According to the creeds of the churches, our Lord’s return is expected to be in a way that everyone can see, riding on an actual cloud, sounding a real trumpet, shining with a bright light, and breaking the universe into tiny pieces. This idea of the Lord’s return is often used to scare people into changing their ways, but if we critically examine this subject with scriptures and reason, we see that it contradicts many things. When it comes to the Scriptural support for this belief, it’s based on wrong ways of interpreting the text; it comes from taking figurative passages, like parables, symbols, and mysterious sayings, too literally, even though the rule of language say they should be understood in a figurative way.
This view is based on a flawed way of understanding, and when we analyze it logically, its lack of reason becomes clear. For instance, considering that the earth is round, how could people on the opposite side of where He arrives see Him? Even if it’s suggested that He would stay in one spot in the sky for 24 hours, so that the earth’s rotation would allow people to see Him from both the east and west, the round shape of the earth would still mean He would be out of sight beyond a few hundred miles to the north and south. The clouds in the earth’s atmosphere, along with the earth’s roundness and size, would make Him invisible from a distance.
And even if these difficulties would be overcome in some manner, so that, all on earth would, for example, by television or social media, see His return simultaneously with their physical sight and hear the literal trumpet without injury to their ears, it would still be unreasonable to expect Jesus in His glorious spirit body to appear to mankind’s physical eyes; mankind would be instantly blinded, as Saul of Tarsus was in Acts 9:3-18; but if they should see that body itself, they would instantly drop dead, as no human can see God (and now Jesus) and live (Ex. 33:20; Heb. 1:3; 1 Tim. 6:16).
And if the literal universe were meant in Revelation 20:11 that speaks of the heavens and earth passing from His face, it would have passed away long ago, at the instant of its creation, for He faces all things. So proper methods of interpreting the Bible, as well as reason and facts, contradict the idea that our Lord Jesus in His return, appears to mankind’s natural sight in a visible manner.
A careful look at the Scriptures shows that during His entire Second Advent, our Lord will be invisible to what people can see with their eyes, but He will be visible to their understanding, or their mental sight, the minds eye (Matt. 13:13-17).
DIRECT STATEMENTS OF THE BIBLE
The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus will not be seen by human eyes anymore. John 14:19 tells us “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more”. This is straightforward. While 1 John 3:2 shows that the Church will see Him when they are changed to be like Him, John 14:19 clearly teaches that no other people will see Him. Jesus was talking about how He would be invisible to human eyes in His glorious resurrection body.
This is clearly supported by what the Apostle Paul said about Jesus after He went up to be with God in glory: 1 Tim. 6:16; “who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power”. This passage clearly shows that since His glorification, our Lord has been and will always be invisible to human sight. So, when our Lord returns, He’ll be invisible to their physical eyes.
“AS A THIEF IN THE NIGHT”
The same idea is shown in 1 Thes. 5:1-6; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 16:15, which says that when our Lord comes back, it’ll be like a thief. When a thief breaks into a house, does he shine a bright light and blow a trumpet? Of course not. Similarly, our Lord doesn’t announce His return like a thief in the night. A thief comes quietly, sneaking around in the dark, moving silently, picking locks and opening doors and windows without making a sound, keeping his presence hidden from the people he’s robbing.
Notice how 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 explains that the world won’t notice our Lord’s return because it’ll happen like a thief in the night.
“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.”
Those who are alert and watching will know about it (Matt. 24:3, 30-33). If the world could see His return with their own eyes, they would definitely be aware of it. So, the fact that they don’t notice it shows that they won’t see Him physically during His Second Coming, which means it must be invisible to the physical sight.
“THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AMONG YOU”
The fact that the heavenly part of God’s Millennial Kingdom (which includes Jesus and the Church) is not visible means that when our Lord returns, it’ll be unseen by human eyes. This is because He’s a key part of that Kingdom, being the “King of kings and Lord of lords”. The Kingdom of God will be made up of Jesus and the elect church; it won’t be seen by people physically.
Jesus clearly states that people won’t be able to identify the Kingdom of God—meaning Himself and His disciples—because it won’t be visible to their physical sight, just like it says in Luke 17:20, 21; “The kingdom of God does not come with observation,nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (ASV)
The kingdom of God doesn’t come in a way that people can see it [people won’t be able to see Christ and His followers when they come to rule]: they won’t be able to say, Look here or look, there’s the Kingdom, Jesus and the Church! Because, the kingdom of God [which you can’t point out] is [as the original Greek reveals] “is in the midst of you”. So it must be invisible to our physical eyes, since it can’t be shown to what we see. The KJV translation ‘within you’ is clearly in error, because God’s Kingdom wasn’t within the Pharisees Jesus was talking to, even though He and His followers, who will be future Kings and Priests in God’s Kingdom, were right there with them. So, since the Kingdom of God is invisible to our physical eyes, and Jesus is part of that Kingdom, He must also be invisible to us when He comes back to set it up.
