The Big Questions About Jesus 預覽

Why Hasn’t Jesus Come Back Already?

More than once, Jesus gave an ironclad guarantee he would come back to earth to take those who choose him as their Savior to be with him forever.

For example, Jesus said:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:1–3).

The first Christians, and in particular, every one of the writers of the New Testament, definitely believed Jesus would return in their lifetime, but they died, and he still hadn’t returned. Ever since then, for the last two thousand years, the followers of Jesus have been waiting for him to come. Still, he hasn’t returned.

The longer Christians have waited, the more the nature of the Christian church has changed. The church became institutionalized, and various teachings that tried to explain the delay became formulated as doctrines.

This question is really important: why hasn’t Jesus come back already?

Some followers of Jesus believe it’s their fault Jesus hasn’t returned. They think they haven’t been obedient enough or haven’t preached to enough people. I believe that considering the second coming of Jesus is our responsibility is rather self-centered thinking. Surely, if you believe in God, you must also believe he rules, and Jesus will return when his time is right.

God does give us one clue about why he hasn’t returned yet. Referring to the second coming of Jesus, the Bible tells us that,

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

God is patient with this world despite our impatience because he wants as many people as possible to be saved.

Finally, because we’re talking about the end of the world, we simply need to trust God. We need to recognize he is God and that we are human. When we can’t understand his reasons, we need to remember we would agree with him if we knew what he knows. I’m happy with that.

– Eliezer Gonzalez