The promised return of Jesus to establish his holy kingdom has been anticipated by Christians for many, many centuries. Christian evangelicals will often use the much anticipated return of Jesus as a tool to convert people to Christianity. They will preach something like this, "If Jesus was to return today, would you be ready to meet him and be judged?" Of course, the implication is that if you aren't a Christian you will suffer eternal damnation.

Christian authors have made millions of dollars writing about the "tribulation" as evidenced by the "Left Behind" books which you can find for sale in the book section aisle of any Wal-Mart store.

It's interesting that Christians themselves can't seem to agree on whether they will be "raptured" prior to the tribulation or after it. There are Christian debate forums where a person can see Christians spinning in circles debating whether it's going to be a "pre-tribulation" or "post-tribulation" rapture. etc etc etc.

Since this issue of the return of Jesus is, according to Christians, so vital to the future of all humanity, an objective examination of the New Testament scriptures is in order to see if all the hype and excitement is merited.

In other words, is all the advertising done by Christians about Jesus returning to usher in his new era of glory justified? The verses clearly state that Jesus would return in his kingdom before all his associates had died. Some of them would still be alive when he arrived in his second coming with angels and rewards. attention given to this issue merited?

The Bible character Jesus himself indicated when he would return, but he did not indicate the exact year, month, day, or hour.

However, he did provide a deadline for which the event must take place.
Jesus said, or more accurately, was alleged to have said that he would return before all of his immediate associates had died. Jesus declared:

Matt 16:27-28
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

Obviously, all of his immediate associates "tasted death" and died long ago. Jesus did not return within the time frame that he promised he would. The prophecy failed.

Now, Christians will attempt to rationalize this problem away in all sorts of ways. They will claim that the Transfiguration was Jesus coming in his kingdom. They will also claim that the "spirit" of Jesus came at Pentecost to his apostles.

They will always claim that a skeptic can't read correctly. They will claim anything to avoid the problem that the prophecy failed. Here's an excellent example of a Christian attempt to explain this problem away:

[Christian writes: You completely twist that prophecy (Matt 16:27-28). Jesus said, "There are some of you here who will not taste death before the kingdom of God comes". However, what Jesus was referring to in that statement was not the physical death that all men are subject to, but the spiritual death that is a result of sin. And His words ring true, for anyone who loves God with his heart will not die, but will have eternal life.]

Commentary:
Notice the Christian claims that I completely "twisted" the prophecy. Let's look at the facts. Jesus said absolutely nothing about the death he described in Matt 16:27-28 as being only a "spiritual death". Jesus flatly declared, or more precisely, the unknown author of the Gospel of Matthew portrays Jesus as saying that some of his associates would not taste death before he came in his kingdom WITH angels and rewards. The verses mean exactly what they say, and they say that some of the associates of Jesus would still be alive when he returned in his kingdom with angels and rewards. The prophecy failed.

This Christian has rewritten the text by making a claim unsupported by the scripture in an attempt to rationalize the problem away. In other words he's mentally rewritten the text to say:

Matt 16:27-28 (as revised by the Christian)
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste a spiritual death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

The Christian thinks he has solved the problem by rewriting the text and changing the words from: "shall not taste death" to "shall not taste a spiritual death". This type of dishonest scripture manipulation flies directly in the face of God's word and this Christian would do well to read his Bible more carefully.

Prov 30:5-6
Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

Take heed Christian. Do not add to the words of God or manipulate his holy word to suit your needs. Jesus has never come back to earth with angels and rewards and set up his kingdom within the time frame he said he would.

[Christian writes: Nonsense. Jesus was all ABOUT the spirit. Your interpretation of this prophecy is entirely wrong, and it makes little sense.]

Commentary:
Notice once again that the Christian has claimed that my interpretation of the prophecy is entirely wrong. It's only wrong to this Christian because if the text means what it says he's got a failed prophecy on his hands, and his degree of spiritual investment in this belief system can't tolerate that.

The verses clearly state that Jesus would return in his kingdom before all his associates had died. Some of them would still be alive when he arrived in his second coming with angels and rewards. Even Paul thought Jesus would return in his lifetime:

1 Thes 4:15-17
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
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 which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Paul stated that: "we which are alive" will be caught up in the clouds to meet Jesus in the air.

Let's look at some more of the New Testament and see if these previously cited verses are just "flukes" or if there are other verses which indicate when Jesus would return in his second coming.

