Jesus' Four Failed Prophecies About Him Returning In The Lifetimes Of His Apostles

[PruePhillip]

Here is something most Christians don't know:

Jesus promised no less than FOUR times in the gospels that he would return to earth and his apostles would live to see it, yet he never showed up.

Paul believed fervently that Jesus would return in his lifetime:

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then WE who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." 1 Thessolonians 4:16-17

Now Paul may have put this idea into the heads of the gospel writers when they started writing the gospels. They had Jesus make these four prophesies that he would return before the apostles died:

“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds. Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.“ (Matthew 16: 27, 28)

For me, this is the one that cannot be excused away with rationalizations like "Jesus was referring to the future generation", or "Jesus was referring to God's time which could be thousands of years in the future". We have Jesus referring directly to the people listening to him when he made that failed prophecy "some of you standing here will not taste death until you see me return"

...they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.“ (Matthew 24: 25-34)

“Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place…“ (Mark 13:26-30)

Here in Chap 10 Jesus is giving his apostles instructions on how they should conduct themselves when he sends them out to do God's work

Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. (Matthew 10:23)

Naturally Jesus never showed up. Why? Because we can assume he never said he would return--this was all invention by the gospel writers probably based on Paul's belief Jesus would return and Paul would live to see it. There are five rationalizations Christians have come up with for Jesus' no-show. All are patently ridiculous but you can read them in the link below:

Jesus’ Failed Prophecy About His Return

So... why did the Gospel writers give us these accounts if indeed it was obvious He didn't
return again? Don't people say the Gospels were all written after AD70 because Jesus
mentioned the fall of the temple?
And... what do we do with the various passages where Jesus speaks of His return in the
far future?

 

[Deeje]

I don't exactly consider waiting on God hand and foot and stroking his ego for eternity a privilege.

Don't worry.....I'm sure he will never require it of you.....

 

[PruePhillip]

Now now now, no one is calling you a fool for your beliefs. This is getting very close to breaking the rules of the forums.

I am betting that you are a Christian that believes in a lying God. Would you care to know if you call your God a liar or not?

Paul had to disabuse people of the notion that Jesus would return in their lifetime.
And the prophecies concerning His return don't read like a few decades to me -
for His return we were to see nation rising against nation, earthquakes, the rise
and fall of the false religions with their pomp, idols, worldly power and wealth. We
are to see to rise of Christianity in the pagan world, and its eventual fall. We are to
see the return of the Jews to Israel, and the (yet to happen) great war against them
by Magog, the Arabs and Iranians.
So lots of this stuff has happened, but there's more to come.

 

[Trailblazer]

I don't exactly consider waiting on God hand and foot and stroking his ego for eternity a privilege.

Don't you worry, that's not what God requires of us in heaven, nor what we will be doing.

“O My servants! Sorrow not if, in these days and on this earthly plane, things contrary to your wishes have been ordained and manifested by God, for days of blissful joy, of heavenly delight, are assuredly in store for you. Worlds, holy and spiritually glorious, will be unveiled to your eyes. You are destined by Him, in this world and hereafter, to partake of their benefits, to share in their joys, and to obtain a portion of their sustaining grace. To each and every one of them you will, no doubt, attain.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 329

Still, as I said before, God has lots of splaining to do for all the sorrow I have endured on this earthly plane of existence.

 

[Deeje]

Here's where I go off the rails with Christianity--one of the ways anyway. You say God is deliberately letting people stay in a state of confusion. That's doesn't make sense. He's God. He's in the business of saving souls.

Who told you that? He would love to save everyone but its not going to happen.....why? Because it requires obedience and repentance (2 Peter 3:9-10)....if you have no interest in serving God in the assignment that he put us here to carry out, then you won't have to.....trouble is, the alternative is to not exist, because this will be the only place to live.

We are the tenants on God's property and there are terms for our tenancy. The Landlord has a say in what can be done to his own property and if we fail to observe those terms, he has the right to evict us....that is fair, isn't it?

It's a hell of a way to reach someone by just letting them stay confused. And most people die in a state of confusion about all this. That's pretty poor fathering if you ask me.

If that is what you think is going on then let me tell you, you know nothing about God or why he put us here.
He has provided all that we need to acquaint ourselves with his rules for our existence here.....I don't find them confusing at all. Its all quite simple really. The only people who are confused are those who try to make God into their image instead of the other way around. He will never fit our model...we must fit his.

If God wants to save souls He should reveal Himself in no uncertain terms so that ALL people on earth can unite--join the same religion of truth and give thanks and glory to God together. Instead we have, what....a thousand different religions and 30,000 different Christian denominations that can't agree because God chooses to keep them in a totally and completely confused? Does that sound right?

