Jesus' Failed Second Coming Prophecy & What this Means for Christianity

[Rational Agnostic]

The central doctrine of Christianity states that Jesus will return in his Father's glory with his angels to judge the living and the dead, gathering up his elect to take them to spend an eternity in heaven with him, while casting the unbelievers into eternal hellfire. However, what many Christians do not realize is that when reading the Bible, we find that Jesus himself actually gave a very specific timeframe of when this apocalyptic event was supposed to occur. And, as it turns out, this timeframe has long expired. Jesus predicted that he would return, and that the apocalypse and final judgment, would occur within the lifetimes of his disciples, certainly no later than 100 AD.

One example Scripture where Jesus mentions this is found in Mark 13:9-30, where (referring to the final judgment), Jesus states:

“You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

“When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that this will not take place in winter, because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again.
“If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.

“But in those days, following that distress,

“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

A common explanation that apologists and pastors give to explain away this passage is that "this generation" referred to in verse 30 is not actually referring to the generation alive at Jesus' time, but instead is referring to a future generation, or perhaps defining "generation" to mean something different than its usual sense. But when we examine other passages in the Bible where Jesus makes this same prophecy, we see that clearly, this is not the case. Jesus is in fact referring to the literal generation alive at the time he was. Let's take a look at another instance where Jesus makes this same prediction of his return, but even more explicitly states that it will be within his disciples' lifetimes: Matthew 10:17-23. Notice that the language used in Matthew 10:17-22 EXACTLY mirrors the language used in Mark 13:9-13, which is very clearly a chapter about end times, so there is no ambiguity about what Jesus is referring to here. He is very clearly returning to his Second Coming and the subsequent end of the world. Mark 10:17-23 states:

Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Here we can see very clearly that "this generation" referred to in Mark 13 is in fact the generation alive at Jesus' time, and that Jesus explicitly and unambiguously predicted that he would return within the first century A.D.

This failed prophecy is also found in Matthew 16:27-28, in which Jesus states:

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

“Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

So, clearly, the second coming of Christ and subsequent Apocalypse that was supposed to occur in the first century never happened, and Jesus was wrong. Yet, more than 2000 years later, billions of Christians around the world still earnestly believe that it will occur in the future, and are not aware that this prophecy already failed. The truth is, there is no reason to expect that this second coming will ever happen, and is anything more than a fairy tale. If Jesus was wrong about something as key and central to Christianity as this, there is no reason to trust that Jesus was right about anything else he said, and no reason to believe that the Christian god exists outside the imaginations of those who believe in him.

[Diogenes]

The NT evidence that Jesus would return within the lifetimes of those he spoke to is so clear many Christians hold that he has already returned, the preterist view of eschatology is on solid ground because of the abundance of Biblical evidence:

Matthew 10:23:
But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next: for verily I say unto you,
Ye shall not have gone through the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.

Matthew 16:27-28 :
27 “For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father,
and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.
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.”

Matthew 24:30, 34:
"... and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the
tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds
of heaven with power and great glory.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be
accomplished."

Mark’s version of Matthew 16:27-28:
Mark 8:38 – 9:1 :
38 “For whoever is ashamed of me … , of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed
when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
9:1 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will
not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

Paul believed this as well, as can be shown from many texts which display the urgency of being ready for his return, including that people should not marry. CS Lewis recognized this as well, calling these verses 'the most embarrassing' in the Bible. Lewis goes on to use the oldest (and least convincing) dodge imaginable, “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows..."

But that verse is easily harmonized with the several verses declaring it will be within the lifetime of "this generation." Certainly, Jesus was saying you won't know the exact hour or even the day, but it will happen before some standing here will die. In other words,
"Be ready because it could happen at any moment in the next 40 years. Be ready always!"

The problem is that taking these verses at their word would explode the myths of the supernatural nature of Jesus and the perfection of scripture. Since that is not an acceptable conclusion for the faithful, we have the usual mental gymnastics, dissembling, twisting of words to the point where they can mean whatever the apologist needs them to, to preserve the belief.

This quest to displace the meaning of the words of the Bible with what they want them to mean is poor scholarship and, frankly, embarrassing.

[1213]

...and the transfiguration directly after, which makes nonsense of your idea or explanation that Jesus coming into his kingdom while 'some there' were still alive referred to something that happened less than an hour later...

Matt. 17 says: "And after six days...".

It is all superseded anyway by the talk on the mount ofm Olives...

I don't think that is true. Can you offer any good reason to think it is superseded?

[boatsnguitars]

[Replying to 1213 in post #7]

Said he didn't know the day, not the epoch or millenia.

Religious reasoning will always make "black" mean "white" if the religious person wants its.

It's actually pitiful. Christians surely are to be the most pitied group, as Paul said.

This is yet another case of people deciding what they want Jesus to say, and not actually listening to him. It's cultism at work.

And, especially cultist if you read it again. Jesus wanted people to die for him, like a suicide cult. He must have know he was a Liar, unless he was a Lunatic. Death cults are generally seen as bad; Christian believe they found the one righteous one...

[1213]

[Replying to 1213 in post #7]

Said he didn't know the day, not the epoch or millenia.

If you don't know the day, you also don't know the epoch or millennia.

