Doctrine of the Last Things (Part 12): Parables of the Delay of the Parousia

Parables of the Delay of the Parousia

Last time I argued that passages about the Second Coming of Christ that appear to imply that Jesus thought this event was going to take place within the lifetime of the eyewitnesses create a false impression due to what I called contextual ambiguity.

If this weren’t enough, what I have not yet shared with you is that while we do have a pair of troubling verses about this generation’s not passing away and some’s standing here who will not taste death until they see that the Kingdom of God has come with power, what we also have in the Gospels is a parade of parables by Jesus precisely about the delay of the parousia. It is going to appear to be delayed. Look at these, starting with the parable in Matthew 24:45-51:

Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, “My master is delayed,” and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will punish him, and put him with the hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.

This same parable is also to be found in Luke 12:35-48.

As if that weren’t enough, Jesus gives another parable in Matthew 25:1-13 which teaches this same thing:

Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” But the wise replied, “Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.” And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, “Lord, lord, open to us.” But he replied, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.” Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Here again we have the delay of the return of the bridegroom. The lesson is: always be watchful.

Again, if the disciples still hadn’t gotten the point, here’s another parable – Matthew 25:14-30:

For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more. So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, “Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.” And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, “Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.” He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” But his master answered him, “You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.”

There is much to be learned from this parable, but the point we want to focus on is, again, the long time during which this money could be invested and gather interest and grow even if it was simply put into the bank. So you have here once again a prediction of a long time before the return of the master.

Now, would you think the disciples still haven’t gotten the point? Maybe not! Matthew 25:31-46 is another parable teaching this same thing.

When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, “Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?” And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” Then he will say to those at his left hand, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, “Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?” Then he will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.” And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

In this parable you see again that even though Christ is absent – the people involved have never seen Jesus personally – the church ministers to the sick, the poor, and those who are in prison. It teaches that as they did these works to the least of these his brethren so they have done it to Christ, whom they have never seen. This parable is explicitly contradictory to the predictions that Jesus would return within the generation of his contemporaries. It is describing the ministry of the church to others in future generations that will transpire before the master finally comes again and does the reckoning.

So I think that when you consider on balance the teachings of Jesus about his return, it is clear that Jesus says that he doesn’t know the time of his return, that nobody knows when he is going to come again. But he prepared the disciples over and over again for a long time – a delay of his return – during which time the church will minister in his name to the unfortunate, the Gospel will be preached to all the nations, and finally at some indeterminate time in the future the end will come. This odd pair of sayings that seem to imply otherwise, I suggest, is due to contextual ambiguity. It may well be the case that in the original historical context in which Jesus uttered those words he was not talking about the Second Coming or the return of the Son of Man at all.

Next time I’ll share some final thoughts with you about the time of the return of Christ.^[1]