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Why wasn't Jesus a failed apocalyptic prophecy preacher?

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How can we as Christians say that all of Jesus' speeches about the impending judgement of "this generation", his immediate coming in his kingdom ("from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven") & the disciples not being done converting Jewish citizens before Jesus comes, don't mean that Jesus was actually coming back in His flesh, but were metaphors for being the King of Christian hearts during the time of grace for the pagan nations? When looking at just the book of Matthew, it's easy to explain verses like Matt 10:23, 16:28, 24:34, 26:64 IF they are ON THEIR OWN. But so so many similar verses are found throughout the whole NT. And in bulk it does seem like Jesus is saying that doomsday is immediate & his earthly kingdom with him as king in the flesh was instantaneous. Taken together he is always talking about "the coming of the son of man", "the clouds of heaven", "his kingdom", "his angels" & "in the glory of his Father". It's apocalyptic & cosmic preaching, associated with, for example, Daniel 7:13-14. Today & then it's definitely associated with doomsday aka the last day of the last days aka the final judgment & a political and national kingdom in the flesh. Let's play this out by following examples, again looking only at the book of Matthew (I know there are a lot of different interpretations but these are the ones I've heard most often): - 16:26-28 supposedly is about the Transfiguration, which was a vision of Jesus as king in his kingdom — even though in verse 26 the seeing of the Son of Man is linked to coming into the kingdom with judgment, angels, and the Father? Which in turn is directly linked to the end of times, see for example, Daniel 7. - 24:34 "This generation" is actually about the generation which lived during Jesus day & discarded Jesus, which was judged in AD 69? - And 26:64 "From now on, the Son is seated at the right hand of the Father, and you will see him coming to judgment" is supposedly just reflecting Jesus' true nature? - And the converting in Israel won't be finished before Jesus returns - 10:23 – is most likely again about the judgment in the year 70? This just feels like "picking & choosing". The same metaphors are used, the wording is similar & it's all apocalyptic language, plus heavily influenced by Daniel, but every time they are supposed to mean something different?? And it definitely doesn't mean doomsday, a national / political kingdom in the flesh & that it's a failed prophecy? Why are we so sure? Why would Jesus use these heavy metaphors instead of just saying: "this generation/my contemporaries will be judged for rejecting the messiah, after my death I will be spiritual King of hearts & heaven until the end of the last days during which I will come in the flesh to get my people & to judge the whole earths wickedness"? What helps are ideas like: - the "end times" is a term without definition of its length - the church age / the age of grace for the pagan nations, was always handled like a mystery in all of Scripture - Luke 17:20-21 - Jesus himself saying it's neither visible nor an earthly kingdom but of the hearts & spiritual - in Daniel 7 Jesus is not actually coming to earth for his kingdom but ascending to heaven. Possibly showing it is a spiritual kingdom. - nothing Jesus ever said was easy to understand. His own disciples were struggling to get things right. He always talked in parables, allegories & metaphors. - the theory that some Jewish priests had to have converted up to the judgement AD 69. Otherwise the Christian movement wouldn't have been able to expand this fast. And they wouldn't have converted if it was clear that Jesus prophecies were supposed to be immediate & that they failed. (Obviously Paul himself & Acts 6:7, but probably many more, for the number of Christians exploded.) I really don't want to be disrespectful; I want the Bible to be true! It's just really hard to trust, knowing Jesus looks like an apocalyptic preacher whose immediate prophecies failed. P.S. Ugh it was hard to put these raging thoughts to paper. English isn't my mother tongue.
Asked by andimjustso (55 rep)
Mar 28, 2026, 10:05 PM
Last activity: Mar 29, 2026, 11:30 AM