And there it is.....exactly what I just said, is what you just demonstrated.....you want to tell God how to conduct his own business...why? Is it because you think you are smarter than he is, or is it because you think he should do things your way? What makes your way better? It couldn't be that there is a bigger picture now, could there? Do you really know anything about God at all?
If you read the post I gave to you in explanation again....please try to see the bigger picture. There is a method in his madness....it is actually a brilliant strategy....setting precedents for the future so that no human will ever have reason to defy God again.

Did you know that God has a people who have come out of all faiths and nations and languages and who are united in their beliefs and who serve God happily as one global family? We are not confused at all.

Doesn't it make more sense that the reason there is so much confusion and so many different beliefs is because God is a deist God. He simply doesn't give a damn what or who we believe in, whether it's Jesus or Buddha or the man in the moon. That's the world we live in looks like,doesn't it?

Looks can be deceiving....."the way it looks" is the way its supposed to look when mankind has not followed the Landlord's rules. His property is ruined and humans are the ones who demonstrate that they don't give a damn about him. If they did, the world would be a nice place to live. We all have the same choices because God hides from no one. When you genuinely seek him, with no demands and with a humble spirit, you will find him. But if you want to shake your fist at him as if you know better, then he will leave you in your confusion.

You have to be prepared to do things his way, or you will not get to do anything at all. He has plans for the earth and probably the whole universe.....we can actually be a part of those plans, or we can be eliminated from life completely. Its up to us.

He is allowing all of us to choose our own future. Right this minute we are all telling God who we really are with no coercion from him to conform to his laws. He is actually choosing citizens for the privilege of living in the world that the first humans forfeited because they did not appreciate what they had till it was gone. They failed to do the will of the Creator as if their lives were somehow their own.....they did not appreciate their gift of life at all, nor did they value what he had given them, so he took it all away to show then how useless they are without him. They were free to try everything they wanted, but it was never going to work.

Do you know where the hands of the Doomsday clock are right now?....

"The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced today that it is keeping the minute hand of the “Doomsday Clock” at 100 seconds to midnight. (In the parlance of the Doomsday Clock, midnight is doomsday.)

The decision comes as a result of continued concern about nuclear weapons, climate change, and the failure of governments and international organizations to respond in productive ways. “The pandemic revealed just how unprepared and unwilling countries and the international system are to handle global emergencies properly,” Bulletin CEO Rachel Bronson said at the announcement. Said Jerry Brown, former governor of California and executive chair at the Bulletin: “The politicians are asleep!”

This is not God talking...it is the scientists, backing up what he has said. The Landlord will be signing the eviction notice in the very near future I believe. The door of opportunity is still open, but I don't believe we can go on much longer as we are.
When the end comes, it will be swift and decisive...."like a thief in the night".

 

[Trailblazer]

Here's where I go off the rails with Christianity--one of the ways anyway. You say God is deliberately letting people stay in a state of confusion. That's doesn't make sense. He's God. He's in the business of saving souls. It's a hell of a way to reach someone by just letting them stay confused. And most people die in a state of confusion about all this. That's pretty poor fathering if you ask me. If God wants to save souls He should reveal Himself in no uncertain terms so that ALL people on earth can unite--join the same religion of truth and give thanks and glory to God together. Instead we have, what....a thousand different religions and 30,000 different Christian denominations that can't agree because God chooses to keep them in a totally and completely confused? Does that sound right? Doesn't it make more sense that the reason there is so much confusion and so many different beliefs is because God is a deist God. He simply doesn't give a damn what or who we believe in, whether it's Jesus or Buddha or the man in the moon. That's the world we live in looks like,doesn't it?

With all due respect to your skepticism, God did exactly what you are saying God should do when He sent Baha'u'llah to end the confusion and unite all the religions. The following are the exact words of Baha'u'llah that were spoken in an interview granted to the English orientalist, Edward Browne. The interview which took place in the vicinity of Haifa, Israel in April, 1890.

“We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; yet they deem Us a stirrer up of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and banishment…. That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled—what harm is there in this?… Yet so it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the ‘Most Great Peace’ shall come…. Yet do We see your kings and rulers lavishing their treasures more freely on means for the destruction of the human race than on that which would conduce to the happiness of mankind…. These strifes and this bloodshed and discord must cease, and all men be as one kindred and one family…. Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind….” Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh, p. ix

Logically speaking, tell me how it is God's fault that most people of the older religions have rejected Baha'u'llah, given we all have free will to choose what to believe? No, it is not God's fault because God did due diligence by sending Baha'u'llah. Since that time the ball has been in the human court. Granted, not everyone knows about Baha'u'llah, and people are not held accountable if they don't know because that would not be a just God.

 

[Deeje]

We certainly are under the commandment to rebuild it. However, we have to have the opportunity to do so in an environment of peace an acceptance. That has not been true so far, and is not true right now.

