Has Christ Come?

Luk 21:27 — Luk 21:28

And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

The key to understanding this passage is to go back to what question was Jesus addressing in the first place. And we realise it is in Luke 21:7 - "And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?" And this question in turn sprung up from Jesus' prediction of the destruction of the temple just 2 verses before.

The difficulty is compounded here as Jesus suddenly seemed to allude to an event that is supposedly to signify the end of the world!

How do we know that it was not what Jesus had meant?

Well first of all, as mentioned, the account is clearly in reference to the matters and questions in vv. 5-7. This alone proves that Jesus was still talking about the destruction of the temple.

Secondly, we know for a fact that the second coming of Christ, where the world is destroyed and all will be judged, is a date that only God knows! (Mat 24:36) As echoed by both Paul and Peter, who paraphrased Jesus to say "as a thief in the night" (1Th 4:16 - 5:2; 2Pe 3:10). But clearly here, Jesus mentions a whole host of signs and events that would take place, before He comes "in a cloud with power and great glory".

So why did Jesus use that expression? The coming of the Lord or the day of the Lord is used to describe highly significant events. The establishment of the Church in Acts 2 was described as such. It was prophesied by Joel (Joel 2:28-32), which Peter quoted and showed to all its fulfillment on that day of Pentecost (Acts 2:16-21).

Thus it was perfectly fine and even suitably called for,  for Jesus to use a similar expression here to describe yet another highly significant event - the sack of Jerusalem by Rome, and along with it the destruction of the temple. This was what Jesus had mentioned in the accounts of Matthew and Mark (Mat 24:15; Mk 13:14) the "abomination of desolation" as prophesied by Daniel (Dan 9:26,27).

It was in a sense also a "judgment" that Jesus symbolically "came" for, executed by the hands of Rome, against the stiff-necked Jews, who continued to reject Christ and joined the government in persecuting the church (most notably the apostle Paul as the former Saul!). This was the last nail to the coffin which Judaism was in, with the destruction of all temple records, which was of such significance to the religion.

As for verse 28, it was possibly a reference to what Stephen would later experience, which may have been common to Christian martyrs, as we read in Acts 7:55-60.

Thus, this prophecy of Jesus had already been fulfilled, for almost 2000 years, with the destruction of the temple in AD70. What remains is for us to take heed to all these examples before us, that sobering reminder of the vengeance of God, that Christ WILL finally come again, and in that time, this physical world would be destroyed and the Judgement to take place. The only "catch" being that we will have completely no idea when that will be, and it remains for us to be sober and vigilant, and prepare for that Day, that we may anticipate with joy and expectation and not fear and trepidation!

PS: Max King (fallen member of the church) had apparently came out with the idea that Christ had indeed come in AD70. This false doctrine is also known as Realised Eschatology. The broader term for his teachings is Transmillennialism. His teachings had unfortunately also affected a small group in this region.