“JUST LIKE THE DAYS OF NOAH”
In Matthew 24:37-39, Jesus provides a clear indication that people will not physically see Him when He returns for the second time:
“Just like the days of Noah, so will be the coming [Greek, parousia, presence, margin] of the Son of man. Because in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, getting married and giving their daughters in marriage… and they didn’t realize what was happening until the flood came and took them all away; so will be the coming [Greek, parousia, presence, margin] of the Son of man” (ASV).
In this verse, Jesus illustrates that the actions and ignorance of the people before the flood and during His second coming, just before the Great Tribulation, will be very similar.
Just like in Noah’s time before the flood, people were busy with their everyday lives. They didn’t believe the warnings about the flood, so they didn’t realize it was coming. Similarly, right before the Great Tribulation hits the world during Christ’s second presence, people will be caught up in their normal social activities, completely unaware of the upcoming troubles, because they don’t believe the messages about it and the reason behind it, which is Christ’s is here. These verses clearly show that the time of Noah before the flood is being compared to the time of our Lord’s second presence before the Great Tribulation, as seen in Luke 17:26:
“Just like it was in Noah’s time, it will be the same when the Son of Man comes again.” The phrase “in the days of the Son of Man” refers to a specific time during His second coming, which is similar to the phrase “the presence of the Son of Man” found in Matthew 24:37. This shows that the two times being talked about are being compared. You can also check Luke 17:28-30. Now, we might wonder how Jesus could be here and yet most people wouldn’t know about it, or about the upcoming Time of Trouble. If they could see Him with their own eyes, they would definitely realize He was there and would expect trouble to come. Their lack of awareness about His presence suggests that He would not be visible to them, meaning His return must be something they can’t see with their physical eyes.
AS THE LIGHTNING … OUT OF THE EAST
Another point to think about is this: Jesus says that just like the sun shows it is there by shining light, He will show His second presence by giving out the symbolic light of Truth. This is what Jesus talks about in Matt. 24:27 (and you can also check Luke 17:24, where the phrase “in his day” is linked to the word “coming”—which means presence in Greek—found in Matt. 24:27). However, a bad translation of the Greek word astrape as “lightning” instead of “bright shining” (like in Luke 11:36) hides the real meaning of the passage: “For as the lightning [bright shining—the sun] comes from the east and shines all the way to the west, so will be the presence [margin] of the Son of man” (ASV).
It isn’t true, as the translation says that lightning only comes from the east and flashes to the west. Actually, it often comes from different directions and usually only lights up part of the sky, sometimes even in directions other than west. However, sunlight is special because it always rises in the east and shines all the way to the west. These details show that in this part of the text, like in Luke 11:36, the Greek word ‘astrape’ should be translated as ‘bright shining’ or ‘light.’ Clearly, in the other passage, using the word ‘lightning’ wouldn’t make sense because we can’t catch lightning and put it on a candlestick!
When we understand that our Lord in Matt. 24:27 is talking about the bright shining of the sun, we can easily see the comparison He makes: just like the sun gradually shows its presence, reaching some people sooner than others and finally shining on those late sleepers before it sets in the west; our Lord shows His presence through the light of Truth that He gives off as the “Sun of Righteousness” (Mal. 4:2). First, He shines on His ever-watchful Church (Isa. 60:1, 2) and then later on the whole world (Isa. 60:3; John 1:9). So, Matt. 24:27 suggest that people will recognize our Lord’s presence not by what they see with their eyes, but by understanding Him through the light of Truth that He shares with them. This means that His return is not something that people can see with their physical eyes.
“EVERY EYE SHALL SEE HIM”
The fact that our Lord is invisible to people’s physical eyes when He returns is hinted at in the verses that tell us everyone, including Israel, will see Him during His second coming. This idea fits with other verses that say no one has seen or can see Him in His current state (1 Tim. 6:16), and that after He is glorified, the world won’t see Him anymore (John 14:19).
Revelation 1:7 (which we can compare with Zechariah 12:10) talks about our Lord’s Second Coming and says: “Look, He is coming with clouds [which represent trouble during the Great Tribulation]; and every eye will see Him, including those who pierced Him.” If we take the “clouds” in this verse literally, it wouldn’t make sense, as explained earlier. Also, if we think of “every eye” as just physical eyes, it would contradict 1 Tim. 6:16 and John 14:19. It’s clear that we should respect God’s Word and avoid interpreting scriptures in ways that contradict each other.
How can we understand this and similar parts of the Bible while keeping everything in harmony? Well, it seems clear that 1 Tim. 6:16 and John 14:19 are meant to be taken literally and talk about actual sight; so, the eyes mentioned in Rev. 1:7 and the “looking” in Zech 12:10 must be figurative, referring to our mental sight or understanding. This means that when our Lord returns, it will come with lots of trouble, and everyone, including the Jews, will have their understanding opened to truly know Him as their Savior, Messiah, and Lord. In this way of seeing, the Apostle Paul mentions in Hebrews 2:9 “we see Jesus”. He definitely doesn’t mean we see Him with our physical eyes, but rather with our understanding, or mental eyes.