Where will I find that commandment in scripture?

When can we expect an environment of peace and acceptance? It appears to me as though God has abandoned his people because they have never accepted Jesus as the Christ. The travesty of Jesus' death has never seen the nation's repentance, so I believe that Jesus' words echo down through the centuries of denial....
Matthew 23:37-39...
"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the killer of the prophets and stoner of those sent to her—how often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings! But you did not want it. 38 Look! Your house is abandoned to you. 39 For I say to you, you will by no means see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in Jehovah’s name!’”

Those words of blessing have never been heard except for a few who have discerned God's withdrawal from his people in the period since Jesus' death. Israel has not known peace in all that time. If that is the case, then what makes you think that God is with his nation today? Isaiah seems to explain the reason.....

"And when you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you, even when you pray at length, I do not hear; your hands are full of blood." (Isaiah 1:15)

When ancient Israel allied herself to foreign nations, it incurred God's anger.....she is still doing that today, becoming allies with those whose worship she despises. What is new?

You are right, synagogues are not a replacement for the temple. Although for the time being, prayers are the replacement for sacrifice Hosea 14:2: The words of our lips [prayers] shall be as calves [sacrifices].

If the Law was carried out even in the wilderness according to God's command, then what is Israel waiting for?
"For the time being" has lasted almost 2,000 years. In ancient times, when was the longest period where Israel was without a Temple?

 

[Colt]

And what about the Pew poll that says that 79% of Christians expect Jesus to literally return to earth?

Fully 79% of Christians in the U.S. say they believe that Jesus Christ will return to Earth someday.

Christians’ Views on the Return of Christ

They are correct, Jesus said that he will literally return to the sentimental shrine of his human incarnation. You are conflating (2) separate issues; his spiritual presence and his in person return.

Add the OP to the list of many failed arguments of the anti-Christ.

 

[thomas t]

Also Paul claimed to have met Jesus when they were warned to not believe it.

Actually, there is a difference between not believing when someone tells you "I had a vision" - this may or may not be true - and not believing when someone tells you "Jesus is currently at some place here on earth in person, go meet him!".
The latter ones are the kinds of messages we are told to not believe (Matthew 24).

Let me elaborate why I see a difference:
if Jesus would incarnate again and come to a particular place in person... that place has an advantage over the other places. Because an incarnation of Jesus cannot just be here and down the road at the same time.
This is ruled out, by Matthew 24.

When Jesus comes back in full person... everyone will see him and there would not be any places more closely attached to him than others.

It has to do with the fact that everyone is on level ground before God.

If it's just a vision, however... everyone can potentially have these visions. Everywhere. Anytime. Simultaneously to visions that other people may have.
So noone gets discriminated against when it comes to visions.

This is at least how I see the situation.

 

[samtonga43]

I don't exactly consider waiting on God hand and foot and stroking his ego for eternity a privilege.

Nor do I; I am a Christian.

 

[Primordial Light]

In other words instead of looking for the truth you are looking for excuses to believe. The problem is that a literal approach to the Bible ends up refuting God.

Literal Natural or Literal Spiritual?
You appear to be looking for excuses not to believe.
No shortage of those folks, they are bitter to beat-the-band.

 

[Kenny]

I do try, and I do seem to do much better than most Bible literalists.

You sure had me fooled!

 

[Kenny]

Because when one puts proper tests to the Bible it fails. But I want to know how believers test it. If they can test it properly then they can claim to have a rational faith. So far I have not been surprised by any of them

Hmmm.... it sure worked for me. Would it be a difference in application to one's life?

 

[Colt]

Return of the "spirit if truth".

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”



Literal return:

43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

 

[LightofTruth]

Romans 3:21-31 is a good example of Paul teaching salvation through faith, and not mentioning works as part of the deal.

Believing in Christ is a work of faith. Being baptized into Christ is a work of faith. Paul says the law is established by faith. He calls it the law of faith. Paul exhorts the church to work what is right. He talks about the works of the flesh and how that we are not to serve the flesh but walk in the spirit. It's a work of faith to deny the flesh with its sinful desires.

James says the same as Paul when James talks about temptation coming from our own desires of the flesh. And Paul goes deeper into this idea by explaining that the flesh is not subject to the law because the law is made weak by the flesh. Therefore, anyone who walks according to the course of this world serving his own flesh is not walking by faith. To walk by faith is to deny the flesh, mortify the works of the flesh, and walk in love toward one another and God. The same as what Jesus said. Jesus said to deny yourself. And so did Paul.

Eph 4:17-32 for example.