James 5:7-8
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh(near).

1 John 2:18
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

1 Peter 1:20
Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

1 Peter 4:7
But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

Rom 13:11-12
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Rom 16:20
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

Heb 9:26
For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Heb 10:37
For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.

Heb 1:1-2
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

Acts 2:15-17
For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

1 Cor 7:29
But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;

The list of verses is extensive, but let there be no doubt about the issue of when Jesus was supposed to have returned. Jesus was, according to early Christian writers, supposed to have returned in his kingdom not thousands of years after he died but within the life spans of some of his early followers.

The early Christians were convinced that Jesus would be returning soon. It should also be noted that nowhere in the entire New Testament did the earthly Jesus instruct his followers to write "gospels" to record what he taught and promised. Nor did Jesus write anything himself.

As time went on, and Jesus didn't appear, the author of 2 Peter 3 had to do something about the problem of Jesus failing to show up.

2 Peter 3:3-4,8-9
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance

At the time 2 Peter 3 was written, people were seriously questioning the teaching that Jesus would return quickly. Unless the followers were given some explanation for the failure of a quick return, they might stop believing and look at other belief systems instead. 2 Peter 3 was written primarily as damage control. It redefined "time" to explain away the lack of a quick return and cast a poor light on any who questioned and doubted what they had been taught. And one should not forget what the author of 1 Peter 4 had previously said:

1 Peter 4:7
But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

If the end of ALL things was near according to 1 Peter 4, why does it become uncertain in 2 Peter 3? This is supposed to be the word of God, not a pulp fiction mystery novel.

Here's a Christian response to my charge that 2 Peter 3 redefined time to explain why Jesus hadn't returned.

[Christian writes: Why do you assume that God's time is the same as ours? God is on a spiritual level and SHOULD NEVER be brought down to ours.]

Commentary:
Jesus in John 11:9 defined daylight as having 12 hours, with night having the other 12 hours. Genesis 1:3 states that a day was divided into these two sections. God commanded that the seventh day be set aside for him and that no work be done on the Sabbath. If God is on a different timetable than a 24 hour day, then how long should a person observe the Sabbath? How many hours should comprise a Sabbath if it is not the same as a day?

If God is spiritual and cannot be brought down to our level then the Bible is an incomplete representation of his "word" since it cannot by your definition properly reflect God in the first place.

In the Book of Revelation, it is once again clearly indicated that Jesus would return soon.

Rev 1:1
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

Rev 3:11
Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Rev 22:6
And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

Rev 22:7
Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Rev 22:10
And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

Rev 22:12
And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Rev 22:20
He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

"Quickly" is not 1,900+ years after the promise is made. No amount of hype, spin, rationalizing, or wishful thinking can make these verses say anything other than what they clearly state. Jesus was to come back soon but never did.

[Christian response: How long is soon to God? Soon could be any time from right now until just before eternity.]

Commentary:
In other words, "quickly" means whatever the Christian needs it to mean in order to rationalize a failed prophecy. This still leaves the Christian with the following verses to explain away:

1 John 2:18
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

Heb 10:37
For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.

As verses like this are rendered meaningless by the Christian rationalization, there is no good reason to take the Bible seriously.

[Christian response: God is a being that exists outside of time, and so it makes sense that his definition of soon is going to be different than ours.]

Commentary:
The Bible is supposed to be the word of God to mankind. That a God would mask and obfuscate what he really means by deceptively giving mankind misleading information doesn't add one ounce of credibility to the Bible.

Since God, who is supposed to provide humans with reliable information deceives and misleads people by using terms that don't apply to humans, the Bible God's "word" can't be taken seriously.

The only way to avoid a failed prophecy is to deny that the prophecy meant what it said in the first place, which is exactly what Christians do.

Ironically, Jesus, who Christians advertise as "the Prince of Peace", and who called himself the "Son of Man" is precisely the type of character God warned people about in the Old Testament:

Psa 146:3-4
Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

How true! The plans of Jesus (who called himself the Son of Man) to make a prompt return came to nothing after he died.

FOOTNOTE:
The return of Jesus has been expected ever since the New Testament was written. However, the evidence from the New Testament itself clearly shows that Jesus was supposed to return "soon".

The Christian churches have done the world no service by advertising that Jesus will return and "fix" the world any time now. This type of false advertising has had devastating effects on people who are entranced with the teachings of the religious zealots.

