DAY 104
CHALLENGE
“If Jesus’ speech on the Mount of Olives referred to the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70 (see Day 69), then he falsely prophesied that he would return before then, saying that people ‘will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory’ (Mark 13:26; cf. Matt. 24:30, Luke 21:27).”
DEFENSE
There are other ways of understanding this passage.
Material in the Gospels is not always chronological. The evangelists had the freedom to arrange material by other criteria, such as topic. They could have grouped a saying about the Second Coming with other prophetic statements because they all involve prophecy. If Jesus originally made this statement in a different context, then its fulfillment would not be governed by the statements about the temple.
But this may not be a reference to the Second Coming. The Bible describes God and the Son of Man “coming” in different ways. Thus God is depicted as riding the clouds when he comes in judgment on a people (Ps. 104:3; Isa. 19:1–2; Jer. 4:13–14). This may be the kind of “coming” Jesus had in mind—a visitation of divine judgment on Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
His statement also reflects Daniel 7:13–14, where the Son of Man is brought before God in heaven to receive his kingdom. The prophecy thus may refer to Jesus ascending into heaven (Acts 1:9), where he received his kingdom (Acts 7:55–56) and where he now reigns (1 Cor. 15:24–26). Both explanations may apply. Jesus may invoke Daniel 7’s imagery to indicate he will be reigning with God in heaven and this will manifest in divine judgment on Jerusalem with the destruction of the temple.
Theologians have also explored the idea of an adventus medius (“middle advent”) of Christ between the First and Second Comings. This is a spiritual “coming” of Christ in which he is preached to the world to prepare for his definitive, final coming. If this is what Jesus refers to, he might have in mind the evangelization that would lead many to recognize him as the Son of Man and also the authority of his kingdom (cf. Matt. 24:31, Mark 13:27).
TIP
Benedict XVI discusses the adventus medius in the epilogue of his book Jesus of Nazareth, vol. 2.