 

[capumetu]

Here is something most Christians don't know:

Jesus promised no less than FOUR times in the gospels that he would return to earth and his apostles would live to see it, yet he never showed up.
The truth is you simply do not understand what was being said.
Paul believed fervently that Jesus would return in his lifetime:

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then WE who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." 1 Thessolonians 4:16-17
This is speaking of Jesus return sir, Bible prophecy indicated that when Jesus returned to heaven that he would sit at Jehovah's right hand for a period of time, before he became king at the end of the appointed time of the nations which started in 607 BCE, and would not end for 2520 years.

Now Paul may have put this idea into the heads of the gospel writers when they started writing the gospels. They had Jesus make these four prophesies that he would return before the apostles died:

“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds. Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.“ (Matthew 16: 27, 28)

Jesus was referring to the transfiguration vision, which happened a short time later.

For me, this is the one that cannot be excused away with rationalizations like "Jesus was referring to the future generation", or "Jesus was referring to God's time which could be thousands of years in the future". We have Jesus referring directly to the people listening to him when he made that failed prophecy "some of you standing here will not taste death until you see me return" Same vision, the transfiguration

...they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.“ (Matthew 24: 25-34)
Mat 24 is a twofold prophecy, it was referring to the destruction of Jerusalem which happened in 70 CE as well as the last days of this system which began with his receiving his crown.
“Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place…“ (Mark 13:26-30)
The generation that saw (understood) Jesus become King will not all be gone before his return

Here in Chap 10 Jesus is giving his apostles instructions on how they should conduct themselves when he sends them out to do God's work

Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. (Matthew 10:23) This definitely appears to be a contradiction, but when combined by other verses such as Acts 1:8 one realizes what Jesus was talking about, the good news will not be preached in the entire inhabited earth prior to Jesus receiving the crown Mat 24:14

Naturally Jesus never showed up. Why? Because we can assume he never said he would return--this was all invention by the gospel writers probably based on Paul's belief Jesus would return and Paul would live to see it. There are five rationalizations Christians have come up with for Jesus' no-show. All are patently ridiculous but you can read them in the link below:

We believe Jesus received the crown in 1914, which ushered this world into it's last days. The generation of 1914 is quite old, and will not be gone from the face of the earth prior to the fulfillment of 2 Thes 1:6-9

I certainly hope this will help you to understand this very advanced topic sir.
Jesus’ Failed Prophecy About His Return

Here is something most Christians don't know:

Jesus promised no less than FOUR times in the gospels that he would return to earth and his apostles would live to see it, yet he never showed up.

Paul believed fervently that Jesus would return in his lifetime:

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then WE who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." 1 Thessolonians 4:16-17

Now Paul may have put this idea into the heads of the gospel writers when they started writing the gospels. They had Jesus make these four prophesies that he would return before the apostles died:

“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds. Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.“ (Matthew 16: 27, 28)

For me, this is the one that cannot be excused away with rationalizations like "Jesus was referring to the future generation", or "Jesus was referring to God's time which could be thousands of years in the future". We have Jesus referring directly to the people listening to him when he made that failed prophecy "some of you standing here will not taste death until you see me return"

...they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.“ (Matthew 24: 25-34)

“Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place…“ (Mark 13:26-30)

Here in Chap 10 Jesus is giving his apostles instructions on how they should conduct themselves when he sends them out to do God's work

Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. (Matthew 10:23)

Naturally Jesus never showed up. Why? Because we can assume he never said he would return--this was all invention by the gospel writers probably based on Paul's belief Jesus would return and Paul would live to see it. There are five rationalizations Christians have come up with for Jesus' no-show. All are patently ridiculous but you can read them in the link below:

Jesus’ Failed Prophecy About His Return

 

[Happy_10]

While he said no one, including himself, knew the exact time of his return, he knew it ... that the Biblical Jesus did predict he would return within the lifetime of the people ... together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. ... Jesus tells the high priest that he would see him return riding on the clouds.
Impression of Planet Proxima Centauri with New the stars, Centauri a and Centauri B - Information about Proxima Centauri .

 

[Subduction Zone]

Hmmm.... it sure worked for me. Would it be a difference in application to one's life?

Or at least it seemed to work for you. The problem is that different religions work equally well for other people. That tells us "it works for me" is a worthless test. What one needs is an objective test, not a subjective one.

 

[Subduction Zone]

You sure had me fooled!

Really? You should be the last to throw stones. You forget too soon at times.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Literal Natural or Literal Spiritual?
You appear to be looking for excuses not to believe.
No shortage of those folks, they are bitter to beat-the-band.

No no no, you have it one hundred percent backward. You appear to be merely looking for excuses to believe.

But from your posts you appear to be a literalist. You appear to believe in events that never happened in the Bible, but those events would make God a liar to boot. For example the evidence against the Flood myth is so strong that the only way the flood could have happened if if God lied after the fact by planting false evidence.

I did not become an atheist by choice. Most of us did not. Most of us, in the U.S. at least, because atheists through a superior understanding of the Bible.