Europe in the year 999 C.E. was expecting Jesus to arrive "soon". The following is a fascinating account of the events of that time. From the book, "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" by Charles Mackay (1841)

"Epidemic terror of the end of the world has several times spread over the nations. The most remarkable was that which seized Christendom about the middle of the tenth century. Numbers of fanatics appeared in France, Germany, and Italy at that time, preaching that the thousand years prophesied in the Apocalypse as the term of the world's duration, were about to expire, and that the Son of Man would appear in the clouds to judge the godly and the ungodly. The delusion appears to have been discouraged by the church, but it nevertheless spread rapidly among the people."

(Note: It isn't surprising that the church may have attempted to discourage people from leaving. People can't make contributions to the church if they aren't around to attend church.)

"The scene of the last judgment was expected to be at Jerusalem. In the year 999, the number of pilgrims proceeding eastward, to await the coming of the Lord in that city, was so great that they were compared to a desolating army. Most of them sold their goods and possessions before they quitted Europe, and lived upon the proceeds in the Holy Land. Buildings of every sort were suffered to fall into ruins. It was thought useless to repair them, when the end of the world was so near. Many noble edifices were deliberately pulled down. Even churches, usually so well maintained, shared the general neglect. Knights, citizens, and serfs, traveled eastwards in company, taking with them their wives and children, singing psalms as they went, and looking with fearful eyes upon the sky, which they expected each minute to open, to let the Son of God descend in his glory."

"During the thousandth year the number of pilgrims increased. Most of them were smitten with terror as with a plague. Every phenomenon of nature filled them with alarm. A thunder-storm sent them all upon their knees in mid-march. It was the opinion that thunder was the voice of God, announcing the day of judgment. Numbers expected the earth to open, and give up its dead at the sound. Every meteor in the sky seen at Jerusalem brought the whole Christian population into the streets to weep and pray."

"Fanatic preachers kept up the flame of terror. Every shooting star furnished occasion for a sermon, in which the sublimity of the approaching judgment was the principal topic."(end quote)

As Jesus never came back in 1000 C.E., the people who restructured their lives and beliefs around the New Testament claims, suffered for their faith. But the failure of Jesus to return may have set the stage for events far more dire to occur.

From the book, "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" by Charles Mackay (1841)

"A strange idea had taken possession of the popular mind at the close of the tenth and commencement of the eleventh century. It was universally believed that the end of the world was at hand; that the thousand years of the Apocalypse were near completion, and that Jesus Christ would descend upon Jerusalem to judge mankind. All Christendom was in commotion. A panic terror seized upon the weak, the credulous, and the guilty, who in those days formed more than nineteen twentieths of the population. Forsaking their homes, kindred, and occupation, they crowded to Jerusalem to await the coming of the Lord, lightened, as they imagined, of a load of sin by their weary pilgrimage. To increase the panic, the stars were observed to fall from heaven, earthquakes to shake the land, and violent hurricanes to blow down the forests. All these, and more especially the meteoric phenomena, were looked upon as the forerunners of the approaching judgments. Not a meteor shot athwart the horizon that did not fill a district with alarm, and send away to Jerusalem a score of pilgrims, with staff in hand and wallet on their back, praying as they went for the remission of their sins. Men, women, and even children, trudged in droves to the holy city, in expectation of the day when the heavens would open, and the Son of God descend in his glory. This extraordinary delusion, while it augmented the numbers, increased also the hardships of the pilgrims. Beggars became so numerous on all the highways between the west of Europe and Constantinople that the monks, the great alms-givers upon these occasions, would have brought starvation within sight of their own doors, if they had not economized their resources, and left the devotees to shift for themselves as they could. Hundreds of them were glad to subsist upon the berries that ripened by the road, who, before this great flux, might have shared the bread and flesh of the monasteries. But this was not the greatest of their difficulties. On their arrival in Jerusalem they found that a sterner race had obtained possession of the Holy Land. The caliphs of Bagdad had been succeeded by the harsh Turks of the race of Seljook, who looked upon the pilgrims(Christians) with contempt and aversion."

(Note: Jerusalem was occupied by "infidels". The key city of Christianity was not in Christian hands.)

