Acts
1:8-11 In like manner?
And
when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a
cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward
heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which
also said, you men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This
same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner
as you have seen him go into heaven.
This
short section of scripture is consistently used as an argument against Fulfilled
Eschatology, but what if the premise for this argument is flawed?
“ος
τροπος --- Hos Tropos” is the Greek for “in
like manner as” and the Futurist (Unfulfilled)
view of Eschatology posits that this relates to the physical and/or visible persona
of Christ at the ascension, but is it? Would it be equal to suggest that “in
like manner as” means in like body as, or in like form as, or in like shape as,
or even in like image as? Not according to the Greek language this was
translated from.
The
answer to this is written within this verse section, but many get so caught up
in their doctrinal insistences, that they can’t see it. These 2 men who stood
by said that Jesus would come in the same “manner”
he left, but what was the manner?
Manner,
from τροπος – tropos, refers to the method, fashion, or way that he left; and
has nothing to do with his body, form, shape, or even his image. The method,
fashion, or way that he left is specifically noted within the text; “he was taken up; and a cloud received him
out of their sight” so we see that this is the method, fashion, or way that
he was taken from their sight, and is what these 2 men referred to when they
said he would come “in like manner as”
the disciples had seen him go.
This
also runs consistent with how he (Christ)
himself said he would “come” in other
places of scripture:
1st,
in the Olivet Discourse (cf., Mark 13 & Luke 21)
Matthew
24:30 and then shall appear the sign of
the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and
they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and
great glory.
Later,
Christ tells Caiaphas the High Priest that he (Caiaphas) would witness this as
well.
Matthew
26:64 Jesus said unto him, it is as you
have said: nevertheless I say unto you, hereafter shall you will see the Son of
man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
We
later find even John referring to this in the Revelation:
Revelation
1:7 Behold, he comes with clouds; and
every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all the tribes of
the earth shall wail because of him; even so, Amen.
All
of these verses confirm that this was to be the method, fashion, or way that he
was to come, and Acts 1:8 & 11 also confirm this; but let’s examine one
other scripture in trying to shed light on this.
Matthew
23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that
kill the prophets, and stone them which are sent unto you, how often I would
have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under
her wings, and you would not!
The
phrase “even as” also comes from this
same Greek word “τροπος – tropos” so if we were to apply this same literalness
to this usage of τροπος – tropos as the Futurist insists it be in Acts 1:11, we’d
have to ask a question; Is Jesus a female chicken (hen) with wings?
2
other considerations for those who believe this coming and/or return relates to
a physical-visible appearance:
If
Jesus were going to be coming/returning in a physical-visible appearing, why
would he tell his 1st century disciples not to look for him (Matthew
24:26) if someone said he had physically-visibly appeared somewhere; and why
did he tell those same 1st century disciples (John 14:19) that the
world would never see him again?
Rather
than getting distracted in this note, I believe an in-depth study of what “coming in clouds” means, in order to
better understand what this coming/return is all about.
I've
been asked if I believe those 1st century disciples understood what this "coming/return"
meant, and how it was to be understood: I do believe the disciples understood
what "manner" his return would be. In addition to "coming
in clouds" Jesus also explained that this "coming"
would be "in the glory of the Father" (Matthew 16:27) and it would
reason that these disciples knew their Old Testament scriptures, and knew what
those phrases meant; just as Caiaphas understood when Christ told him, and
Caiaphas ripped his robe and accused Christ of blasphemy. Why? Because being
High Priest, Caiaphas was very familiar with Old Testament scripture and
language, and knew that Christ meant that as judgment language.