The Hope of the Believer … No. 15

IN-BETWEEN COMINGS OF CHRIST

Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. - Mt. 16:28

The church through the ages has always professed faith in two comings of Jesus Christ. He left heaven and came to this world of sin and sorrow to give his life as a ransom for many. That was his first coming. He will one day come again “in the glory of His Father with His Angels” to judge the wicked and reward the righteous. That is his second coming. These two comings are listed as such in Heb. 9:28: “Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” This the catholic church has always proclaimed: Jesus Christ came the first time to die for our sins; he will come the second time for the great consummation.

These two comings have one important thing in common. They are not only both real, actual, and personal (even bodily), but they are both very public and openly manifest. An old hymn of the church, quoted in 1 Tim 3:16, has the great line, “He was manifested in the flesh,” while Jn. 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” At his first coming Jesus was clearly manifest in the world, seen and heard by multitudes. His second coming will be even more public: “They will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory” (Mk. 13:26). Rev. 1:7 even says that at his second coming every eye will see him.

While our faith in these two comings of Christ undergird our hope, there are in-between comings of our Lord that we seem less aware of which will also strengthen our hope. We may be less conscious of these comings because they are sometimes confused with his second coming. I mean by this that we understand some texts to refer to the second coming which really refer to an in-between coming. Notice, for instance, Mt. 16:27-28:

The Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. (Verse 27)

Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. (Verse 28)

While Matthew in arranging the sayings of Jesus grouped these statements together, it is highly probable that they refer to two different events. Verse 27 clearly refers to the second coming, but if verse 28 refers to the same event we have an insurmountable problem in that some of those who heard Jesus make that statement were not to die until it came to pass. I agree with numerous scholars who understand verse 28 to refer to an in-between coming, though it is not always called that. By reading the same thing in Mark 9:1 it becomes apparent that Jesus is referring to the “kingdom of God come with power” as it did on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus selected three of those who were standing by when he made that promise, Peter, James, and John, to be present when he was transfigured in glory, thus fulfilling the prediction that some of them would live to see it.

Some interpreters apply this in-between coming to the descent of the Holy Spirit at the next Pentecost and some even to the destruction of Jerusalem, but it more likely refers to that event that Matthew, Mark, and Luke all go on to relate after recording Jesus’ marvelous prediction. In Lk. 9:27, for example, Jesus says, “I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom of God,” and then the record goes on to tell about the transfiguration. It is the same in Matthew and Mark with minor variations. I take it, therefore, that the evangelists intend to convey to us that three of the apostles saw Jesus “coming in His kingdom” when they saw him gloriously manifested in the transfiguration.

The transfiguration was therefore an in-between coming of Christ, a glorious preview of what we shall all see at the final manifestation of our Lord from heaven in the last day. What a buoyant hope it is to believe we will one day experience what those three disciples experienced in that mountain! The truths of the transfiguration make it less difficult to bear hardships, and that may be why those weak, vulnerable men were given such a revelation. They were allowed to see, in advance as it were, the glorious coming of Jesus Christ. On that mount they were with Jesus the man, but they were allowed to see him as they had never seen him before, as the heavenly Christ clothed in the glory of God. That is what we shall one day see. How glorious to contemplate!

The transfiguration was also the meeting of two worlds, this world and the world to come. Moses and Elijah, citizens of heaven, were also present. The disciples, awed and speechless, could hear these heroes of a bygone age talk with Jesus about what he was to suffer in Jerusalem. Peter, James, and John were on earth and in heaven at the same time. This is how it will be when the Lord at last comes in his glory. In that moment we will be part of two worlds.

This story shows how the in-between comings, unlike the two comings, are private and restricted, involving only a few people, sometimes only one person. But since they are revealed to us in the holy Scriptures we get in on them, and they are there to increase our faith and buttress our hope.

Another exciting in-between coming involves but one person, the apostle John, to whom Jesus said toward the end of his earthly sojourn, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you. You follow Me” (Jn. 21:22). Jesus said this to Peter, who seemed unduly solicitous about what would happen to John. That is a lesson within itself, for Jesus tells Peter that he doesn’t have to keep tabs on the other fellow but to be responsible for himself. Follow me! That will keep you busy enough!

While this text is a bit obscure and we can’t be sure, it looks as if Jesus is saying that it is his will that John live until he comes. John himself, who pens the account, apparently had some problem with this, for he goes on to tell how it was rumored that he would not die. So he hastens to explain that Jesus didn’t actually say that he would not die, but “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you.”