"At last the man appeared upon the scene. Like all who have ever achieved so great an end, Peter the Hermit was exactly suited to the age; neither behind it, nor in advance of it; but acute enough to penetrate its mystery ere it was discovered by any other. Enthusiastic, chivalrous, bigoted, and, if not insane, not far removed from insanity, he was the very prototype of the time. True enthusiasm is always persevering and always eloquent, and these two qualities were united in no common degree in the person of this extraordinary preacher. He was a monk of Amiens, and ere he assumed the hood had served as a soldier. He is represented as having been ill favoured and low in stature, but with an eye of surpassing brightness and intelligence. Having been seized with the mania of the age, he visited Jerusalem, and remained there till his blood boiled to see the cruel persecution heaped upon the devotees. On his return home he shook the world by the eloquent story of their wrongs."

"It was in Palestine itself that Peter the Hermit first conceived the grand idea of rousing the powers of Christendom to rescue the Christians of the East from the thraldom of the Mussulmans, and the sepulchre of Jesus from the rude hands of the infidel. The subject engrossed his whole mind. Even in the visions of the night he was full of it. One dream made such an impression upon him, that he devoutly believed the Saviour of the world himself appeared before him, and promised him aid and protection in his holy undertaking. If his zeal had ever wavered before, this was sufficient to fix it for ever."

(Note: Peter the Hermit then gets support for the cause from Pope Urban II)

"Giving the Hermit full powers, he sent him abroad to preach the holy war to all the nations and potentates of Christendom. The Hermit preached, and countless thousands answered to his call. France, Germany, and Italy started at his voice, and prepared for the deliverance of Zion."

(Note: The Pope then holds a major event, in the year 1095 C.E.)

"Issuing from the church in his frill canonicals, surrounded by his cardinals and bishops in all the splendour of Romish ecclesiastical costume, the Pope stood before the populace on a high scaffolding erected for the occasion, and covered with scarlet cloth. A brilliant array of bishops and cardinals surrounded him; and among them, humbler in rank, but more important in the world's eye, the Hermit Peter, dressed in his simple and austere habiliments. Historians differ as to whether or not Peter addressed the crowd, but as all agree that he was present, it seems reasonable to suppose that he spoke. But it was the oration of the Pope that was most important. As he lifted up his hands to ensure attention, every voice immediately became still. He began by detailing the miseries endured by their brethren in the Holy Land; how the plains of Palestine were desolated by the outrageous heathen, who with the sword and the firebrand carried wailing into the dwellings and flames into the possessions of the faithful; how Christian wives and daughters were defiled by pagan lust; how the altars of the true God were desecrated, and the relics of the saints trodden under foot. "You," continued the eloquent pontiff, (and Urban the Second was one of the most eloquent men of the day,) "you, who hear me, and who have received the true faith, and been endowed by God with power, and strength, and greatness of soul, -- whose ancestors have been the prop off Christendom, and whose kings have put a barrier against the progress of the infidel, -- I call upon you to wipe off these impurities from the face of the earth, and lift your oppressed fellow-christians from the depths into which they have been trampled. The sepulchre of Christ is possessed by the heathen, the sacred places dishonoured by their vileness. Oh, brave knights and faithful people! offspring of invincible fathers! ye will not degenerate from your ancient renown. Ye will not be restrained from embarking in this great cause by the tender ties of wife or little ones, but will remember the words of the Saviour of the world himself, 'Whosoever loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me. Whosoever shall abandon for my name's sake his house, or his brethren, or his sisters, or his father, or his mother, or his wife, or his children, or his lands, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life.'" (end quote)

It's not difficult to imagine that in the minds of these people, who were Christians which had the Holy Spirit JUST AS MUCH as believers today, Jesus did not return in the year 1000 C.E. as expected because Jerusalem and the Holy Land were in the hands of God-mocking infidels. In the minds of these Christians, Jesus may have been waiting for his followers to glorify him by conquering the Holy Land in his name. Once that was accomplished, Jesus surely would return to sent up his kingdom and usher in his glory. Just as Christians today feel Jesus will return when all the world has been preached to, Christians of that time period had to conquer the Holy Land to ensure that Jesus would come back. It's time to put the Bible on the shelf with other books and stop claiming that it is the ultimate source of "truth". The Bible is no more holy than any other religious text. Jesus failed to fulfill his own prophecy and the repeated prophecies of his imminent return which the New Testament makes.

Christians should stop making excuses and face the music. They should stop going around aggressively attempting to convince non-Christians that they will go to hell if they don't accept Jesus as their savior and that the Bible is the word of an infallible, holy God.