THE disciples of Jesus confidently
believed that their Master was the
promised Messiah and that he had
come in fulfillment of the Old
Testament promises relating to the
establishment of a powerful
government that would extend its
sphere of influence throughout the
whole earth. (Isa. 9:6,7; Ps. 72:8;
John 1:41,42) For this reason they
were greatly disappointed when Jesus
was arrested and cruelly put to
death. They did not then realize
that Jesus was giving his flesh for
the life of the world.—John 6:51
It was not until later, through the
enlightening influence of the Holy
Spirit, that the apostles and other
disciples in the Early Church
learned that their kingdom hopes,
which were centered in Jesus, would
be realized only as a result of his
return to earth in what has come to
be referred to as his second advent.
However, even before his death Jesus
told his disciples that he was going
away, that he would return, and that
they would then be with him
again.—John 14:3; Matt. 16:27
After Jesus’ resurrection, when he
appeared to his disciples for the
last time before returning to
heaven, they were much concerned
over their hope of the kingdom.
However, Jesus then gave them a
commission to be his witnesses; and
when he left them, two angels
appeared and gave them assurance
that Jesus would return to
them.—Acts 1:6-11
In a sermon Peter preached shortly
after Pentecost he spoke of Christ’s
return and associated the event with
what he described as “times of
restitution of all things.”—Acts
3:20,21
The hope of the return of Christ to
establish his kingdom and to reward
his followers was very real to the
members of the Early Church. It was
a source of comfort and spiritual
strength to them as they sought to
bear witness concerning Jesus to a
hostile world.—Titus 2:13; I Thess.
4:16-18
The brethren of the Early Church did
not understand that the return of
Christ was many centuries away. The
general expectation then was that he
would return very soon. Many of the
promises gave them this viewpoint,
for they did not take into
consideration that the promises were
based upon the Divine viewpoint of
time.—Ps. 90:4; II Pet. 3:8,10; Rev.
3:11; 22:20 These brethren were in
the difficult position of sponsoring
the cause of a Messiah who had been
put to death by his enemies. They
understood why he had died, but the
unbelieving world did not. True,
they proclaimed the fact that Jesus
had been raised from the dead; but
to this had to be added that he had
returned to heaven, which would seem
incredible to an unbelieving world.
It was difficult to obtain
acceptance of a message like this,
and the faith of the brethren was
sorely tried. To them, therefore,
the return of their Lord was the
center of all their hopes, and they
longed for the time when he would
appear.—I Pet. 1:7,8
STUDENTS’ HELPS
Questions
Why was the death of Jesus such a
great test to his disciples’ faith?
How and when did the apostles and
other disciples in the Early Church
learn that Christ would not
establish his kingdom until his
second advent?
What assurance was given to the
disciples by two angels following
Jesus’ ascension? Quote the
promise.
With what great work did the Apostle
Peter associate Jesus’ second
coming?
Quote texts of Scripture to show the
importance to the outlook of the
Early Church of our Lord’s return.
Did the brethren at the beginning of
the age realize that the return of
Christ was so far in the future from
their day?
Explain the situation that was such
a severe test of faith to the
brethren of the Early Church, and
relate this to the hope of Christ’s
appearance.
Reference Material
“The Divine
Plan of the Ages,” pages 93,94
Summary of Important Thoughts
An important object of Jesus’ first
advent was to die as the Redeemer,
to ransom the world from death. He
comes the second time as the
Deliverer, to restore mankind to
life.