I venture that Jesus did indeed will that John live till he came again, but it is an in-between coming and not the second coming. The Mormons do not have to conclude from this incident that the apostle John is still alive somewhere in the world today awaiting the second coming, almost 2000 years old! There is a better answer, a biblical one. The Lord did come again, over a half century later, to the isle of Patmos and appeared to the aged apostle. It was a kind of replay of what John had seen in the transfiguration when he was a young man. On the Mount of Transfiguration the youthful John was speechless with fear; on the isle of Patmos the aged apostle fell at Jesus’ feet as a dead man. What a revelation it must have been, what an in-between coming!

John himself tells the story in Rev. 1. Jesus’ voice was like the sound of a trumpet, and he says to the apostle, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. What you see write in a book and send it to the seven churches of Asia.” What comforting words Jesus went on to speak to his aged disciple, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. I have the keys of Hades and death.”

John tells us what Jesus looked like on this occasion. He was like the Son of Man but clothed like a priest with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His hair was white like wool, his eyes like a flame of fire. There was the glory of the transfiguration, for Jesus’ countenance was like the sun shining in its strength, and his voice was as the sound of many waters. It was one more instance of heaven coming down to earth.

Then there is that great line in verse 17: “He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid.”, Jesus comes down from heaven to a barren island to visit an exiled old soldier of the Cross and lays his hand on him and tells him everything is going to be all right. It had been some sixty years since Jesus had intimated that John would indeed live till he came again. What a coming that was!

Another in-between coming was when Jesus came to his disciples in the form of the Holy Spirit. It is significant that our Lord now and again refers to the descent of the Spirit as his coming back to his disciples. It is clearly stated in Jn. 14:18 where Jesus is discussing the mission of the Holy Spirit: “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” Back in verse 3 Jesus tells the disciples that “I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also,” which refers to the second coming. But in verse 16 he starts talking about the Holy Spirit, whom he identifies as “another Helper” or Comforter. The word “another” indicates another of the same likeness; that is, the Holy Spirit will be “just like” Jesus in serving as a helper or comforter.

So our Lord refers to the tender loving care of the Spirit, whom he sends “that He may abide with you forever,” and then says in verse 18, “I will not leave you orphans,” which means he will not leave them destitute or without help. Then he adds “I will come to you.” This does not refer to the second coming, but to an in-between coming. Jesus came in the presence of the Holy Spirit, beginning on the day of Pentecost and continuing in his church from then on: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Mt. 28:20).

It is one of the great comforting truths of holy Scripture that Jesus Christ is forever present in his church and in the lives of all who believe in him. He is our absent friend only in the sense that he is bodily present in heaven with the heavenly Father. He is our ever-present friend in that the Holy Spirit, whom he sent in his name, is his Spirit. Yes, he did indeed leave us and went to heaven, but he soon came again in the presence of the Holy Spirit and is forever present with us. We are never alone. We have a Comforter or Helper just like him. It seems almost too good to be true!

This particular in-between coming has an especially glorious touch, for Jesus says in Jn. 14:23 that he is not only coming to be with us but God as well. It is a promise that should awe us in its magnanimity: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” We will come and make our home with you. When is this, when will God and Jesus come in this manner? Whenever we open our hearts and invite them in! When the Holy Guest of heaven comes to live with us because of our faith and obedience to Jesus Christ, the Father and the Son are at home with us. We can see that we have every reason to practice the presence of God.

The in-between comings are frequent enough in Scripture that sometimes we can’t be sure whether our Lord is referring to a very soon coming or his second coming, which may be long delayed -long to us that is! For instance, when Jesus speaks to the church at Philadelphia and says “Behold, I come quickly!” (Rev. 3:11) is he saying he is coming to that church imminently or is he referring to his second coming? Judging by what he said to other of the seven churches we might conclude that Jesus refers to an in-between coming. It is clear that he was referring to an imminent, in-between coming when he said to the church at Ephesus, “Repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place —unless you repent” (Rev. 2:5). It is the same with the church at Pergamos: “Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth” (Rev. 2:16). These are threats of an imminent coming, and they have a ring of judgment. But still they are referred to as comings of Christ.

The comings of our Lord, whether in-between or final, should be a precious reality to us. In Rev. 3:20 we have this glorious promise: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come and dine with him, and he with Me.” Here is an immediate coming of our Lord that is for us all for the asking and the commitment. It is a private, personal coming of Jesus into our lives. When we have this coming of Christ into our hearts it may not matter all that much when he will come in endtime. He is already with us; he has already come, and he keeps on coming to us. So when he comes finally in clouds of glory, when all the world will see him, we will not be greeting a stranger. We will meet a Friend who has been with us all along. So, the in-between comings prepare us for his second coming. —the Editor