Not only does this interpretation make sense, along with how other parts of the Bible use similar ideas, but the nature of the book of Revelation also supports it. Rev. 1:1 tells us that this book is filled with symbols: “He sent and signified it”—which means He gave it in signs or symbols.
So, it makes sense to think of the clouds, the eye, and the seeing in Rev. 1:7 and the looking in Zech. 12:10 as symbols. The mention of the Jews who pierced Him as seeing Him really seals the deal; because Jesus told them on the Wednesday before He was crucified, just two days before the Jews last saw Him with their physical eyes, that they wouldn’t see Him again until His second coming when they would shout, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matt. 23:39; see also Zech. 12:10). This shows that He isn’t talking about seeing with their natural eyes, since they actually saw Him with their eyes two days after He said this, on the day He was crucified. So, it means they would see Him mentally, which explains how those who pierced Him would recognize Him during His second coming—not with their physical eyes, but with their mental eyes.
We also know this because two days earlier, on the day He entered Jerusalem just four days before His death, Jesus said they were mentally blind because of their sins (Luke 19:42, 44). The Apostle Paul told us that this blindness would stay with them until “the fullness of the Gentiles comes in.” That is the chosen Gentiles who were saved (Rom. 11:7-10, 25-33). Then, when the second coming happens, this blindness would slowly go away. When the final troubles hit the gathered Jewish nation, as described in Ezek. 38; 39; Zech. 14:1-3, they will start to see with their mental sight (just like Christians do now—Gal. 3:1; Heb. 2:9) that Jesus is truly their Divine Savior, Messiah, and Lord (Zech. 12:9, 10). This will be the moment when Israel turns back to God as a nation.
A verse that is quite similar in meaning and interpretation to Rev. 1:7 and Zech. 12:10 is Matt. 26:64. These verses, when looked at from the perspective mentioned, fit well with the clear statements found in 1 Tim. 6:16 and John 14:19. When viewed this way, they show that our Lord’s return will not be visible to the physical eyes of people, but can be understood by their mental perception.
“IN LIKE MANNER”
Another proof of the invisibility of our Lord’s second advent to the physical eyes of mankind, we’ll look at one of the most misinterpreted verses in the Bible regarding how our Lord will return—Acts 1:11: “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.”
This verse is often explained as if it says, “just as you have seen him go into heaven, so shall you see him come again.” Those who interpret it this way focus on the idea of seeing Him go and then seeing Him come back. However, the verse doesn’t mention anything about Him being seen when He comes back. So, the idea of Him being seen when He returns is not part of what this verse is comparing.
The main idea in this verse is to compare how Jesus left and how He will come back, not just about being seen going or coming: “This same Jesus … shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.” So, this passage talks about how our Lord will return.
From how Jesus left, we can learn a few things about how He’ll come back. Here are 4 points to consider:
- He left quietly, and only His disciples knew about it at that time; likewise, He’ll return quietly, like a “thief in the night,” with only His faithful followers knowing about it at first.
- He went away without making a big scene, not with a loud trumpet or riding on a cloud, and He won’t return with a loud trumpet or a bright light that shakes the universe.
- He left by blessing those He was with, so He’ll come back by blessing His waiting Church first and then the rest of the world.
- After He left, He was invisible to everyone’s eyes, but His disciples could see Him through amazing acts, like at Pentecost; so when He returns, He’ll be invisible to everyone, but His presence will be shown through great works.
THE APOSTLE PAUL’S LOGICAL ARGUMENT
In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-9, the Apostle Paul makes an argument that clearly shows, when understood correctly, that OUR Lord’s return has not happened yet. However, this argument would seem awkward and unclear if His return was meant to be seen by people’s physical eyes. Instead of relying on sight, he pointed to certain signs that have been predicted but not yet fulfilled, which must happen before the Second Coming. He told the Thessalonians (2 Thess. 2:3-9) that our Lord’s return could not happen until the Antichrist appears, which will come from a falling away from true Christianity, gain great power, rule in fear, and be revealed and defeated in its main teachings and powers. After that, Christ will return and destroy the Antichrist.
The Apostle wrote these words when the falling away was just starting, so many aspects of it, like the rise of Antichrist and his reign, were still to come. This means that Christ’s second coming couldn’t happen until after all these events took place.
So, the Apostle pointed out that certain prophetic signs needed to happen before Christ’s second coming. This showed that our Lord wasn’t there at that time. It also strongly supported Paul’s argument about our Lord being invisible when He returns. If He were to come back in the way that old creeds from the Dark Ages say, it would be awkward and not very convincing compared to the idea that everyone would see Him with their own eyes.
The Apostle’s argument suggests that our Lord’s return would be invisible, just like he explained to the Thessalonians. If he had told them that our Lord would return in a way that they could see, the Thessalonians wouldn’t have made the mistake of thinking that Christ’s second advent had already happened. This means that the mistake the Thessalonians made, along with the way the Apostle argued against it, shows that both he and they thought our Lord would not be seen by human eyes when He returned. If that wasn’t the case, how could they have believed He came back without actually seeing Him?