with Him (Rev. 19:7, 11–14).

GOD’S PROGRAM FOR THE NATIONS DEMANDS IT

The rampant wickedness that marks the present world cannot go on indefinitely. It is true that God is “patient toward [sinners], not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). But His patience will one day give way to judgment; God is not only a God of love, grace, and mercy, but also of justice, holiness, and wrath against sin.

Joel’s prophecy records the judgment on the sinful nations that will take place when Christ returns:

Jesus described this same judgment in Matthew 25:31–46.

GOD’S PROGRAM FOR ISRAEL DEMANDS IT

Christ’s return will bring not only judgment on the Gentile nations, but also salvation for the believing remnant of Israel (Rom. 11:25–27; cf. Luke 1:72–75), as the Old Testament promised:

God’s covenant promises to Israel of salvation, restoration to their land, and the kingdom can only be fulfilled by the return of Jesus Christ.

GOD’S PRIORITIES DEMAND CHRIST’S RETURN

THE HUMILIATION OF CHRIST DEMANDS IT

The last view the world has of the Lord of glory cannot be of Him hanging on a cross between two criminals. The world did not see Jesus after the resurrection, since He appeared only to believers (1 Cor. 15:4–8). The writer of Hebrews said that “Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him” (Heb. 9:28). Having come the first time to offer Himself as a sacrifice for sin, Jesus will come again in triumphant salvation glory.

Only a relatively small group of people watched Jesus die on a hill outside Jerusalem. When He returns, however, the whole world will see Him:

THE EXALTATION OF SATAN DEMANDS IT

Satan is at present the “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4; cf. Luke 4:6; John 12:31; 16:11; 1 John 5:19), a usurper permitted by God to reign temporarily. When He returns, Jesus will end Satan’s rule, destroy his kingdom, and take back what is rightfully His.

In Revelation 5, the apostle John describes a startling, dramatic scene in heaven just prior to Christ’s return. In his vision John “saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals” (v. 1). This book, or scroll, is the title deed to the earth. As the vision continued he “saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?’” (v. 2). To John’s dismay, “no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it” (v. 3), and he “began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it” (v. 4). But “one of the elders said to [him], ‘Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals’” (v. 5). John “saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth” (v. 6). The Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, “came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne” (v. 7), at which the heavenly host burst forth in praise (vv. 8–14).

Then in verse 1 of chapter 6, Christ began breaking the book’s seals, unleashing a series of catastrophic judgments that will devastate the world and destroy Satan’s kingdom. After those judgments have run their course, Jesus will return to take back what is rightfully His (Rev. 11:15; 19:11–21), and imprison Satan for the duration of the millennial kingdom (Rev. 20:1–3), before sending him forever to the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10).

History will not end with Satan on any throne. The Son of God will be vindicated, and reign over this universe as He is entitled to.

THE EXPECTATION OF THE SAINTS DEMANDS IT

The saints’ “blessed hope” of “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Titus 2:13) will not prove to be in vain. Jesus, who has ascended into heaven, will come again (Acts 1:11) to rescue His people from God’s eternal wrath against sin (1 Thess. 1:10), judge the wicked (2 Thess. 1:7–9), and receive glory (v. 10).

How should believers respond to the certain return of Jesus Christ? First, they are to long for it. Paul characterized Christians as those “who have loved [Christ’s] appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8; cf. Heb. 9:28), and in 1 Corinthians 16:22 used the word “Maranatha,” which means “Oh Lord, come!” (cf. John’s exclamation, “Come, Lord Jesus” [Rev. 22:20]).

Second, believers must watch for it, since the launch event, the rapture, is a signless event and could happen at any moment. “You too, be ready,” Jesus warned, “for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect” (Luke 12:40; cf. Matt. 24:44). Mark concludes his account of the Olivet Discourse with the Lord’s warning,

Finally, believers are to be prepared for it. Peter exhorted his readers, “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless” (2 Peter 3:14). Paul gave similar counsel:

The promise to those who are prepared is that “when [Christ] appears, [they will] have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming” (1 John 2:28).