[Mae von H]

The position that ALL of the christians assumed (wrongly) that Jesus was bodily returning in their lifetime and would forcibly and violently setting up a kingdom results in what I consider a rather fatal mistake if one wants to come to a knowledge of the truth. That fatal mistake is that all, 100%, of the writers of the New Testament were dead wrong about something that mattered most to them secondly only to the resurrection. What else did they get ”wrong” and what else are we today superior in knowledge as compared to the Bible? The latter is a point of pride, one of the worst sins known to man. “We know more than the writers of the Bible” is a block to God teaching a man finer than anything I can think of.

Now the evidence that this position is incorrect can be refuted by various verses. Paul addressed this fallacy by one, saying nothing will happen until the man of sin is revealed. So immediately or Jesus will come soon was not in Paul’s thinking. Other events had to happen first. Secondly, the advise to flee Jerusalem makes no sense if the whole world is ending and Jesus is coming bodily to set up his kingdom. Why flee at all and where should one go to avoid this? The chapters after Matthew 24 describe a long time period impossible if all were to end in a few decades.

Now you will find that I am in the Preterist camp but not as described by this author. From the OT one finds the descriptions Jesus used regarding the “end” fit those used to depict destruction of a civilization or group. That is, the “sign of his coming” was not the sign of an upcoming resurrection and subsequent Kingdom. (His second coming IS also the Resurrection where the dead will rise. Do you need the scripture for that?) “Coming in the clouds” was not a heavenly elevator or cumulus mode of transportation but rather a description of the wrath of God set to completely destroy a group and the Jewish council knew this which explains their anger. This is repeatedly used in the OT and was followed by massive destruction, never an improved kingdom.

My position is, and feel free to disagree, is that the descriptions in Matthew 24 fit the events that happened in 70 AD. It was the end of the Mosaic covenant age. This position was held by the church for millennia. That generation did NOT pass away before it happened. Those who pierced him saw it were themselves punished as Jesus said they would. It makes Jesus’ words to them that those standing there would see Him coming in the clouds. It’s not an embarrassing mistake one otherwise must live with. For my position, it’s a powerful testimony of His understanding of the matter.

So my response to the OP is that one should consider that one’s understanding is incorrect instead of deciding the understanding Peter, Paul, and John had was incorrect.

[TRANSPONDER]

[Replying to Mae von H in post #15]

I have a slight clue about why,if Jesus is coming, they are advised to flee to the hills. It's not a slam dunk but there is some support. If the story was written by Christians - Romans- they had included, as prophecy, the Jewish war and destruction of the Temple. Paul of course wrote his letters before that happened. But the Christian (I strongly suspect) saw that as a punishment for the Jews for rejecting Jesus and as a sight that the end days were coming soon with Jesus' return. They have been expecting it ever since.

[TRANSPONDER]

[Replying to 1213 in post #7]

Said he didn't know the day, not the epoch or millenia.

If you don't know the day, you also don't know the epoch or millennia.

Not so. If something is predicted to com in your lifetime, you know roughly when it is supposed to happen, even if you don't know the day much less the hour. Your argument is plainly false.

[boatsnguitars]

[Replying to 1213 in post #7]

Said he didn't know the day, not the epoch or millenia.

If you don't know the day, you also don't know the epoch or millennia.

Believe what you want. We can see through it because we aren't indoctrinated.

But, I don't know the day I'm going to get my W-2 for my taxes, does that mean in might come 3,000 years from now?

You're just being a very normal religious person: justifying it with anything you can convince yourself of. Muslims do it too.

[Mae von H]

[Replying to TRANSPONDER in post #16]

I guess I don’t see why they should flee anywhere from what you wrote. If the eschatology is future and that describes Jesus taking over the whole world, where can one flee to and why. My apologies and Maybe I missed it but I don’t see an explanation in your answer.

The destruction of Jerusalem is an historic fact. It’s independent of Roman or Christian views.

[TRANSPONDER]

[Replying to TRANSPONDER in post #16]

I guess I don’t see why they should flee anywhere from what you wrote. If the eschatology is future and that describes Jesus taking over the whole world, where can one flee to and why. My apologies and Maybe I missed it but I don’t see an explanation in your answer.

The destruction of Jerusalem is an historic fact. It’s independent of Roman or Christian views.

Quite true - and welcome to the club - as you seem a recent joiner. Hope you'd have fun here.

It's a bit foggy especially as in the ancient world, even up to the most destructive of infrastructure in Europe (the thirty years' war), people expected to be able to grab a travel kit and head for the hills. I definitely don't get the idea that absolutely everything was going to be wiped from the surface of earth in a divine holocaust, but a mighty battle at Meddigo (Syria as I recall (1) with the shaken survivors creeping out of their holes to be judged for Oblivion or the just Messianic rule, taking orders from the disciples on their 12 thrones (including Judas - not Matthias ) .

Of course, this was supposed to happen after the destruction of Jerusalem, (a couple of times, in fact, Hadrian's even more total than Titus') so the Expected Last Days could be deferred by a generation, but when Luke was putting his gospel together, Id say he was getting antsy at why it still hadn't happened, as surely even John the divine was dead by now, and Luke was toying with the idea that it actually had happened, but nobody had seen it. Which is why Luke in 22.68 may have changed the arrival of Jesus in Air Force 1 with a rock band (Mark and Matthew) was changed to Jesus staying beside God in heaven and that is what the Sanhedrin would see - which of course they couldn't. And the Kingdom of God? Well - that wasn't anything to come about 2,000 or more years later; that was belief in the church.

That's the way I read it anyway.

(1) no - it's in Israel - not far from Jezreel valley and south of Haifa and well within reach of Iranian nukes. Brace yourselves, folks.