1. Will Jesus come in secret?
“See, I [Jesus] have told you ahead of time. So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. FOR AS LIGHTNING that comes from the east IS VISIBLE even in the west, SO WILL BE THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN.”
—Matthew 24:25-27.
Lightning flashes out very visibly for great distances. The coming of Jesus will not be some secret or subjective event. So Jesus warns us not to let anyone mislead us with claims that He will return in some hidden manner to a select few.
2. Will Jesus come again as a real person?
“They [Jesus’ followers] were looking intently up into the sky as he [Jesus] was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? THIS SAME JESUS, who has been TAKEN from you INTO HEAVEN, WILL COME BACK IN THE SAME WAY you have seen him go into heaven.’”
—Acts 1:10-11.
Jesus will return in person. On the day of His departure from our world the angels assured the disciples that the “same Jesus” taken up into heaven—not someone else—would come back.
The Christ who appears as King of kings will be the same Jesus who healed the sick and opened the eyes of the blind. The same Jesus who spoke gently to the woman taken in adultery. The same Jesus who wiped away mourner’s tears and welcomed children into His lap. The same Jesus who died on Calvary’s cross, rested in the grave, and rose from the dead the third day.
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