"I will come again" - John 14:3 (Part 2)

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R.M. Goatley

He gave us no sign by which we could calculate the date of His coming for us, in fact, when He next mentioned it in John 21:21-23, He introduced the possibility of John remaining alive till He returns. This was quickly misconstrued, and the report went abroad among the brethren that John would not die. However Jesus did not say, "He shall not die"; but, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee"?

The apostle Paul received this same promise later by direct revelation from the Lord, so that he could teach it among the Gentile believers, and the same tenor of present expectation is evident as he writes to the Thessalonians. He speaks of "we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord", and he is obviously including himself (I Thess.4:15). In 2 Cor.5:1-4 he expresses his deep desire to be among those who are alive when the Lord returns, so that instead of passing through death, ‘mortality might be swallowed up of life’. See also I Cor.15:51-58 and Phil.3:21,22. The lives of countless saints have been cheered by this glad prospect since then, as H.L. Turner wrote:

"0 joy! 0 delight! should we go without dying;
No sickness, no sadness, no dread, and no crying;
Caught up through the clouds with our Lord into glory
When Jesus receives His own."

However, some years later, as he lay a prisoner in Rome and the day of his execution was near, he realised that ‘the time of his departure was at hand’ and he had ‘finished his course’. It had now become obvious that it was not the Lord’s will that he should "tarry till He come". But he was ready to "depart and be with Christ" (Phil.l:23), confident that for the believer, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor.5:8). The Lord evidently intended the promise of His coming to be a present expectation that would be both an incentive and a comfort to His people. Let us therefore consider the following:

"Occupy till I come" - Luke 19:13. This quote comes from a parable which the Lord used to indicate that He would go away, and return after a period, and that He expected His servants to be active in His affairs during His absence. To ‘occupy’ is simply to ‘trade’. When we apply this to ourselves we learn that as believers, we are all equally responsible to accept what He has given us as a trust - our abilities, our time, our understanding of His will - to be used in His interests. He has left us His own example, for at twelve years of age he said, "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father’s business"? When He comes, He will require each one of us to give account of our trading, and reward us accordingly. (To be continued)